Reviews

Asfaltsland by S.A. Cosby

joshoewhat's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

savedbybooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This book was slow until the last 3.5 hours. The ending leaves the reader to interpret what happens next. There’s a lot of unnecessary details at times but when the action happens, it’s gripping! 

adamclane99's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

youraveragedave's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book gives us the classic crime noir trope of the former criminal who gets pulled back in for one final score.  A great heist book full of car chases, fights, and all kinds of morally grey characters.  

S.A. Cosby writes so visually you can see what's happening on the page in your mind's eye.

Our MC, Beauregard "Bug" Montage, is such a well developed character.  He's the best wheel man in southern VA.  He's a husband and father too.  But he can get mean and nasty if pushed too far.  In the book we get a lot of Bug trying to reconcile both sides of his personality.  

The setting is also well developed.  We meet towns folk who who being the tension of rural black and white America.  

The audiobook is narrated by Adam Lazarre-White.  His take off characters is so unique and he embodied Bug to a "T"!

dthiel116's review against another edition

5.0

This is not just a great crime novel, it's a great novel.

henriii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

4.0

i don't usually read thrillers, but i wanted to read more books by southerners; SA Cosby is from newport news, va, and it was wild reading this book, recognizing locations that i'm familiar with, and putting all of bug's excursions on a mental map.

this felt like an action movie in book form and was hard to put down. i finished it in three sittings. 

i didn't love the pained feeling i was left with at the end, when bug is standing in the wake of so much desolation and destruction with no real resolution, but that was a matter of preference rather than writing, and

i would read more from this author when i'm looking for an action-packed, suspenseful read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and Gun violence

rachelhrieman's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Gritty and dynamic thriller that had me gasping a few times! A heartbreaking portrait of a man struggling with who he wants to be and who he is, generational trauma, ans the lengths he'll go to protect his family.

kenzie176824's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

sisihope101's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

cydbee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0