Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A Rollicking Tale of Revenge, and a Reckoning with Grief & Regrets

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

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Two fathers; one black, one white. Two sons; married and murdered. One driving mission: find out who did it, and make them pay. Ike Randolph got out of jail 15 years ago and has been on the straight and narrow ever since. But cops knocking at a Black man’s door is never a good thing. In this case, it’s the worst thing. Ike’s son Isaiah has been murdered in cold blood, alongside Isaiah’s white husband Derek. Neither Ike nor Derek’s father Buddy Lee had really […]

Burn Baby Burn

King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby

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At the outset: this book is not for the faint of heart. If you’ve read any prior S.A. Cosby novels, you know that violence–gritty, ugly, cruel, unvarnished–is an integral part of his characters’ worlds. These characters are usually trying to escape violence, but it comes for them due to fate, personal choice, or some combination of both. One of my favorite aspects of Cosby’s oeuvre is that blodshed is never pretty or glorified. The main characters, because they are essentially human, despise the carnage that […]

Citation and murder

All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby

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bingo row 5 – citizen S.A. Cosby’s All the Sinners Bleed takes place in Flannery O’Connor’s south. The protagonist – even cites her because he is so very well read. The book is set c. 2017 and was published in 2023. Normally several years doesn’t make a big difference, but considering that topics included confederate statues being taken down, Black lives mattering, and racist cops, I think setting it pre-2020 makes a big difference. But I’m not Black and I’ve never been to Virginia so […]

The Pursuit of Justice

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby

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S.A. Cosby’s All the Sinners Bleed is a satisfying crime novel that has deeper layers. Black sheriff Titus Crown oversees Charon County in the state of Virginia. The novel starts out with a school shooting, but soon leads to much darker crimes. Crown is a fully fleshed out character. A good man haunted by something that happened when he was an FBI agent, his life is orderly to the extreme. Inside, he carries the grief of his mother’s death and a highly developed sense of […]

Hate Always Hurts the Hater

Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby

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OK, this was a hard one to read because of the homophobia and violence, although the story is valid.  A whole lot of coulda, shouda, woulda after it’s too late. Ike Randolph is a black ex-con with a loving wife and child.  Buddy Lee is a white divorced ex-con, just barely hanging on.  One thing they have in common was their ruthless reputations while they were in prison, and a fierce desire to stay out.  The two had no connection until they are informed by […]

A gripping Southern noir

All Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby

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When not reading romance, I love me some mysteries! I usually stray into cozies with pun titles, but been known to enjoy a good detective novel too. All Sinners Bleed was my first read from S.A. Cosby. The novel follows Titus Crowne, a newly elected Black sheriff when tragedy befalls the hometown where he serves. A school shooting uncovers buried secrets and forces the town to reckon with the concept of murderers in their midst. Titus was in the FBI and came home to live […]



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