Wes Browne lives within the Kentucky River Basin in Madison County, Kentucky. He has practiced law as a criminal defense attorney, prosecutor, and public defender in Appalachia for over 24 years. He also helps run his family's pizza shops.
His novel They All Fall the Same was a Goodreads Biggest Thriller or Mystery of 2025 and one of Book Riot Read or Dead's Most Anticipated Books of 2025.
At CrimeReads Browne tagged five "books featuring not-so-good folks in prominent roles that may tickle your fancy." One title on the list:
Beauregard “Bug” Montague in Blacktop WastelandRead about another title on the list.
S.A. Cosby is the current world heavyweight champion of getting readers to root for characters with a robust criminal history and a reluctantcriminal present. Bug is a perfect example of that: someone doing wrong for a right reason.
A father and legitimate business owner, it’s not all his fault that he’s drawn back to his felonious past when his lawful livelihood is threatened. Bug is still the best wheelman in Virginia and anywhere close. When he takes that one last job you just know he’s going to take, it’s his associates who derail him from making it clean, but even then, he’s not looking to hurt anybody who doesn’t deserve it.
Even at his most audacious, Cosby keeps Bug to the good side of ruthless, because at heart, he’s someone who’s not as bad as his worst deeds.
Blacktop Wasteland is among Mailan Doquang's top ten heist novels, The Amazon Book Review editors' ten favorite books to celebrate Black History Month, Lee Matthew Goldberg's seven stellar heist tales, Lisa Unger's five novels revolving around dysfunctional families, Nick Kolakowski’s five best getaway drivers in contemporary crime fiction, and Kia Abdullah's eight novels featuring co-conspirators.
--Marshal Zeringue
Posts
