Razorblade Tears
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Razorblade Tears is not my usual fare. A fast-paced thriller about two fathers hell-bent on revenge against their sons’ killer. It’s the darkest buddy cop style drama I’m likely to ever read, but the sheer charisma of the mismatched dads trying to figure out how to work together made it hard to put the book down. Ike has been on the straight and narrow for 15 years, but has never forgotten his violent past. Buddy Lee was never as successful as Ike on either side of the law, but damn if he doesn’t know how to get shit done. Both are trying to learn how to navigate a world where they’ve abruptly run out of tomorrows in which to make peace with their sons for being gay. They always assumed that sometime in the nebulous future they’d have a better relationship with their boy, and are forced to confront their own issues head-on while tracing the last steps their sons made before they were killed.
Adding an extra layer of complexity is the fact that Buddy Lee is white and Ike is Black. Buddy Lee in particular often seems to be in a one-man contest for how far he can fit his foot in his mouth. The awkward silences are nearly as painful as the actual torture scenes. I honestly don’t know which learning curve was more uncomfortable; Buddy with race relations or Ike with the LGBT experience. As he says at one point in the book, “But what he was doing was wrong. I have to believe that. Because if I don’t, then everything I did was a mistake”. That quote will stick with me for a while, because it just sums up so much of American discourse right now.
S.A. Cosby may have leaned hard into the ‘teachable moments’ throughout the book, but they never stole focus from the main point - the strikingly efficient and ever-building violence throughout the book. The pacing and description of the action scenes made the book play out in my head much like a movie, and that’s exactly what I’d recommend this for - if you love somewhat predictable but satisfyingly ruthless action movies, you’ll love Razorblade Tears. I wish all of the characters had been fleshed out slightly more, because as it was we got hints of fascinating backstory through the curtain of violence. The hints themselves were really well done, an excellent slow burn counterpoint to the steadily escalating primary plot.
Overall the book’s arc didn’t have a lot of surprises, but it was very well written and had a good balance of hope and panic, guilt and resolve. The logistics of the grand finale seemed a little convenient, but were still satisfying and fun to read. If you enjoy viscous characters, high stakes plots, or character growth you’ll enjoy Razorblade Tears. I paired it with a straight shot of whiskey to match the drinking habits of the main characters. (And then poured that shot right back into the bottle because absolutely not.)
