Razorblade Tears

*INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* One of Barack Obama's Recommended Reads for Summer - New York Times Notable Book - NPR's Best Books of 2021 - Washington Post's Best Thriller and Mystery Books of the Year - TIME Magazine's 100 Must-Read Books of 2021 - New York Public Library's Best Books of the Year - Goodreads Choice Award Nominee - Book of the Month's Book of the Year Finalist
"Provocative, violent -- beautiful and moving, too." --Washington Post
"Superb...Cuts right to the heart of the most important questions of our times." --Michael Connelly

"A tour de force - poignant, action-packed, and profound." --Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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.

"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
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336 pages

Average rating: 8.45

33 RATINGS

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3 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

TBGRbookclub
Dec 31, 2023
10/10 stars
🔪 In this action-packed novel, we follow two fathers set out to get vengeance for their murdered sons. The unlikely duo Isaac “Riot” Randolph and William “Buddy Lee” Jenkins reck havoc on the small town in Virginia. 🔪The murder of their sons caused feelings to arise within the fathers. Their shared feeling of guilt and failures as fathers motivated the need to seek out the killers. This, they thought is the least they could do for what they la...read more
Blaqcofee42
Aug 29, 2023
5/10 stars
Another 5 ⭐ for me. Mr Cosby has won me over with his creative writing. I really enjoy his action packed novels. Razorblade Tears was a story of love, grief, understanding, and definitely determination. Ike & Buddy Lee wanted vengeance on the people who took the lives of their sons. This book definitely had some twist and turns. A whole lot of "oh snaps" from me while I was reading. This book even had me shed a tear at the end. Buddy Lee was ...read more
Diane_Aloha
Jul 17, 2023
8/10 stars
Visceral...2 ex-cons trying to right the wrongs they did to their sons. Excellent commentary on racism, homophobia and white privilege.

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