Fast paced, action packed but filled with emotions! Characters that you like despite their many, many flaws.
I LOVED Blacktop Wasteland but I think RT is even better. SA Cosby has become a go-to author for me!

I really enjoyed reading this book! Campy, violent and totally over the top. While the big reveal was a bit predictable this book kept me totally entertained and was a nice change of pace from the types of mysteries I usually read.

I don't usually gravitate towards thrillers, but we went away for the weekend and this was what was available to me to read. I have to say, I was enthralled. I kept thinking "ugh I don't like blood and guts and I'm going to put it down." But then hours later I would be wondering what happens to Ike and Billy Lee....I had to know. Four solid stars!

Intense, heartbreaking and AMAZING. If you love action packed Southern crime fiction with a superb storytelling this is a must read. Read in one sitting and totally unputdownable. Cosby is the King of Southern Crime Fiction. Blacktop Wasteland (2020) blew me away and Razorblade Tears blew that away. Get this book now!

Last year, BLACKTOP WASTELAND was easily my favorite book of 2020, so I won’t lie when I say that I went into this one with really high expectations. Let me tell you, RAZORBLADE TEARS blew them out of the water. I knew going into it that I was probably going to end up binge-reading it and before I knew it half the book was finished and I couldn’t stop. Cosby’s writing style hits hard and is so addictive. Much like BLACKTOP WASTELAND, this is a very character driven novel and we get an incredibly clear picture of our main characters.

Ike Randolph and Buddy Lee Jenkins are two men whose lives come colliding together after the deaths of their sons. When the police tell them that the investigation has gone inactive it doesn’t sit well with the grieving fathers. Both are ex-cons and have tried to keep their criminal lives in the past, but that is all about to change when they take the investigation into their own hands. They know from experience that not everyone will talk to cops but they have ways of making people cooperate. The journey these two go on together is intense. Not only are they trying to fight for their sons, but they also have to overcome their own prejudices about each other and come face-to-face with the lives of Isiah and Derek that they shut out because they didn’t approve of their marriage.

What I remember loving about BLACKTOP WASTELAND was how real the emotions felt. The agony, conflict, grief, regret, and anger these men were experiencing just jumped off the page. There were parts that gave me chills. Parts that just rip your heart out and, thankfully, some comedic relief from Buddy Lee. It’s so hard to articulate exactly how I feel about this book without potentially spoiling anything, but I think that it’s going to be one that sticks with you and makes you truly reflect. If you want a book with conflicted and complicated characters with a healthy dose of grit and action, then you need to get this book now (and not let it sit on the TBR stack for too long). I will never stop recommending either of Cosby’s books and now the wait begins for his next release.

Ike Randolph has been out of jail for 15 years now. He swore to live a model citizen life with not even a speeding ticket since being free. But it's never a good thing when police show up at a Black man's door unexpected. They deliver the news that Ike's son, Isiah, has been murdered alongside his white husband, Derek. Derek's father is suffering and angry. Buddy Lee is a whiskey-drinking redneck with ties to the underworld just itching to get revenge.

This unlikely pair joins forces to hunt and avenge the people who murdered their gay sons. With nothing in common besides being ex-cons and a fierce love of their dead sons, they band together for bloody revenge and confront their prejudices. This novel takes off with a gunshot bang and doesn't stop with the action suspense until the very end. Damn, it's good!

S.A. Cosby created a scenario that could unfortunately happen to two fathers in real life. The plot was not a stretch, making it quite an emotional read. Can you imagine hurting so deep that tears feel like razors? My heart went out to Ike and Buddy Lee in their quest to avenge their sons' senseless murders and bring justice by any means necessary.

Razorblade Tears would make an awesomesauce movie! I need to see the dangerous dads in action on the big screen. With characters names like Uncle Remus, Mini-Fro, Mr. Get Down, Tangerine, Light-skinned, Buddy Lee Jenkins and Ike Randolph, you can expect a colorful cast. TV/Movie Directors, contact me for suggestions—I know just the perfect actors for these roles and willing to offer my MasterClass screenwriting skills!

