Tag: S. A. Cosby

2023 Favorite Crime Fiction
Finally, we’re at the end of my 2023 wrap-up. Thanks for sticking with me for so long! (assuming you have). I read 90 books I put in the category of “Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller” last year (and there are a couple of multi-genre novels that could beef that number up a bit), 30% of my reading last year. So I have to consider it apart from everything else when I put together my Favorites Lists, or just about everything else would get ignored. Even if I went with a Top 20 instead of a Favorite 10, maybe 2-3 books from the previous lists would’ve made it along with all of these.

I couldn’t whittle this list down further than 12. But since a couple of my lists last week were under 10, I figure that I’ve got a slot or two to spare. Once again, I’ll note that I limit my lists to things I read for the first time. Yes, there are some names on here that have been on a couple of these lately. And it wouldn’t surprise me to see some of these new names show up from time to time in the years to come.

(in alphabetical order by author)

The Last Dance

by Mark Billingham

I really wish I had a post up about this book to pilfer from here. Detective Miller comes back to work after the murder of his wife to investigate a pair of murders. There’s no clear—rather, easily discoverable—connection between the two deaths other than proximity and coincidence. Neither explanation is good enough for the police. Miller has to adjust to a new partner, who really doesn’t understand (or appreciate) his eccentricities, his sense of humor, or undisguised antagonism toward their boss. The only thing more appealing to the twisty, multi-layered, mystery in this novel is Miller himself. His sense of humor, his questionable grasp of reality, and his unconventional approach to this (and presumably other) investigations are going to win several fans. This is the first Billingham novel I’ve read (after years of meaning to try), it will not be the last.

4 1/2 Stars

The Bitter Past

by Bruce Borgos

My original post
A great mix of Cold War espionage and modern-day Police Procedural, with a Western twist. Borgos assembled a cast of characters that leap off the page, I felt like I’d been reading about Porter Beck and his deputies for years within just a chapter or two. There’s blood, intrigue, nuclear fall-out, wit, humor, a grisly opening, and a dramatic conclusion—and a whole lot of other stuff along the way. I don’t know if Borgos can do something just like this novel book again, but as long as Porter Beck and his team are around for whatever’s next, I want to see it.

4 1/2 Stars

All the Sinners Bleed

by S. A. Cosby

My original post
As the first black Sheriff of Charon County, Virginia, Titus Crown has a lot on his plate. He has to watch his every step to keep the political and social leaders of the small community from removing him from office while holding off demands from the local social activists to turn the tables on behalf of the over-policed minorities and give the white community a taste of that treatment. It’s not going well for him—one horrible day finds Titus investigating a terrible crime and uncovering something that nightmares are made of—serial killers working undetected in Charon County for years. Can Titus stop the killing while keeping Charon County from tearing itself apart?

Sparse, but rich, prose that further disproves the notion that genre can’t be the home of good writing. Cosby tackles hard issues—but really doesn’t try to solve them—he merely puts them on display for readers to acknowledge and wrestle with. It’s also just a cracking thriller that could be read as shallowly as you want and would keep you white-knuckled and racing to the final confrontation. Cosby’s one of the best in action now, and this solidifies that reputation.

5 Stars

Ozark Dogs

by Eli Cranor

My original post
Like the above, this can be read as a white-knuckle thriller, but it’s more. This is a revenge story, with almost no one involved really understanding what the instigating event really was or meant (this doesn’t stop anyone seeking vengeance, naturally). This is a book about consequences, the sins of the past being visited on the present, and about the price of devotion (to a person, idea, etc.). It’ll knock you out.

5 Stars

Fearless

by M.W. Craven

My original post
Craven’s new series, featuring a U.S. Marshall who is incapable of feeling fear, is off to a dynamite start. This book just worked on every level—Koenig is a fertile character, well-designed to carry a series for quite a while. His assets are perfect for a Reacher/Peter Ash-type character. His flaws keep him from being invincible, and provide plenty of ways for him to be his own greatest adversary. His quirks (e.g., fixation on chocolate milkshakes, absorption of odd bits of trivia) round him out nicely. The reason he’s off the grid is better than being a Luddite/technophobe. Can he grow—and can the reader grow in their understanding of him? Sure. He can also believably regress and find develop new hindrances and weaknesses to work through or overcome. The action scenes were almost impossibly good.

