Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby – 336 pages
Book Blurb:
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 his father was a criminal. 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.
My Review: 4.5 stars
Razorblade Tears was another book that left me with a book hangover. There was so much to digest, to consider, to question. So much to discuss: race, sexuality, jail time, marriage, divorce, gun control, second chances, friendship and acceptance. This is the first book I’ve read by Cosby, and it certainly won’t be the last.
The tension was real in this book. Two men who both lost their sons to a deadly act of violence, were out for vengeance. The men, one white and one black, didn’t know each other well at all, yet they were related by law as their sons were married. Neither of these men succeeded in accepting their sons’ homosexuality, which left both men (Ike and Buddy Lee) having little to no connection with their boys. This loss hit hard, as it was too late to make amends; their boys were gone.
The story has an inherent sense of drama as these two men, both ex-cons, search for the murderers. They had to deal with their own offenses, the remorse they carry for not accepting their sons, fight time and time again with bigots and white supremacists, solve a mystery all while putting their lives at risk again for both jail time and/or death. There were some vividly violent scenes, so be warned.
The characters were so well drawn that this book read like a movie in my head. The mysterious Tangerine was such a bonus to the storyline; her twist surprised me and was a come together moment for the book. I’m so glad I read this thanks to the readers on my Tell Me What You’re Reading Tuesday Facebook page. Reading this, so soon after reading The World Played Chess, which also focuses on men’s friendships, really gave me a wide and interesting perspective into the male psyche. Highly recommend this one!
Quotes I liked:
Folks like to talk about revenge like it’s a righteous thing but it’s just hate in a nicer suit”
“It didn’t seem fair for a man to mourn someone abundantly that he had loved so miserly.”
“Human beings were wired to get used to just about anything. That didn’t make you hard. It made you indoctrinated.”
“Over the last few months death had carved a valley between them as deep as grief and as wide as heartbreak”
“This is who I am. I can’t change. I don’t want to, really. But for once I’m gonna put this devil inside me to good use.”
“But if all this has taught me one thing, it’s that it ain’t about me and what I get. It’s about letting people be who they are. And being who you are shouldn’t be a goddamn death sentence.”
“When the people you love are gone, it’s the things they’ve touched that keep them alive in your mind.”
“The tears came again. They poured from his eyes and ran over his cheeks. Flowed down to the stubble on his chin. This time they didn’t feel so much like razorblades. They felt like the long-awaited answer to a mournful prayer for rain.”
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