Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - All the Sinners Bleed

Gripping, timely, and grim as hell. Reads a bit like what Se7en might've been like if it came out today and was influenced by the many flashpoints of the last 10 (not to mention the last 250) years of American culture and politics, and set in rural Virginia.

The first Black sheriff - Titus Crown - elected in the fictional county of Charon in rural Virginia must stop a serial killer before the county erupts from the tensions of fear and the foundational racism that's a facet of its people's daily lives.

In spite of my five-star rating, this is a book that I would hesitate to recommend to pretty much anyone I know, in contrast to Cosby's previous novel, Razorblade Tears, which isn't a light novel but not nearly as dark as this. It's undoubtedly one of the darkest books I've ever read: there is a school shooting in the second chapter (no children are harmed, but...) and it just gets worse from there. This is not something I would've ever been drawn to if I hadn't read his previous stuff.

Cosby can <i>write</i>. With most authors I can point to their particular strengths: he's good at characterization, her prose is really evocative, etc. I'd struggle to mention something that Cosby doesn't excel at. The characters are nuanced, multidimensional people, the plot is tightly-wound and intricately charted, and I hear, smell, and feel the environs of Charon County.

And the insight with which Cosby writes the experiences of a Black man living amongst the prejudices and racism of ~~rural~~ America is what takes this novel beyond a genre thriller and into a must-read commentary of the world we live in.

If you know what you're getting into and aren't troubled by darker crime fiction, definitely read this, though I'd probably recommend Razorblade Tears as an intro to S.A. Cosby. And if you aren't sure, maybe stay away - I'm not someone that includes content warnings in reviews but I will be listing them as spoilers at the bottom.

I will read anything that Cosby writes and hope his next novel comes soon.

Opening:

Charon County was founded in bloodshed and darkness.
Literally and figuratively.
Even the name is enveloped in shadows and morbidity. Legend has it the name of the county was supposed to be Charlotte or Charles County, but the town elders waited to late and those names were already taken by the time they decided to incorporate their fledgling encampment. As the story goes, they just moved their finger down the list of names until they settled on Charon. Those men, weathered as whitleather with hands like splitting mauls, bestowed the name on their new town with no regard to its macabre nature. Or perhaps they just liked the name because a river flowed through the county and emptied into the Chesapeake like the River Styx.
Who knows? Who could know the thoughts of those long-dead men?
What is known is that in 1805 in the dead of night a group of white land-owners, chafing at the limits of their own manifest destiny, set fire to the last remaining indigenous village on the tear-drop shaped peninsula that would become Charon County.
Those who escaped the flames were brought down by muskets with no regard to age, gender, or infirmity. That was the first of many tragedies in the history of Charon. The cannibalism of the winter of 1853. The malaria outbreak of 1901. The United Daughters of the Confederacy picnic poisoning of 1935. The Danforth family murder-suicide of 1957. The tent revival baptismal drownings of 1968, and on and on. The soil of Charon County, like most towns and counties in the South, was sown with generations of tears. They were places where violence and mayhem was celebrated as the pillars of a pioneering spirit every Founders' Day in the county square.

Content Warnings

alewo27's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

5 stars are not enough for a book so far ahead of all the other thrillers being written today, it's off the charts. Beautifully written, complicated, perfectly fleshed-out characters, a tense, nail-biting narrative from start to end. I cannot say enough about how fantastic this book is. I read this on audio, which I highly encourage, as the narrator is so spectacular! If you are a fan of Criminal Minds, this book is definitely for you. Or if you want a gorgeous story about the real life race issues in the American South today from an author with the voice to tell it right, you need to read this book!

Content Warnings

crystalxxvision's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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sfunk's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

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caitlinbaltera's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This book challenges you and makes you think, while also keeping you on the edge of your seat waiting for the resolution. The attention to detail is at times disturbing when it comes to the more violent scenes, but also serves the make the reader understand Charon and its history and residents.

Content Warnings

lexigoyette's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

Beautifully written but too slow-moving for my liking. I found the cast of characters a little too vast, so by the time the Last Wolf gets revealed, I was like, “Wait, who is that again?”

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