5 Stars

Magpie Murders

by Anthony Horowitz, narrated by Samantha Bond, Allan Corduner

The death of a hugely best-selling author sends his editor on a hunt for the missing final pages to his final book. Alternatively, if she can figure out who the killer in the book was, they can at least salvage the book. But while she’s at it, she starts to think the author was murdered and maybe she can figure that out, too. A fictional murder and a real life one, that’s a pretty big task for an amatuer sleuth. What a fantastic book! The concept was great, the hook was gripping, the execution was dynamite, the narration was spot-on, the….the…ugh. I’m just listing superlatives at this point. Which is pretty much why I haven’t finished my post about it (despite starting 11 months ago)—words fail me. Just loved this.

5 Stars

Blackwater Falls

by Ausma Zehanat Khan

My original post
A probable racially and religiously motivated murder threatens to push heightened tensions over the edge between immigrant communities and local law enforcement. Enter the Community Response Unit—to hold the police accountable (if necessary), diffuse the situation (if at all possible), and get the answers everyone wants. Khan balances the social, personal, and investigative aspects of this novel with the skill of a seasoned professional. This is a great procedural in the way it embraces the defining traits and pushes them in new ways, it’s a great character study, a good commentary on several issues facing the country—and it’s a pretty solid mystery, too (can’t forget that).

4 1/2 Stars

The Last Devil to Die

by Richard Osman

My original post
Anyone who’s read me over the last couple of years had to expect that Osman would show up in this list—and here he is. The latest in the Thursday Murder Club series demonstrates all of the strengths of the previous novels at the same time—the humor, the heart, the cleverness of the characters, a twisty investigation, and humanity at its worst and best.

5 Stars

Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge

by Spencer Quinn

My original post
I’m a huge fan of Quinn’s long-running series, but every time he steps away for a stand-alone, I find myself increasingly impressed with him. This is an implausible, but great story about an elderly woman who is duped by a Bail Scam, losing almost everything. But she has enough money—and more than enough nerve and moxie to fly to Romania to try and find the scammers and get her money back. It’s a revenge fantasy that many people will have had, taken on by a relatable character that you can’t help but root for. There’s plenty of heart to go around, and it’ll just leave you feeling good (as long as you don’t put it down while she’s being ripped off).

4 1/2 Stars

Scratching the Flint

by Vern Smith

My original post
This is a gritty novel exploring the “the lowest common denominators of policing.” Our protagonists are detectives who seem intent on making their cases, on making arrests. But when push comes to shove, I’m not entirely convinced it’s about enforcing the law all the time with them—it’s getting a win, coming out on top over some of them. Taking place in early 2001, this book evokes the feel of the time—the sentiments toward reform in policing as well as in the treatment of women and minorities are clearly of their time (they’re also pretty relevant today, but we’d discuss them a little differently). This is a visceral, powerhouse read that will stay with you.

4 1/2 Stars

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

by Jesse Q. Sutanto

My original post
I need to think about this book a little to wash away the feeling of revisiting the last one off of me. There’s just so much to commend about this book—and so little to quibble with—that I still get excited about it months later. Vera Wong, the proprietor of a little-visited tea shop finds a dead man on her floor one day. Desperate for a change of pace, she decides that she’ll “help” the police with their investigation—eventually starting her own. How hard can it be? She’s watched plenty of procedurals, is smart, and (unlike Sherlock Holmes) is a suspicious Chinese mother. The murderer doesn’t stand a chance.

But then she turns her lead suspects into a found family of sorts. You don’t want any of these suspects to be guilty because the victim was a horrible guy and you want the suspects to become your new best friends. There’s a lot of sunshine and rainbows throughout this book, offsetting the murder, other crimes, loneliness, and despair. The murder mystery at the core of the novel is clever enough and worth the time—but this found family and the growth prompted in each member of it (including Vera) is what will make you a fan of it.

4 1/2 Stars

The Winter of Frankie Machine

by Don Winslow

This is typical Winslow—stylish, winning, clever, and frequently violent. Frankie Machine is a retired hitman who finds himself as the target for a new generation of hitmen over something that happened years before. Frankie Machianno has to put his businesses on hold and return to his old life to keep his family safe—and to keep himself alive—while finding out exactly why someone wants him dead and convincing them (using whatever necessary means) to leave them all alone once and for all. It’s such a strong, fast-moving, ride that the pages melt away while you read.

4 1/2 Stars

My Favorite Audiobooks of 2023

By HCNewton

On January 4, 2024

In Audiobook, News/Misc.

My Favorite Audiobooks of 2023
How do I keep this from being just a rehash of my other year-end lists? By focusing on the audiobook experience over the content. What was it like to listen to it? How engaging was it, how did the narrator do? Was it a good match in terms of tone, content, and performance? All of these books are/were good—but the audiobooks are a bit better because of the narrator and the rest of the people involved in the production.

