“Ike tried to remember a time when men with badges coming to his door early in the morning brought anything other than heartache and misery, but try as he might, nothing came to mind … He was fifteen years removed from Coldwater State Penitentiary … Not so much as a speeding ticket in all those years. Yet here he was with his tongue dry and the back of his throat burning as the two cops stared down at him … “Sir, I’m Detective LaPlata. This is my partner, Detective Robbins. May we come in?” – S. A. Cosby Razorblade Tears
Detectives LaPlata and Robbins are not at Ike Randolph’s door to make an arrest. They are there to inform Ike that his son Isiah and Isiah’s husband Derek have been murdered. Ike is shocked and grief stricken as any father would be. And days later at the funeral Ike meets Derek’s father Buddy Lee Jenkins. Both men are ex-cons. Ike is black and Buddy Lee is white and both men feel grief but also guilt about what happened to their sons.
Guilt for the years they spent in prison away from their families. And also neither Ike nor Buddy Lee could accept that their sons were gay. Neither attended Isiah and Derek’s wedding and now it’s too late to reconnect. And the police aren’t making much progress in catching the killers. And so Ike and Buddy Lee who thought they had left their criminal life behind decide to team up to get vigilante justice for their boys.
I’ve been DNFing quite a few books this year and struggling to finish others. But Razorblade Tears (2021) by S A Cosby (winner of the 2022 Anthony Award) came as a welcome surprise. Fast paced, gripping, thought provoking. I read it straight through.
And at the center of the novel is the relationship between Ike and Buddy Lee . Ike is serious and not someone you cross. Buddy Lee is more easy going and quite funny. As the two men go on their journey to find their sons’ killers they get closer and talk about race, their lives, what they experienced in prison.
And Ike and Buddy Lee share the regrets they have as fathers and the determination in making sure whoever killed Isiah and Derek pays dearly. The novel runs on fumes of revenge and there is alot of violence meeted out but I didn’t mind because the gang that Ike and Buddy Lee are after deserve what they get. Their punishment is earned.
Razorblade Tears is a novel that will get you out of a reading slump. It certainly did that for me and in a few months I can see myself picking up Blacktop Wasteland, also by S . A . Cosby.
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