"People like Isiah and Derek and your mama didn't deserve to die the way they did. And the people that killed them don't deserve to live. I can't speak for Buddy Lee, but that's what keeps me going," Ike said.
"Revenge?" Tangerine asked. Ike smiled ruefully. "No, hate. Folks like to talk about revenge like it's a righteous thing but it's just hate in a nice suit," Ike said.
--S.A. Cosby, Razorblade Tears (Flatiron Books, 2021)
Razorblade Tears is something of a sophisticated retread of Blacktop Wasteland (which I wrote about in December), in this case Black and white ex-cons are seeking the killers of their gay married sons when the police are having no success. Fathers Ike and Buddy Lee feel guilty for how they treated their sons in life and do everything they can, with the help of the trans woman Tangerine, to find the murderers while also finding out a great deal about their sons, from talking to their friends to investigating gay bars. As the violence and destruction escalate Ike and Buddy Lee become friends in the unfriendly environment of Virginia.
Razorblade Tears is a vividly written story about how some Blacks and whites can get along if motivated, as Ike and Buddy Lee are, by mutual guilt, anger and love for their children.
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