I’m very annoyed at how few of these I wrote about (if only because it means I had to think more about this post than I wanted to).

(in alphabetical order by author)

The Book That No One Wanted to Read

by Richard Ayoade
Narrated by Richard Ayoade, Jarvis Cocker, Lydia Fox

My original post The narration was great—Ayoade and Cocker were fantastic, Fox was probably as good, but didn’t get the best lines, so her work doesn’t stand out as much in my memory (although my original post suggests I forgot something great). This is one of those multi-narrator audiobooks where all the narrators are equally good—capturing the spirit and tone of the text and bringing it to life. This is a sweet little story “written by a book” about a lonely book in a large library. It’s goofy and strange, the humor is occasionally dry, it’s imaginative, it’s affirming and encouraging, it wraps you in a blanket of fun and makes you feel good.

4 1/2 Stars

Bookshops & Bonedust

by Travis Baldree

Of course, audiobook narrator-turned-author Baldree puts together a really strong audiobook. How could he do anything else? This is a sweet and (mostly) cozy little read taking place many years before Baldree’s breakout Legends & Lattes and sets the stage for Viv’s choices when she decides to retire from the mercenary biz. Here at the beginning of her career, she’s laid up for a few months in a small little town where she makes some friends, learns a lot, discovers that she can appreciate reading (when given the right book), and faces of against a deadly foe. It’s a very pleasant experience that will leave you wanting more like it.

4 Stars

Give the People What They Want and Other Stories of Sharp Wit, Cunning Women, and Wild Magic

by Alex Bledsoe, Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, with Alex Bledsoe and Gabrielle de Cuir

This collection of short stories and a novella is just a great time. You start with short pieces in two of my favorite series, an interesting sample of another series, a couple of other things, and then a Zombie story that I really got into (no, really). Rudnicki did his usual bang-up job, de Cuir didn’t get enough to do (but was good with what little she had) and it’s always nice to hear from the author. I don’t know if it’ll work for people who aren’t fans of a series by Bledsoe, but it just might convince the listener to try one or two of them (and I’d heartily encourage that, too).

4 Stars

Brokedown Prophets

by S.A. Cosby and a full cast too long to list here

Cosby is a name you should expect to see again before I finish with this look back at ’23 (and likely at least once more this year). The performances that bring the Audible Original to life are fantastic. This is a dark tale of hope, desperation, and the opportunity to make a new life for yourself. It’s also violent, bloody, and likely to end poorly for all involved. The Russian assassin is one of my favorite characters of the year—it’d be easy to have made him a joke, but the performer and Crosby won’t let you write him off like that.

4 Stars

The Third Eye

by Felicia Day, and a full cast including Sean Astin, Felicia Day, Neil Gaiman, LilyPichu, London Hughes, and Wil Wheaton (and many others)

This was simply gobs of fun. Gaiman is just fantastic (no surprise there, I realize), Day plays the adorkable card like only she can, although Astin’s vampire comes close. Wheaton can play a jackwagon like nobody’s business, and…okay, I’m going to go on too long here (I really should’ve written a full post on this by now so I could’ve). You’ve got fun ‘n games with The Chosen One trope, satire and celebration of Urban Fantasy tropes and themes, some good action, and strong friendships. And a cheerful, optimistic feel that makes you just want more time in this world—even if there’s no story to be told (it’s even better during these almost 7 hours, though, because there is one).

4 Stars

Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English

by Valerie Fridland, Narrated by Valerie Fridland, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Keylor Leigh, Andrew Eiden, Christopher Ryan Grant, Ellen Archer, Eileen Stevens, and Nicky Endres

I’m a sucker for entertaining books about language, grammar, etc. Fridland’s apologetic for “Bad” English drives my inner prescriptivist, up the wall—but she joins the growing number of writers who are sealing up that prescriptivit’s coffin. How good is this book? Her chapter (or maybe it was a section of a chapter) on “Um” and “Uh” was fascinating. If she can pull that rabbit out of a hat, imagine how good she can be when she talks about the use/overuse of “like,” the history of “Dude,” or the figurative use of “literally”—and so much more. I spent most of the time listening to this book just geeking out in a way that made me regret not becoming a sociolinguist myself.

4 Stars

The Camera Man

by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator)

It’s not surprising to see a Grainger/Jackson pairing on this list—they’re behind what is probably my favorite audiobook series (I refuse to read a book in this series as long as Jackson is recording them). The Camera Man shows that the idea of DC Smith, PI has legs. The first book about him as a PI was very much a “Can he adjust to not being a police detective to help out a friend?” This is “Can DC act as a PI?” And the answer is a resounding Yes! There’s good material with Jo and the Diver siblings. But most of the joy just comes from Smith digging into the case. Just like the old days, but different. Loved it.

