This is not the sort of thing I usually read. It is a crime drama and mystery. While I have nothing against the genre it usually isn't what leaps off the shelf and into my hands. I read Razorblade Tears by S. A. Crosby in less than 48 hours. I couldn't put it down.
In fact, the only time I put it down was when it made me nervous for the safety of the characters. That is a sign of good writing, when the characters become real in our minds.
The plot (and this is nothing you won't find on the dust jacket) revolves around the murder of a gay married couple and how their father's react to the crime.
They do not join a support group. The fathers are not accountants.
On both sides of the equation dad is a hardened ex-convict; one has made a new life for himself outside the penitentiary while the other has not. What unites the two is their lack of understanding of and cruelty to their sons during their lives. Yet, in death, the two men mourn not only their children but feel remorse and even despair at the mistreatment of their boys. They repeatedly confront the helplessness of no longer being able to make amends.
The two come together to find their sons' murderer.
For what is basically a "revenge mystery" this book has some of the best vignettes on racism and homophobia I've read recently. That is what this book is really about. That is the subtext but it never stops being about action the action and solving the crime.
It is violent, it is brutal and it sometimes stretches the reader's credulity but the characters genuinely come alive, even the peripheral ones. You may want to read more about some of these personalities created by Crosby but I wouldn't bet on that happening. The bow is pretty neatly tied at the end.
In fact, the only time I put it down was when it made me nervous for the safety of the characters. That is a sign of good writing, when the characters become real in our minds.
The plot (and this is nothing you won't find on the dust jacket) revolves around the murder of a gay married couple and how their father's react to the crime.
They do not join a support group. The fathers are not accountants.
On both sides of the equation dad is a hardened ex-convict; one has made a new life for himself outside the penitentiary while the other has not. What unites the two is their lack of understanding of and cruelty to their sons during their lives. Yet, in death, the two men mourn not only their children but feel remorse and even despair at the mistreatment of their boys. They repeatedly confront the helplessness of no longer being able to make amends.
The two come together to find their sons' murderer.
For what is basically a "revenge mystery" this book has some of the best vignettes on racism and homophobia I've read recently. That is what this book is really about. That is the subtext but it never stops being about action the action and solving the crime.
It is violent, it is brutal and it sometimes stretches the reader's credulity but the characters genuinely come alive, even the peripheral ones. You may want to read more about some of these personalities created by Crosby but I wouldn't bet on that happening. The bow is pretty neatly tied at the end.
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