Never a dull chapter in this new novel either. S.A. Cosby expertly weaved a tale of redemption with memorable scenes. Sometimes a forced alliance doesn't work in fiction. However, it adds an unpredictable element here. This is no good-cop-bad-cop duet. Buddy Lee and Ike are on a mission; may angels help whomever is in their way. Razorblade Tears is fast-paced so clear your plans for a weekend to get lost in its gritty pages. So worth it!

~LiteraryMarie

3 stars from me. Those stars are for the premise, wittiness, pace and writing.

I loved the premise. I mean, older parents attempting to redeem themselves by going after their sons’ killers.

Where was the characters’ story arc. I’m not sure the two dads evolved at all. They stereo-types and tropes in this one had me lost in a bad Sons of Anarchy episode. There was even a reference to SOA in the book. Dead on!

I also had some issues with the plot. There were things within the story that just didn’t seem believable to me. But, it’s just a story so anything, I suppose, is possible.

I had the privilege of reviewing this arresting social thriller for NPR Books. Here’s the opening.
—

Reading Razorblade Tears is a visceral full-body experience, a sharp jolt to the heart, and a treat for the senses. S. A. Cosby's moody southern thriller marries the skillful action and plotting of Lee Child with the atmosphere and insight of Attica Locke.

At the center of the storm are two battle-scarred, middle-aged men who've served hard time — one Black, one white, both desperate to get some rough justice for their murdered sons. Cosby's characters are specific and vividly rendered, and he paints a determinedly bleak yet thoroughly compelling picture of their plight. A brash and unabashed redneck and a tatted up Black small businessman barely holding on to his restraint, Buddy Lee Jenkins and Ike Randolph are virtual strangers who should have become family when their boys fell in love. But bigotry and bad judgment are hard habits to break, so that happy union never happened.
See the link for the full review.

“A Black father. A white father. Two murdered sons. A quest for vengeance”


OMG! This amazing story stirred so many emotions, that I am still not sure which one floored me and brought me to my knees the most: The terrible sense of shame and injustice at the prejudice and racial inequality shown, not only by the two main protagonists, but by the vast majority of the small-minded rural community they inhabit: My hatred of the tone and content of the more than graphic language needed to get the point of the story across to a town of people quite happy to pretend they do not hear: My revulsion at the senseless acts of violence and killing needed to ‘out’ the real perpetrator, who caused so much grief and despair to protect their own status, career and position in society: Or the deep visceral outpouring of remorse and regret by two fathers, determined to see a wrong righted and a memory honoured, by whatever means at their disposal and regardless of the legality of their actions.

A true novel of our modern times, this is a well structured, deeply considered work of social commentary, which exposes the fractures and faults of the societal, cultural and behavioural mores of our alternative, multi-faceted lifestyles, only further compounded by an almost total lack of appetite shown by an apathetic police department, to pursue the case of a young gay, mixed race couple, pointlessly and brutally murdered, leaving a small child parentless.

It is very much the case that these two fathers, Ike and Buddy Lee, one black the other white, are architects of their own demise, in that both having been incarcerated and institutionalised over so many and such long periods of time during their lives, their means of meting out ‘justice’, is rarely pretty, sophisticated or well considered. They fly by the seat of their pants, as a general rule, on the premise that they need to “do unto others as they would do unto you” – but do it first and make it count, on the basis that the end will always justify the means – until now!

In many ways these two men are grieving for themselves, as much as for their dead, as when the young men were alive, both Ike and BL were strong deniers of their sons’ sexuality and racial bias. Relationships between the four men had been at their lowest ebb and strained to the limits. A few home truths, which surfaced following their deaths and at the time of their sparsely attended funerals, have altered, if not totally changed the fathers’ perspectives. So whilst they may never become firm friends, they decide to work together to uncover the truth behind the murders and bring down the perpetrators, or so they manage to convince themselves.

I was left pondering the true motive behind this sudden and unexpected call to action. Were Ike and BL genuinely seeking to avenge the death of their sons and heap revenge and retribution on the murderers? Did they need to assuage their own guilt regarding their attitude towards the love the two young men felt for one another when they were alive? Or was this just a convenient excuse to return to a way of life that both have tried to deny they still crave, but which they can now pursue with a renewed legitimacy, in the guise of their mission?