4 Stars

Nasty, Brutish, and Short:
Adventures in Philosophy with My Kids

by Scott Hershovitz

My original post
This was a great listen—Hershovitz is the kind of lecturer you want to pay attention to (or so imagine based on this). This book succeeded on multiple fronts: it was frequently amusing, if not downright funny; it was educational; it was insightful (even when I disagreed with what he did with the insights); it was thoughtful; it offered (largely by example, not being didactic) good parental advice; and kept this particular listener fully engaged throughout. Just what you want from an audiobook.

3.5 Stars

Magpie Murders

by Anthony Horowitz, narrated by Samantha Bond, Allan Corduner

This book has been on my to-read list for a long time, but I kept not finding time for it. I finally gave up on going with the paper version and picked up the audio from the library. What a fantastic book! The concept was great, the hook was gripping, the execution was dynamite, the narration was spot-on, the….the…ugh. I’m just listing superlatives at this point. Which is pretty much why I haven’t finished my post about it (despite starting 11 months ago)—words fail me. Just loved this.

5 Stars

The Only Truly Dead

by Rob Parker, Warren Brown (Narrator)

My original post
So Warren Brown is just a fantastic narrator and fits the material perfectly—one of the best matches of voice and text I can remember. Parker’s text was everything I could’ve hoped for—everything he’s been building up over the previous two books gets paid off in a dramatic and compelling fashion. It’s a mix of hope and darkness, and a reminder that both have lasting effects.

4 Stars

I’m a Little in Awe Over S.A. Cosby’s All the Sinners Bleed, and Probably Don’t Convey Just How Great It Is, But I Try

By HCNewton

On August 9, 2023

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

This was supposed to go up Monday afternoon, but I just didn’t like what I had then. I’m still not satisfied with this, but I don’t actively hate it, which will have to do.

All the Sinners Bleed

by S. A. Cosby

DETAILS:
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: June 06, 2023
Format: Hardcover
Length: 338 pg
Read Date: July 28-August 1, 2023

Sheriff Titus Crown

We’re going to start with this character, instead of the plot. He makes or breaks your experience with this book more than anything else.

Titus Crown had a long career in the FBI until he retired and came home to take care of his father after a surgery. (or at least that’s what he tells people). An opening in the office of Sheriff presented an opportunity, and Titus was talked into running by many in the community. He’s now the first black Sheriff of Charon County, Virginia. It looks likely that he’ll be the last one for a while, too.

Electing Titus hadn’t initiated a golden era of racial reconciliation. True, minorities weren’t routinely pulled over for little reason, aren’t beaten, and so on—they’re treated fairly under the law. As are white men. Because Titus knows he has to play it straight—if he acted the way some of his supporters wanted him to, he’d be no better than his predecessors—and there’s no way the county government would let him stay in power. But mostly Titus treats everyone the same no matter their race or financial status because that’s the way he’s built. It’s just not in him to do otherwise.

Sadly, for many of the people that voted for him, that means he’s not the first black Sheriff anymore. He’s blue.

He is smart, controlled, and driven. For him, these are both strengths and curses—his life would be easier if those qualities weren’t so strong in him. Then again, he wouldn’t have accomplished almost everything he has otherwise.

When he’s not doing a thankless job that he wonders why he asked for, he’s trying to keep his girlfriend. He knows he’s not good at long-term relationships, but he keeps trying. He wants to be good at them—or at least better.

The Instigating Incident

I feel okay talking about this because it’s in the book description—I wouldn’t have otherwise (and am very glad I can because I don’t know how I’d have danced around it).

On the two-year anniversary of his taking office, Titus’ relaxed morning is interrupted by reports of an active shooter at the high school. In the midst of the chaos he and his deputies encounter when they arrive on the scene, he learns that one teacher has been killed in a targeted attack. They have a brief conversation with the shooter before his deputies open fire and kill him.

Titus has to calm the public, investigate both the shooter and his deputies, and somehow explain to an old friend why his son is dead at the hands of his department. But first…

What the Novel is Really About…

Until that morning, there’d been two murders in Charon County in the last fifteen years. Following up on something the shooter said, Titus and his deputies stumble onto something that makes the school shooting the least horrible thing imaginable. It turns out that there’d been more than two murders—several more. A serial killer has been active in Charon County for several years.

This is the kind of serial killer that will haunt the dreams of every officer involved in the investigation for the rest of their lives—and more than a few waking hours, as well. There’s the sheer number of victims that happened in this supposedly quiet and peaceful community without anyone noticing. There’s the brutality (a word that somehow feels inadequate) of what was done to the victims. And then they start to learn about the psychology of the killer—and what kind of life must’ve driven him to these killings.

