A Black father. A white father. Two murdered sons. A quest for vengeance.
Ike Randolph left jail fifteen years ago, with not so much as a speeding ticket since.
But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid.
Ike is devastated to learn his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Though he never fully accepted his son, Ike is broken by his death.
Derek’s father Buddy Lee was as ashamed of Derek being gay as Derek was of his father’s criminal past. But Buddy Lee – with seedy contacts deep in the underworld – needs to know who killed his only child.
Desperate to do better by them in death than they did in life, two hardened ex-cons must confront their own prejudices about their sons – and each other – as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.
A provocative revenge thriller and an achingly tender story of redemption, this novel is a ferocious portrait of grief; for those loved and lost, and for mistakes than can never truly be undone.
Book Info: Print length: 337 pages. Publisher: Headline. Publication date: 6 July 2021
S.A. Cosby is the New York Times national best selling award-winning author from Southeastern Virginia. His books include MY DARKEST PRAYER, Blacktop Wasteland, Amazon’s #1 Mystery and Thriller of the Year and #3 Best Book of 2020 overall, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, Winner of the LA Times Book Award for Mystery or Thrillers and a Goodreads Choice Awards Semifinalist and the winner of the ITW award for hard cover book of the year, the Macavity for best novel of the year, the Anthony, The Barry , a honorable mention from the ALA Black Caucus and was a finalists for the CWA Golden Dagger. He is also author of the best selling RAZORBLADE TEARS which was also nominated for numerous awards as well
My Review:
Razorblade Tears is a standalone novel by SA Cosby and is a powerful story of revenge, retribution, guilt and grief.
Two grieving fathers are brought together after their sons are brutally murdered. Ike, married and father to Isiah, runs a landscape gardening company and for the past fifteen years has kept out of trouble, having spent his youth running with violent gangs and served a lengthy prison sentence for murder. Buddy Lee is divorced, a drunk, living in a trailer park with no friends and estranged from his son Derek and has also served time in prison for criminal activities.
When Ike receives a knock at the door from the police and learns his son Isiah was shot dead with his husband Derek, his world comes crashing down. Full of grief and guilt because he never accepted his sons way of life he embarks on a journey with the only other person who understands how he feels – Buddy Lee.
Cosby brings these two characters to life in such vivid detail. These damaged and broken men form an unlikely friendship forged from grief and guilt but determined to find the killers and dispel their own justice. Razorblade Tears takes a long hard look at homophobia and racism. It’s brutal, raw and often very uncomfortable, with little pockets of humour and hope, this book takes the reader on an emotional journey.
If there ever was a book which would be PERFECT for a film it has to be Razorblade Tears and I’m delighted to see that Paramount and Jerry Bruckheimer has already optioned it.