These two unlikely accomplices unleash a terrifying, knee-jerk chaos of such huge proportions, that it has grown a life of its own and now it can’t be stopped, even if they want it to be, as too many innocent lives are at stake and have indeed, already been sacrificed, as a result of their rash and ill considered actions. Ike says it is not for revenge but hate, as ‘revenge is just hate in a nicer suit’.

This multi-layered, intensely textured, gritty and darkly atmospheric storyline, has been conceived and written by an author with a uniquely unconventional, distinctive voice and intuitive style. Powerful and emotionally draining, it is told with total authority and complete confidence, by an assured and consummate exponent in the art of immersive storytelling. Whose skill in the imagery of words, with some excellent observational and descriptive narrative, together with some punchy and brutally honest dialogue, adds a real depth and range to this lugubrious storyline and offers a real sense of time and place.

Even that glimmer of hope and new beginnings, which begins to blossom when the dust has settled, is very fragile and will have to be carefully nurtured as it grows, although not everyone is going to be around to see it happen.

The characters are definitely very emotionally complex, and even though well defined and developed, I found them very difficult to connect with or become invested in, although they were so animated, that they became completely addictive and had me on the edge of my seat rooting for them, almost against my better judgement. The author has done an amazing job of giving the entire cast a strong believable voice, both collectively and individually, to direct and tell their story, with just a gentle guiding hand leading the way.

From the preface of the book, I note that Razorblade Tears has already been optioned for film. To say it would be a real travesty if either the original backers, or another major player in the movie industry, didn’t pick this one up and run with it, would not be too strong a reaction. The storyline is just begging for film script adaptation and a cast of major character actors to get to work on it, although there is nothing much about it I would fundamentally change, including that brilliant title!

This is going to be short and sweet. My new favorite book and might just be my favorite book of 2021. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. Go read it right now.

Add one part 70s revenger thriller with two parts 80s buddy cop actioneer. Wet it all down with the in-your-face turmoil of the 2020s. Shake that bad boy all up to get Razorblade Tears, a drink saltier than a margarita on Cabo and more masculine than ice cold PBR on draft.

Razorblade Tears is more than a hard-boiled follow up to S.A. Cosby’s celebrated Blacktop Wasteland. This is Cosby’s declaration. A statement that the racial divide in America is as wide as ever and a plea for this gap to close before everyone is swallowed within. Cosby gets intimate in showing a hurt world through Black eyes while trying to understand what is possible through white. Screaming that life is rough. Believing love can be stronger than all colors. And he does it through the tears, the fists, the rage, and strong backs of Ike and Buddy Lee – stubborn ex-cons who share the bond of fatherhood.

Ike “Riot” Randolph. One-time Black God enforcer. Now married and a successful small-business owner. Buddy Lee Jenkins. A redneck slacker whose life has been divided by the gray of prison and the silver of his single-wide. When their sons are brutally murdered, Ike and Buddy Lee decide to make amends. You see, each son was loved. But each son was also rejected.

You ready for the kicker? Cause here it comes.

Ike’s son, Isiah? Buddy Lee’s Derek? They were married to each other. In doing so became the shame of their fathers. For Ike and Buddy Lee, theirs is a world where Black is black and White is white. Nothing else matters. Right? They don’t understand the pride of the modern world where love has no gender. What they do know is how to fight.

When the police investigation stalls, Ike and Buddy Lee decide to go all Southern Noir and they fight.

They also learn as their quest of justice, or at least revenge, leads to truth. Truth that their love for their sons should not dictate who they slept with. Ike comes to understand there is a lot of gray between those tonal extremes. Buddy Lee realizes that Ike’s plight, a Black ex-con living in the South, comes with neon badges of danger that is as foreign to his white prejudiced upbringing as a that of a college education. And, naturally, they discover the real reason for the murder of their sons.

Ike’s dialogue tends to get repetitive yet it is Cosby who evidently wants such sentiments accepted. Exaltations that Black Lives Matter are continuously voiced yet unless watered those airings will become as parched as the restless desert. Cosby plays gardener to those seeds and masterfully wraps that thesis in gleaming chrome, ebony knuckles, and tears so sharp they’ll cut ya.

Cosby writes with a pulpy style relishing the contemporary while honoring the genre. The hard edges of Chandler and Cain are chased down with Lehane’s refinement while everything is smoothed over with some Mosley style. And any of the action that might have taken a backseat in Blacktop Wasteland is now behind the driver’s seat with the windshield shattered and the tachometer redder than Frank’s hot sauce.