Any of those are likely to leave some scars on Titus and his team—the combination is sure to. And when the killer changes up their modus operandi in reaction to people discovering what they’ve been up to and to discourage Titus? A new level of horror emerges.

Some of the Other Things Going On

On top of all of this are:

Too many things with Titus’ father, brother, and religion to talk about.
An ongoing investigation into a suspected drug distribution center.
An internal investigation into a suspected dirty cop.
Pressure from the County Government for Titus to clear all this up before tourist season is even more endangered than it is.
Pressure from a group called “The Sons of the Confederacy” to make sure that someone from Titus’ “cultural background” offers them adequate protection from protestors during the upcoming Fall Fest celebration/rally to protect a statue commemorating a Confederate officer.
Titus’ last girlfriend, a journalist turned True Crime podcaster who has come to town to report on the killer.

All in all, Titus has to wish that he’d never moved back home.

I’m pretty sure I left some stuff off that list—but this book never feels overstuffed.

So, what did I think about All the Sinners Bleed?

It’s this kind of book that makes me wish I was a real reviewer instead of a fanboy yelling by bookish yawp across the rooftops of the world. This begs for literary analysis. Sparse, but rich, prose that further disproves the notion that genre can’t be the home of good writing. Cosby tackles hard issues—but really doesn’t try to solve them—he merely puts them on display for readers to acknowledge and wrestle with.

It’s also just a cracking thriller that could be read as shallowly as you want and would keep you white-knuckled and racing to the final confrontation. Tricksy writer that he is, Cosby’s style makes that incredibly easy to do—but if you go that way, you miss the richness of this book.

Cosby’s Blacktop Wasteland blew me away as did this one. I wrote:

From the first paragraph that made me sit up and say “Oh, this explains the hype,” to the devastating last line—and all points in between, Blacktop Wasteland is one of those books that a guy can’t describe without seeming hyperbolic.

All the Sinners Bleed starts off more slowly (although the first few lines are dynamite), and it’s last line hits far differently, but the quality in between is just the same. Cosby’s going to knock you out every time you pick up one of his books, he’s just going to come at you from a different direction than last time.

This is not the beginning of a series—but I wish it was. I’d love to spend years with (many of) these people. Instead, we get to join them for one intense period in their lives and in the dark history of their town. That’s more than enough.*

* Also, more crimes like this in Charon County would be stretching credulity in a way that would be difficult to do with integrity.

Hopefully, I’m not over-hyping this book. My rating is one of the easiest 5 stars I’ve ever given. When I finished this book, I texted a friend that “Well, I really don’t have to read anything else this year, right? What’s going to match this?” Cosby’s talked frequently about the impact that some of Dennis Lehane’s early books made on him—there’s at least one yet-to-be-published crime writer out there who will be talking about All the Sinners Bleed in the same way in the years to come.

5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

The Friday 56 for 8/4/23: All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby

By HCNewton

On August 4, 2023

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

Had to take a break last week due to posting toooooo many things. But I’m back to my typical trickle 🙂

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it.

from Page (55 and) 56 of:
All the Sinners Bleed

All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby

He’d put the phone back in the evidence bag after fighting the urge to put it under his front tire and roll over it five or six times, then set it on fire. Titus had seen his share of horrific things in his twelve years as an FBI agent. The ability of one human to visit depravity upon another was as boundless as the sea and as varied as there were grains of sand on a beach.

The images on [redacted]’s phone were the worst he’d ever seen.

He kept thinking about purification by immolation. It seemed like that was the only thing that could remove the stain of those images from his mind, his heart, his soul. Burn the phone. Scald his eyes with hot oil. Put [redacted] and [redacted] on a pyre and reduce them both to ashes, then scatter those ashes to the four winds. Erase all proof of their existence and the things they had done. But the children in those pictures deserved to have their story told. They deserved justice. Whatever that was these days.

The Rhythm of Time by Questlove with S. A. Cosby: Not a Flux Capacitor in Sight, but There Might as Well Be

By HCNewton

On May 15, 2023

In Fiction, Science Fiction, YA/MG/Children's Books

The Rhythm of Time

by Questlove with S.A. Cosby

DETAILS:
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: April 18, 2023
Format: Hardcover
Length: 236 pg.
Read Date: May 8, 2023

His dad. He was walking and talking with his dad. And his dad was…kinda cool? Rahim didn’t know what was more shocking—the fact he had traveled back in time or that his dad was once actually pretty fun to be around.

