A Black father. A white father. Two murdered sons. A quest for vengeance.
Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid.
The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah's white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss.
Derek's father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed of his father's criminal record. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.
Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, hardened men Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.
Provocative and fast-paced, S. A. Cosby's Razorblade Tears is a story of bloody retribution, heartfelt change - and maybe even redemption.
"Cosby's prose is vibrant and inventive, his action exuberant and relentless...You may come for the setup, but you'll stay for the storytelling. Cosby writes in a spirit of generous abundance and gleeful abandon...More important, the book moves. It thrums. Razorblade Tears practically taunts you every time you try to put it down." - New York Times Book Review
"S.A. Cosby's new crime novel is provocative, violent -- beautiful and moving, too...Elmore Leonard, wherever you are, you've got competition...S.A. Cosby has reappeared as one of the most muscular, distinctive, grab-you-by-both-ears voices in American crime fiction...The other apt comparison to Elmore Leonard is in the writing. Cosby is plainly nuts about the American language, and the novel absolutely sings with it." - Washington Post
"A tour de force - poignant, action-packed, and profound." - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"A visceral full-body experience, a sharp jolt to the heart, and a treat for the senses...Cosby's moody southern thriller marries the skillful action and plotting of Lee Child with the atmosphere and insight of Attica Locke." - NPR
"Stunningly poignant and brutally profound...Cosby gives readers a unique take on a revenge narrative, one propelled by furious action and two incredibly authentic and compelling main characters." - Minneapolis Star Tribune
"A powerful blend of pulsing action, sensitive and subtle character interaction, and uncompromising but highly nuanced reflection on racism and homophobia...Few novels marry tough and tender, head-banging and coming-of-age, as seamlessly as this one does, but that's no surprise from a supremely talented writer who keeps getting better." - Booklist
"A lean, mean crime story...Fast on its feet, by turns lethal and tender...This is a bloody good yarn with two compelling antiheroes you'll root for from the start." - Kirkus
"Simultaneously a contemplative mystery and a stunning thrill ride. A master of his craft, Cosby balances incredibly complicated characters with enveloping suspense and some of the most captivatingly violent scenes that you will ever read...Cosby's writing is both fearless and sympathetic, exhibiting his formidable intellect alongside vivid imagery, sharp wit and intricate plot lines. - BookPage
"[Cosby's] story of fathers and sons, of men learning to respect others' lives, has an unexpected depth for such a violent, confrontational book. This powerful book should be in every library." - Library Journal
"S.A. Cosby blew us away with last year's searing heist thriller/rural noir Blacktop Wasteland, and with Razorblade Tears he's done it again. In a heartbreaking tale of love, murder, vengeance, and acceptance, two ex-cons, one Black and one white, team up to find those responsible for the death of their sons, who were married to each other... Shattering and beautiful, this is a must-read for genre and literary fiction fans alike." - CrimeReads
"A harrowing portrait of two fathers grappling with their messy pasts amid a violent present in the American South." - TIME
"S. A. Cosby's terrific follow-up to Blacktop Wasteland is another rustic noir centered on a Black man with a checkered past who feels forced to jeopardize his straight-arrow status." - Shelf Awareness
"Cosby's talents for pungent dialogue and Chandler-esque phrase-making...[are] evident again in this pulsating follow-up, which oddly but fruitfully combines progressive values... with the mayhem-packed chronicle of an atavistic pursuit of revenge." - Times of London
"A nuanced take on contemporary race and LGBTQ issues of a type not commonly found in crime fiction. Chalk up another winner to Cosby." - Publishers Weekly