As with Bug Montage in Blacktop Wasteland, Ike and Buddy Lee strive to be better men. To make amends for the future. To settle up with their karma of the past. Cosby’s heart bleeds on the page and every drop deserves to be caught. For out of that blood comes change and something even fiercer – redemption.



Let’s hear it for Flatiron Books who sent me the free preview. And believe it, I will be purchasing additional copies for gifts.

Razorblade Tears is a fast paced crime thriller. Ike and Buddy Lee are unlikely allies. Their married sons were murdered, and they take matters into their own hands to find out by who. Each carry regret that they alienated their sons for being gay. What happens as the story unfolds is how far two men will go to make things right.

Outstanding. Just as good as his last one - will most likely make my top 10 of the year. Compulsive, empathetic, emotional, fast-paced & thrilling. An excellent story.

I went into reading Razorblade Tears with high expectations because I loved Blacktop Wasteland so much. I think I loved this even more. Bobby Lee and Ike are complicated, complex characters working through their own grief, guilt, racism, and homophobia while raining down some furious vengeance in pursuit of their sons' murderers.

I can barely talk about this book rationally - I mostly just want to yell "READ IT!" at everyone I see. S.A. Cosby is a genius, and I cannot wait to read everything else he writes.

One of the big trends in action movies over the past few years has been the rise of the middle-aged avenger. Liam Neeson kicked off the subgenre with “Taken,” and since then, Bob Odenkirk (“Nobody”), Keanu Reeves (“John Wick”) and Jackie Chan (“The Foreigner”) have shown that you can kick ass well into your 50s and 60s.

S.A. Cosby’s Razorblade Tears features two older men who are out for revenge, and find themselves facing off against a veritable battalion of foes who make the mistake of underestimating what a pair of very determined geezers can accomplish.

Ike and Buddy Lee live in rural Virginia and are both ex-cons. Ike has accomplished quite a bit since going straight; he owns a successful landscaping business and lives in a nice home with his wife. Buddy Lee is an alcoholic who is perpetually behind on the rent for his broken-down trailer. The two men meet for the first time at their sons’ funeral. Isiah and Derek were married, and had a young daughter who was left orphaned when the couple was brutally murdered. When the police basically give up hope of finding who killed the pair, Ike and Buddy Lee team up to solve the case.

Both fathers are forced to reckon with their deeply entrenched homophobia, which prevented them from having relationships with their sons. Ike “definitely thought he could ‘man up’ the gay out of Isiah. Might as well tried to make him a bird and tossed him off the roof.” Buddy Lee says of his son, “I called him names. Told him he was a pervert. I whupped him till his legs was covered with welts. He cried and cried. Saying he was sorry. He didn’t know why he was like that.”

Now that their boys are gone, Ike and Buddy Lee realize their chance to repair those bonds is gone forever. But they can at least find out who murdered Isiah and Derek in cold blood, and make them pay.

“There was no turning back. There was no path that led anywhere except down a long road as dark as your first night in hell and paved all along the way with bad intentions. They could call what they were seeking justice, but that didn’t make it true. It was unquenchable, implacable vengeance. And life, inside the graybar and out, had taught [Ike] that vengeance came with consequences.”

Like Cosby’s Blacktop Wasteland, one of the most acclaimed crime novels of 2020, Razorblade Tears offers more than just mayhem—it can be difficult at first to root for two men who failed their children so badly, but Ike and Buddy Lee do a lot of learning and growing over the course of the novel. Not just about LGBT issues; Ike, who is Black, schools Buddy Lee about racism (at one point, when two cops catch Buddy Lee doing some damage with a baseball bat and don’t immediately start shooting, he finds himself muttering “Thank God for white privilege”).

There’s still action aplenty, of course; readers who enjoyed the Grand Guignol violence of Blacktop Wasteland will not be disappointed. Cosby has quite a gift for writing about blood-soaked mayhem. (Sample sentence: “When he hit the ground, his large and small intestines began to unspool like a ribbon of saltwater taffy soaked in merlot.”)