What’s The Rhythm of Time About?

Kasia is a homeschool nerd/computer genius. Her parents run a vegan co-op and help community gardens throughout the city. They know she’s smarter than them, but they also know they don’t fully appreciate how much smarter she is. For example, she’s designed a drone that can adapt, speak, and add features as it sees fit. She’s also made a (admittedly unattractive) smartphone for her best friend so he can call her and do homework.

Rahim lives next door to her and to call his father a Luddite is to understate things—and it’d probably result in a lecture from him about the inaccuracy of using the term for him. He’s a history professor who won’t allow computers, etc. in his home—his encyclopedias are good enough for Rahim’s homework, thank you very much*. He’s not that crazy about Rahim’s love of music or sports, either.

* Sure, it’s impossible in 2023 for even a grade school student to do homework without the Internet, we all know that. Shhh. Roll with it for the purposes of the book.

Rahim is overjoyed with his gift (although he does make a crack about its looks) and starts to use it right away. It takes him very little time to see that if he does things in a certain way, the phone will transport him instantly to various places. Kasia doesn’t understand that, but before she can figure out how that happens, Rahim discovers (the hard way) that the phone also works to send him to the past.

While Kasia tries to figure out how to get him home, she tells him to keep from interacting with anyone as much as possible. She starts trying to see what the satellites she hacked into to give Rahim his phone are doing to him and Rahim sees a kid about his age being bullied and before common sense can restrain him, he intervenes and saves the kid. The bullied kid turns out to be Omar, or as Rahim calls him, “Dad.”

Oops.

And well…things get worse from there.

The Take on Time Travel

Time itself is being pulled and stretched, and I’m kinda afraid it’s gonna crumble like graham crackers dunked in milk.

Like any self-respecting time-travel story, particularly one where the traveler meets a relative, things start to unravel—the timeline, future events, etc. And not just in the expected ways—the first sign we have that anything’s going wrong is that a different team wins the ’97 NBA Championship. There’s no relation to anyone in the book to anyone in the NBA (that the reader knows of), so the problems in the timeline aren’t starting out in the typical way. The authors deserve some big points for that.

Nor do the time travel-induced anomalies continue to play out the way they usually do. It’s when things are nearing their worst that Kasia says that about graham crackers in milk (a visual that has stuck with me for days).

(Mild Spoilers ahead in this paragraph) Some things remain constant—Rahim’s parents still get together and live next to Kasia and her family. Kasia’s just as smart, too (thankfully). And just when you start to think that maybe, just maybe, we’re going to get a Back to the Future kind of ending where things went differently for Rahim’s father and he found a different kind of success—but Rahim (for reasons you might not expect) decides to try a plan-so-crazy-that-it-just-might-work to restore the timeline. Emphasis on the might.

The Government Types

Disrupting, disturbing, distracting, and potentially disabling Kasia’s efforts are a couple of government agents. They seem like moderately overzealous, humorless types who are trying to do their job—if it happens to allow them to bully a little girl, so be it.

Eventually, however, these agents prove to be better than we think. In doing so they show that some of the government assets that Kasia has been, um, “helping” herself to aren’t exactly what she thinks they are. In fact, there’s a connection between them and The Philadelphia Experiment. But we’re not just treated to the typical urban legend version of the Philadelphia Experiment, Questlove and Cosby give the reader a Hidden Figures version of it. Which makes it all the more fun.

But just because there are all sorts of adults running around with official powers and equipment, don’t think that it all doesn’t come down to what Kasia and Rahim do. This is a Middle-Grade novel, after all.

So, what did I think about The Rhythm of Time?

It just felt so odd to be having so much fun on just about every page with Cosby’s name on the cover. I enjoy his stuff, but it’s not often that “fun” enters into the conversation. And fun is the best word to describe this.

The whole concept and the way it plays out are ridiculous—but they’re entertaining, and if you can accept any part of it, you’ll accept it all. And there’s no reason not to suspend your disbelief enough to buy into the story—because it’s not trying to be more than a fun adventure for grade school readers.* So just sit back, relax, grab some popcorn, and enjoy.

* Even if it had higher aspirations, you could still make the case for going along with things.

Rahim’s a great guy, and you can see where Omar ends up becoming the Dad that he is—and how his parents become the versions of themselves Rahim would come to know as his grandparents. All of that was really well done.

Kasia is the type of impossible genius making tech in her bedroom that has been the stuff of cartoons and Middle-Grade fiction since I was reading it (when it was called “Juvenile Fiction.”) Think Flavia de Luce meets Penny from Inspector Gadget meets Richie Foley (from Static Shock). I will read something about her anytime. If Rahim’s along for the ride, so much the better.

