The new novel from the award-winning author of RAZORBLADE TEARS and BLACKTOP WASTELAND, perfect for fans of Don Winslow and Attica Locke.
A Black sheriff. A serial killer.
And a small town ready to combust.
Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, Charon has had only two murders. After years of working as an FBI agent, no one knows better than Titus that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface.
But a year to the day after Titus’s election, a school teacher is killed by a former student. The student is then fatally shot by Titus’s deputies.
As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes, and a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight, haunting the dirt lanes and woodland clearings of Charon. With the killer’s possible connections to a local church and the town’s harrowing history weighing on him, Titus tries to project confidence about closing the case while concealing a painful secret from his own past. At the same time, he also has to contend with a far-right group that wants to hold a parade in celebration of the town’s Confederate history.
Charon is Titus’s home and his heart. But where faith and violence meet, there will be a reckoning.
Praise for S. A. Cosby:
‘S. A. Cosby is not only the future of crime fiction but of any fiction where the words are strong, the characters are strong and the story has a resonance that cuts right to the heart of the most important questions of our time’ MICHAEL CONNELLY
Every once in a while a writer comes along with an incredible voice…add S. A. Cosby to that list.’ STEVE CAVANAGH
‘Sensationally good’ LEE CHILD
‘I loved BLACKTOP WASTELAND’ STEPHEN KING
‘Stunning. Can’t remember the last time I read such a powerful crime novel’ MARK BILLINGHAM
‘S. A. Cosby is a welcome, refreshing new voice in crime literature. DENNIS LEHANE
(P) 2023 Macmillan Audio
A Black sheriff. A serial killer.
And a small town ready to combust.
Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, Charon has had only two murders. After years of working as an FBI agent, no one knows better than Titus that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface.
But a year to the day after Titus’s election, a school teacher is killed by a former student. The student is then fatally shot by Titus’s deputies.
As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes, and a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight, haunting the dirt lanes and woodland clearings of Charon. With the killer’s possible connections to a local church and the town’s harrowing history weighing on him, Titus tries to project confidence about closing the case while concealing a painful secret from his own past. At the same time, he also has to contend with a far-right group that wants to hold a parade in celebration of the town’s Confederate history.
Charon is Titus’s home and his heart. But where faith and violence meet, there will be a reckoning.
Praise for S. A. Cosby:
‘S. A. Cosby is not only the future of crime fiction but of any fiction where the words are strong, the characters are strong and the story has a resonance that cuts right to the heart of the most important questions of our time’ MICHAEL CONNELLY
Every once in a while a writer comes along with an incredible voice…add S. A. Cosby to that list.’ STEVE CAVANAGH
‘Sensationally good’ LEE CHILD
‘I loved BLACKTOP WASTELAND’ STEPHEN KING
‘Stunning. Can’t remember the last time I read such a powerful crime novel’ MARK BILLINGHAM
‘S. A. Cosby is a welcome, refreshing new voice in crime literature. DENNIS LEHANE
(P) 2023 Macmillan Audio
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Reviews
Only S.A. Cosby could bring poetry to the darkness. A dark, disturbing and gripping masterpiece that reaches into the depths of your soul.
PRAISE FOR S. A. COSBY:
S. A. Cosby's novels always hit the grand slam of crime fiction; unstoppable momentum, gripping intrigue and deep character with a hard and telling look at culture and society. I hesitate to call All The Sinners Bleed his masterpiece because he has many more books to write and they only get better and better. Cosby no doubt carries the mantle of Faulkner with him as he uses the crime story to show us where we are and how far we still need to go. Sheriff Titus Crown lives in these pages and your heart. He's a character for the ages
The very definition of a white-knuckle ride
Utterly brilliant....Beautiful, violent, operatic, relevant, poignant, gripping & important. Masterful.
Cosby's growing body of work represents a muscular take on race relations in America. In All The Sinners Bleed, he again forces the reader to dwell on how prejudice lingers and shapes contemporary society, particularly in America's south. A powerful crime thriller that pulls no punches.
A top-notch tale about the dark side of small towns and racial politics
Exemplary
Raw, powerful and pacey, Razorblade Tears more than fulfils the promise of Cosby's superb debut
An excellent, gritty novel about how eventually, all sins must be reckoned with...The action is nonstop and Titus has real depth...Layered. Dark. True.
Cosby's talents for pungent dialogue and Chandler-esque phrase-making were praised in his previous novel,.. and they're evident again in this pulsating follow-up
It's a rare trick to combine violence with social commentary, but Cosby pulls it off
One of the most muscular, distinctive, grab-you-by-both-ears voices in American crime fiction.