Not surprisingly, the film rights to Razorblade Tears have already been sold; personally, I think Terry Crews and Woody Harrelson would be ideal as Ike and Buddy Lee. Thanks to Flatiron Books for inviting me to review this powerful thriller.

Two Fathers Traveling down a road called Vengeance....

Ike and Buddy Lee are two fathers, both ex-cons, who struggled with their son's sexuality, who ban together to get answers when their sons are brutally murdered. Now struggling with the loss of their sons, their guilt over how they rejected their sons, they go on an action-packed mission seeking answers and retribution.

"There was no path that led anywhere except down a long road as dark as your first night in hell and paved all along the way with bad intentions. They could call what they were seeking justice, but that didn't make it true. It was unquenchable, implacable vengeance."

Talk about putting the pedal to the metal!

As the two men learn more about those in their sons lives and follow clues to what led to their murders, Ike and Buddy Lee learn about themselves and each other as well. Ike is black and Buddy Lee is white. While searching for the truth of what happened to their sons, they also look at the "truths" in their own lives. They reflect on how they were raised, their criminal histories, their regrets, and their grief. Both come to terms with rejecting their sons and how they missed out on their sons lives. They have discussions on race, racism, prejudice and sexuality. With nothing in common but their grief, they will not stop until they get answers and payback.

"I could kill them all a thousand times and it wouldn't even come close to being enough. But it would always be worth it."

These men, these two men! Man, oh man! They had me rooting for them the entire way. They are hardcore, brutal and street smart. They are two of many in this book but even with all the characters, you will not get confused or have difficulty keeping track of everyone.

Cosby starts his book strong and does not let up! If you have not read his work before, I encourage you to do so. He is such a gifted and beautiful writer. He has a gift for writing fully fledged characters. His descriptions transport readers to the character's world, introduces us to their pain, bares their souls and deposits readers in the heart of the action.

To say that I loved this book is an understatement. It deserves all the stars and even that is not enough. I mentioned his writing in the previous paragraph, and I will mention it one last time - it is FANTASTIC! I loved it! It is gritty, raw, and evokes emotion! Whew!

Cosby also touches on serval themes in this book: guilt, loss, sexuality, race, criminals, fatherhood, family, regret, grief, and love. He balances out the violence and heavy topics with bits of humor. I felt so many emotions while reading this gripping book. Will he leave you with razorblade tears falling down your cheeks?

S.A. Cosby came on my radar with Blacktop Wasteland and I jumped on the opportunity to read this book. I must say that Cosby has outdone himself with this book! He completely blew me away! This was a riveting page turner which had me fully engrossed in the book not wanting to put it down!

Gripping, raw, gritty and thought provoking!

Highly recommend.

Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

There are not enough stars in the world for this book. This one grabs you right in the short and curlies and pulls you along with every heart wrenching, action packed scene. And Cosby is just genius. I figured as much after reading Blacktop Wasteland and it is cemented after reading this book. A book that slapped me straight in the heart and made me scream 'Mommy!"
The title you will completely understand the first time you read it in this book. I cannot begin to describe and tell you of all the very big lessons that are learned throughout this read and the very human way Cosby brought it to our very souls by way of our eyes or ears. This is the second book I've read in a row where parents had to do whatever the fuck it took for their kids.

If you have read Blacktop Wasteland, you'll know that it is a very character driven novel (also outstanding and if you haven't read either of these, do yourself a favor and immediately stop reading this review and go purchase them NOW). RAZORBLADE TEARS is no different and we get DEEP into the hearts of Ike and Buddy Lee. Two men, bound by their sons deaths. Bound by their hard lives. Each learning lessons from the other as they pursue their common goal. Y'all, if there's one big thing to take from this is, if you have an issue with your gay child, if they are stripped from your life altogether and six feet under, would you really give a shit who they had in their bed as long as they were happy and alive?

This story does have a lot of action and we also get some levity through Buddy Lee so fear not if you're not into character driven stories - this one is punch full and it would surprise me if you had a hard time putting it down. I need to go pick up my heart as it is in a zillion teeny pieces at the moment. Cosby, you brilliant author, you - thank you for putting this amazing story and all it stands for into the public. We need more of this.

In Razorblade Tears, two men are coping with the tragic, violent, mysterious deaths of their married sons. Derek and Isiah were estranged from their ex-con fathers, each of whom now regret every moment they didn't make sure the young men knew that they were perfect and beloved.