The book ends with a clear sign that the story goes on, but none of the online sources I see refer to this as the first of a series. I hope it does go on—but it’s also one of those endings that doesn’t require a sequel. We know that Rahim and Kasia are going to be up to more adventures, and in a way, that’s enough. By this point, the reader has enough to know how their adventures will go.

But I really hope the series keeps going.

Pick this up for some nice, uncomplicated fun for yourself or grab it for the Middle Schooler in your life (and then borrow it).

3.5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby: Entertaining. Stunning. Devastating.

By HCNewton

On February 4, 2021

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Blacktop Wasteland

by S. A. Cosby

Hardcover, 385 pg.
Flatiron Books, 2020

Read: January 28-February 1, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

Meet Beauregard Montage

The secret ain’t about the motor. That’s part of i it, yeah, but that ain’t the main thing. The real thing, the thing most people don’t want to talk about, is how you drive. If you drive like you scared, you gonna lose. If you drive like you don’t want to have to rebuild the whole engine, you gonna lose. You gotta drive like don’t nothing else matter except getting to that line. Drive like you fucking stole it.

Beauregard heard his Daddy’s voice every time he drove the Duster.

The first thing we learn about Beauregard (nicknamed “Bug”) is that he is both a great mechanic and a great driver. We see that at the start as he wins a street race to help pay his monthly bills. The second thing we learn is that he’s capable and willing to give a man a beating—both efficient and effective—if he’s crossed (read: cheated out of winnings).

Beauregard runs an auto-repair shop in a small Virginia town. He was doing okay for himself until a few months back when a new, better-financed shop opened up in town. Now he’s losing customers by the handful, and may not be able to stay open for more than three months.

He’s deeply and madly in love with his wife and is a devoted father to two great sons (one complaint—possibly my only one is that we don’t get more time with the boys). But one of them needs braces. His wife works too hard, and he’d like to lighten her burden—and provide a nicer home. His daughter (from before he was married, and he never had any kind of custody) can’t afford college and plans on working for a while before she can afford it (the reader knows, and I think Beauregard does, too, that she’ll never make enough to get there). His mother’s in a nursing home, and there’s some sort of financial problem there, too.

He’s got all that he needs, and it’s all about to slip through his fingers.

The “Life”

Beauregard thought about the clichéd scene in every crime movie where the main character who has gotten out of the “Life” buries his weapons under a hundred pounds of concrete only to have to dig them up when his enemies come knocking at his door.

He understood the appeal of the symbolism for filmmakers. It was just unrealistic. You were never out of the Life completely. You were always looking over your shoulder. You always kept a gun within reach, not buried under cement in your basement. Having a gun nearby was the only way you could pretend to relax.

It wasn’t all that long ago that Bug* received the bulk of his income from illicit means. He was part of a crew, he was a wheelman for them—among other things. He’s a meticulous planner, has an eidetic memory, and can do mental math at a speed I can only envy. He planned whatever the crew was going to do—and woe to anyone who did not stick with his plan to the T, or gave him bad information while planning.

* Beauregard tends to think of himself as “Bug” when he’s thinking of the reckless, thrill-seeking lawbreaker side of him, and “Beauregard” when he’s living the way he should. I’m following that.

But he decided he needed to be a better father than his own (who never left the Life and left home when it became too dangerous for him to stay). He’s been living straight since then. He misses the rush, he misses the work—mostly the driving. But he has better things to focus on now, and he’s largely successful.

But is he at the end of that? There are just too many things he needs to pay for and only so much money.

The Temptation of Bug

One of his last jobs, before he went straight, was with Ronnie Sessions—he had an idea, Bug came up with the plan, did the elaborate work necessary to pull it off. And then because Ronnie had faulty intel for him, the job fell apart and Bug was out thousands in expenses—and he didn’t get the payday. He hasn’t seen Ronnie since.

But now Ronnie’s back, at just the right time (or wrong, depending on how you look at it). He’s got a juicier target. One that will erase most of Beauregard’s immediate needs, and will make things more comfortable for a while into the future, too.

After some thinking, some waffling, (this isn’t a spoiler, the book needs something like this), he agrees and takes over the operation.

Car Chases

I am not a car guy. I know almost nothing about cars, I can do basic maintenance (or I could a long time ago, I’m not sure I’m capable anymore). I’m an adequate driver. I can correctly identify maybe 40% of the cars I see on the road.

