Dan Reads and Writes

I first heard about S.A. Cosby’s name from the New York Times Book Review podcast. This was around the time he came out with his first novel Razorblade Tears. I don’t remember exactly what they said about the book but it has somehow compelled me into adding it to my TBR. Took me a while to get to it but I did enjoy the book thoroughly. That statement sounds weird considering that the book is about the murders of this gay couple and the how the people around them has the deal with the aftermath. Particularly their fathers, who banded together to seek the truth behind the untimely passing of their sons. The book is shaped like a thriller/mystery and you go on this journey of figuring out who is responsible. While that is going on you also see the blossoming of this unlikely friendship between the two main characters. It moved so fast and I was just enraptured by the end of it. I still consider it one of the best books I’ve read in the last five years.

So fast forward to early this year, I had the chance to read All The Sinner Bleed. Given my experience with his first book, I knew I had to read it. This is a gripping thriller that delves into the complexities of family, morality, and the consequences of one’s actions.

In the center of the story is Titus Crown, the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. A former FBI agent who, at the beginning of the book, was called one day to handle a reported shooting incident in the town’s local high school. The incident quickly turns awry and Titus is caught in the middle of investigating a murder and his fellow officers. It becomes apparent that this shooting incident wasn’t random and Titus goes on this trail uncovering nasty town secrets, church involvement and even made more complicated by the town’s Confederate history.

As a character, Titus carries a lot of baggage. In the beginning, we don’t know exactly why he left the FBI. Once the reason was revealed it made me understood his actions more, the choices he makes on this book and the invisible wall he has built around him. His podcasting ex-girlfriend also decides to pay him a visit to do a story on the shooting, which causes more strain in an already directionless present relationship.

Does he solve the mystery in the end? I am going to leave that to you. But if there’s a visual representation I can provide, this book reminds me so much of the first season of True Detectives. Small town murders, touched by the occult. Because much like the characters of the said TV show, Titus realizes that his small town is not what it seems. Beyond the moonshine, honeysuckle and cornbread – a dark and twisted force is lurking.