Buddy Lee and Ike have sworn off their brutal pasts and all of the tangles and troubles that went hand in hand with them. Buddy Lee lost his job while mourning his son and is holed up drinking in his trailer, and Ike, who knows a Black man can't afford to put a foot out of line, has built his landscaping company from the ground up and stayed clean for years.

But the cops seem to have given up on the case, the killers are still on the loose, and the men share a deep desire for vengeance. Their old days as hardened criminals could help them satisfy their thirst for revenge--as long as they're willing to potentially give up everything else in the process.

This is a brutally violent story shadowed with heartbreaking regret. It highlights unlikely loyalties forged during desperate times, terrible scenes of cruelty, and shocking, mortal danger posed to everyone even cursorily connected to the situation at hand. It's a fast read, and I'm in for any of Cosby's writing.

I received a digital prepublication copy of this book--published today--courtesy of Flatiron Books and NetGalley.

I was so excited to see that S.A. Cosby had a new book coming out. I loved last year's gritty, character-driven mystery-thriller Blacktop Wasteland so much that it made my Six Favorite Summer 2020 Reads list.

I thought S.A. Cosby's novel Blacktop Wastelands was brilliant. His latest book, Razorblade Tears releases today - and I have to say it's even better imo.

Ike and Buddy Lee don't have much in common - one is Black and the other is white. Their paths wouldn't normally cross in their small Virginia town. But what they do have in common are their sons. Sons that loved each other, married and had a child. Sons that are now dead, gunned down for who knows what reason. The cops don't seem to be making any progress with the case, so the two men reluctantly join forces to try and find who killed them. And make them pay. The other thing they have in common? They were both alienated from their sons for their own homophobic bias, they've both served hard time and although they're living the straight and narrow now, they each have a history of violence.

Cosby has created two anti heroes that will immediately have the reader firmly behind them on their quest for justice. Or maybe vengeance is a better descriptor. The action is non stop, the plotting intricate and believable, the dialogue true and the writing addictive. I couldn't put the book down.

"There was no turning back. There was no path that led anywhere except down a long road as dark as your first night in hell and paved all along the way with bad intentions. They could call what they were seeking justice, but that didn't make it true. It was unquenchable, implacable vengeance. And life, inside the graybar and out, had taught him that vengeance came with consequences."

But the real draw amongst all the above is Ike and Buddy Lee. There's more to these two than what they show to the world. They loved their sons, but.... And along the road to redemption, those buts are challenged, their guilt, grief, loss and yes, love is revisited. There's a number of supporting players that are just as well drawn.

Razorblade Tears is a raw, powerful, gritty, gut wrenching good novel - with many truths woven through it. Absolutely, positively recommended.

And the title? "Tears ran from his eyes and stung his cheeks. Tears for his son. Tears for his wife. Tears for the little girl they had to raise. Tears for who they were and what they all had lost. Each drop felt like it was slicing his face open like a razorblade."

Razorblade Tears has already been optioned by Paramount Players. The casting has to be carefully chosen to do right by Cosby's book. This reader also hopes that Cosby is hard at work on his next book. He's firmly planted on my 'must read' list.

He did it again, folks. I was a tad bit nervous because I love Blacktop Wasteland so much, so while I was anxious for this next book, I was also anxious that it might not live up to my expectations. Well, I should have known Cosby would not disappoint.

First and foremost, this is unadulterated, R-rated, biker gang, prison tats action. It’s freaking awesome. Next, you have a dash of well-placed humor from an unlikely duo. The trifecta is the heart. These aren’t stone cold killing machines, these are grandpas out to avenge their sons’ deaths and protect their family at all costs. They do only what is necessary, but it is very necessary. However, that is not even close to everything this story encompasses. Through this nitty gritty landscape, you have a soft, melty center that has two crusty ex-cons battling their guilt of how they treated their now deceased sons, while examining their own feelings and prejudices, and somehow these old dogs managed to learn a few new tricks.

If you prefer your thrillers to entertain with fights and explosions, choke you up with emotion, and make you laugh throughout, you have to get your hands on a copy of this fantastic book.

An advanced copy of this book was sent to me by the publisher. The opinions are my own.