However. I am a red-blooded American male. I love car chase/driving scenes.* Like in Blues Brothers, half the TV (and a good number of movies) I grew up watching in the 80s, Bourne Identity, Baby Driver (I could watch the opening sequence on a loop for hours)—the only positive memory I have of the second Matrix movie was the elaborate car chase scene. I could keep going, but you get the point. They’re harder to pull off in a book than they are on-screen, but when they work, they really work.

* I realize people who aren’t red-blooded American males frequently love them, too, I’m not arguing against that. It just seems more definitional of RBAM.

S. A. Cosby could give everyone lessons on how to do it properly. I don’t know that I’ve read any as good as his. So yes, there’s a lot that he has to say about class, race, fatherhood, and more. This novel is beautifully written, with a lyrical nature to some passages that will make you want to reread the paragraphs a few times just to take it all in. But also? It has great car scenes in case you’re worried about it being too highbrow and artsy.

Oh, It’s That Kind of Book

Men like your Daddy, like me, like you used to be, we don’t die in hospital beds. Ant wasn’t perfect. He loved driving, drinking, and women, in that order. He lived life at 100 miles per hour. Men like that, well, they go out on their own terms, usually with a bang.

Fairly early, I decided I knew what kind of book I was reading—we’d see Beauregard and his situation, we’d get a little backstory about his criminal history and why he got out of “the Life,” we see the pressures making him think of returning to it (however briefly he intends on it), the temptation to do so, the planning and execution of the robbery, and so on. I was into the idea.

And then the (supposed) central crime is over in a few pages. Which surprised me. And then I noticed I wasn’t even halfway done with the book—which meant that the bulk of the book is about what happens as a result of the robbery. And given the tone of the book, we’re not talking hijinks and good times. My notes say, “Oh, it’s going to be that kind of book.

I’m not going to spoil anything and tell you why it was a mistake for Bug and his fellow thieves to rip off the place they rip off. But, it was a colossal mistake. And the repercussions are big.

Because Cosby had done such a good job making me care about Bug and his family, and the way he wrote the characters who objected to this robbery—I had a really hard time finishing this book. I’d literally have to read a chapter or two and then put the book down for 30+ minutes while I did something else. I just didn’t want to know how bad things got for the Montage family.

Still, there was no way I wasn’t going to finish the book. I had to know. So, I’d read another chapter or two, and then it’d get too much for me, and I’d start the cycle again. I added a day or two to my reading because of this (I did read the last 50 or so pages without a break, but I wanted one…). I don’t react this way to books, I just don’t. But, man, this got under my skin and I couldn’t do anything else.

So, what did I think about Blacktop Wasteland?

Is there any doubt?

Early on, this made me think of She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper. It had a similar sensibility, a book about a father throwing away a chance at…everything…so his kid(s) would have a shot at a decent life. I’d even started jotting down notes for a paragraph or two about that. And then I noticed that the last quote on the back cover is from Harper. So I was definitely not the first reader to see the link. Still, if you read Harper (or wanted to), you’ll want to get your hands on this. The converse is true as well.

But let’s focus on Blacktop Wasteland. From the first paragraph that made me sit up and say “Oh, this explains the hype,” to the devastating last line—and all points in between, Blacktop Wasteland is one of those books that a guy can’t describe without seeming hyperbolic.

Fantastic car chases. Great action. Compelling and moving family moments. Race as a deterministic factor in success. Class, too. What does it mean to be a father? Human depravity on display in a variety of ways from criminals small-time and Organized. Human frailty and striving for greatness, too. Blacktop Wasteland has it all. You’re not supposed to cry over a Crime Novel—and I didn’t. But it wouldn’t have taken much to push me over that line.

You’re not a Crime Fiction reader? I get that—and don’t worry, you can just think of this as General Fiction/Literature and you’ll be fine. I’m repeating myself. This is a great novel, go read it.

5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

The Friday 56 for 1/29/21: Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby

By HCNewton

On January 29, 2021

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it

from page 56 of:
Blacktop Wasteland

Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby

“What’s wrong?”

Ariel shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing. Just getting ready for graduation. Me and the other five dummies who couldn’t graduate with the rest of the class.”

“You ain’t no dummy. You had a lot going on,” he said.

“Yeah. Like Mama getting her third DUI and wrecking my car. Of course, that ain’t no excuse, according to her and grandma,” Ariel said. She shook her bottle of juice lackadaisically in her left hand.

“Don’t worry about them. You just concentrate on college and getting that accounting degree,” Beauregard said.

Ariel blew air over her bottom lip.

“What?” Beauregard said.

“Since I won’t be eighteen until January, Mama has to co-sign for my student loans. She says she don’t want to put her name down on nothing like that. She says I should just take classes at J. Sargeant Reynolds and get a job until January,” Ariel said.