The 21st century may be well under way, but in some parts of the South, racism and homophobia still run as rampant as they did 100, 200, 300 years ago. There in Red Hill, Virginia is a clear division between black and white, gay and straight, trans and cis, and love and hate. These weighty topics and so very many more are explored in S.A. Cosby's thrilling sophomore effort Razorblade Tears.

Isiah Randolph and his husband Derek Jenkins were brutally murdered in cold blood celebrating their anniversary outside of a wine bar in Richmond. The violence that ended their lives was severe enough to warrant closed-casket funerals for them each, and the wound of loss roots deep in the souls of their ex-con fathers, whose homophobia has built a wall between them that left them estranged at the time of their deaths. The cops don't seem to care much about the double murder, and months go by with no new developments.

Ike Randolph, a black man who has overcome his sinister felon past to run a successful landscaping business employing many other ex-cons, was not on the best terms with his son Isiah at the time of the younger Randolph's death. He didn't know how to acknowledge or accept Isiah's sexuality without interpreting it as a failure of his own parenting. Buddy Lee Jenkins, Derek's father, is a goofy backwoods redneck with a taste for whiskey that some might call "white trash," who couldn't help cracking one too many gay jokes at his son's expense, and never took Derek's relationship or sexuality seriously. Both men are suffering deeply after the murders of their children, grappling with their own mistakes and missteps that contributed to the broken state of their relationships with their estranged sons. This unlikely pair of middle-aged men are driven to revenge by the intense love they have for their sons and the sincere hate they have for themselves and those responsible for Derek and Isiah's untimely demise. They launch a violent campaign to solve the case that police seem keen to let slip through the cracks of an unstable and corrupt justice system.

And that's all I'm telling you about this plot! This is one you just need to read for yourself. I would hate to spoil all of the fast-paced action and gut-punches this book throws at its reader.

This story has everything. This is not my typical read but I found so much to love here. I didn't think I could stomach such unrelenting violence, but actually, it was so well-written and compelling that it made me more comfortable with reading something that was at times so gritty and so dark, and got me excited to read more of this style of writing in the future. I lean way too much on the fluff in this world! There's a moment around the 80% mark discussing what can really be gained through revenge where I literally had to pull my car over and pause the audio to process how excellent this writing is. How nuanced our two main characters are. How they are on this journey of reckoning and hatred and revenge but also love and acceptance and perseverance all at once. I have never read anything quite like this! For lack of a better word, it was just totally fuckin' awesome! It had major John Wick energy. You think that man went berserk over a puppy his dead wife gave him? Just wait until you see what Ike "Riot" Randolph and Buddy Lee have in store for their enemies. This story is retribution to the fullest extent.

So yes, like I said, everything! The dialogue was flawless in this book. I felt everything. I laughed full belly laughs, especially where Buddy Lee's one-liners and Ike's extremely specific threats were concerned, I fully ugly cried at the end (at my desk and of course on a day where my eyeliner was FLAWLESS, but it was worth it), my entire body cringed at some of the goriest, most violent moments, and my heart about jumped out of my chest at least once every 10 minutes in my 8-hour audiobook experience. I loved our two main characters so much. I really appreciated the honesty with which S.A. Cosby wrote this story, because these men had to be brutally honest with themselves about their prejudices, and by the end they were both much more self-aware, accepting people.

Also, there's a twist in this one that I didn't see coming until it was essentially sitting on my lap calling me mommy! I'm sure veteran readers of revenge thrillers might pick up on it long before I did, but I really did not know who was behind this all, pulling the strings like a marionettist, and when the biker gang first shows up in this novel I was intensely curious about how they were connected to the narrative, because they seemed to have no relation. Boy, was I wrong! This was very intricately plotted, despite my thinking earlier in the novel that it wasn't necessarily the most tightly-plotted thriller I've read, when it initially felt like everything was being played fast and loose.

For a book that has themes involving the LGBTQIA+ community, I do wish that perhaps a character in that community had been better fleshed out; maybe we could have had more flashback scenes with Derek and Isiah, or the one character that we do have from this community could have played a bigger role. However, I think it's important to recognize that while sexuality and gender are both themes in this novel, the main characters are two straight men grappling with how they view those topics in the world, so perhaps it isn't entirely necessary for another character to teach them lessons they need to learn on their own and should have already known by now. And those lessons are repeated maybe a few too many times in the novel. It's clear—almost too clear—that this author really wants traditional audiences of this type of narrative to take his message to heart, and the messages of acceptance of all races and sexualities are a bit heavy-handed, but I think that's much better than those messages getting lost altogether in a gripping action-packed narrative and allowing the narrative to ride on the back of a marginalized community. I think this type of book is perfect for people who like noirs and thrillers and may also have some room for personal growth in the biases and prejudices department.

Altogether, this was mighty excellent. The audio experience was something to behold; I'll listen to anything Adam Lazarre-White ever does from now on. He became an instant favorite narrator for me and I highly highly highly recommend checking out this audiobook! I am so on the S.A. Cosby bandwagon now and heard that Paramount optioned the film rights for this one. It will be PERFECT as a film and I can't wait!