Razor Blade Tears – Book Review

A Black father. A white father. Two murdered sons. A quest for vengeance.

Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid.

The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss.

Derek’s father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed his father was a criminal. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.

Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, hardened men Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.

I enjoyed S.A. Cosby’s All Sinner Bleed (I have given the review for the book) and so this is the second book I have been reading from this author.

Razorblade Tears follows the story of two fathers seeking vengeance and revenge from their sons’ killers. Ike Randolph and Buddy Lee were both criminals having been in prison and they both had estranged relationship with their sons–Isaiah and Derek. Isaiah and Derek were married to each other and both fathers struggled to come to terms they their sons were gay. But their sons’ brutal murders shocked both fathers and as the police failed to catch the criminals, both Ike and Buddy come together to handle the matters on their own.

This was well written–just like All Sinners Bleed. The raw emotions and heartbreak that each father was experiencing was too real. Ike having been in prison seemed to be having a successful landscaping business while Buddy seem to be struggling with his addiction in alcohol. One of the unique thing about this is, one of them, Ik is Black while Buddy is white and how despite racial differences, they work together to find their sons’ killers. The language and the words used in this novel give a hint of southern atmosphere in this novel.

I enjoyed this book and so overall I rate this book 4 stars.