CBTB’S TOP 10 CRIME BOOKS OF 2021 (SO FAR)
My Favorite Crime Books from the First Half of 2021
It’s hard to believe we are already more than halfway through 2021! This year has already delivered truly outstanding crime, mystery, thriller, and suspense books for us to devour, and today I wanted to round up a list of my favorite crime books published in the first half of the year. Whether you’re in the market for a chilling suspense story, a clever locked room mystery, or an edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller, this list has a little something for you. From new releases by returning favorites (Riley Sager, C.J. Tudor, Ragnar Jonasson, and more!) to thrilling debuts and new-to-me authors, 2021 has given me some absolutely incredible crime books to sink my teeth into - and I hope that this list will help you find a new favorite crime book or two for yourself, too! As you can imagine it was very difficult to narrow this list down. When making my selections here, I focused on books that I haven’t been able to stop recommending to others and thinking about myself—books that have had the kind of staying power for me that we all look for in favorite reads. The books included on this list were published from January 1, 2021 through July 6, 2021; stay tuned, because I’ll be rounding up a list of my favorite crime books from the second half of 2021 - plus a definitive list of my favorite crime books of the whole year - when 2021 comes to a close. Without further ado, let’s dig into this rundown of my favorite crime books of 2021 so far!
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CBTB’S TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2021 (SO FAR)
Organized by Publication Date
BLOODLINE by Jess Lourey
Publication Date: 1/1/21
Genre: Psychological Suspense with Horror Elements
From My Review:
If “small-town suspense-meets-horror” were a genre, Jess Lourey would be its queen. The author of 2020 standout UNSPEAKABLE THINGS returns on January 1 with her next work of dread-inducing rural horror, BLOODLINE. Set in 1960’s Minnesota, BLOODLINE draws readers into the heart of a picture-perfect town harboring unthinkable secrets. For pregnant journalist Joan Harken, her fiancé’s hometown of Lilydale represents a bright future: a place where their unborn child can grow up with all the safety and security that a tight-knit community has to offer—the kind of safety and security that was missing from her own upbringing. But as Joan settles into her new home, she can’t shake the feeling that something is just a bit off. Her neighbors have taken a keen interest in every aspect of her life, her fiancé is growing distant, and she swears someone is following her in the town. Joan is right to be suspicious—but even her wildest imaginings could never have prepared her, or the reader, for what is in store. Evil is lurking in the town of Lilydale, and Joan is going to have to rely on all her wits and inner strength to make it out with her life. BLOODLINE is a spine-tingling, up-all-night-reading psychological suspense novel-meets-horror story worthy of the comparisons to Rosemary’s Baby that it is receiving. If small-town scares are your cup of tea, BLOODLINE belongs on your 2021 reading list. | Read the Full Review
About the Book:
Perfect town. Perfect homes. Perfect families. It’s enough to drive some women mad…
In a tale inspired by real events, pregnant journalist Joan Harken is cautiously excited to follow her fiancé back to his Minnesota hometown. After spending a childhood on the move and chasing the screams and swirls of news-rich city life, she’s eager to settle down. Lilydale’s motto, “Come Home Forever,” couldn’t be more inviting.
And yet, something is off in the picture-perfect village.
The friendliness borders on intrusive. Joan can’t shake the feeling that every move she makes is being tracked. An archaic organization still seems to hold the town in thrall. So does the sinister secret of a little boy who vanished decades ago. And unless Joan is imagining things, a frighteningly familiar figure from her past is on watch in the shadows.
Her fiancé tells her she’s being paranoid. He might be right. Then again, she might have moved to the deadliest small town on earth.
SHIVER by Allie Reynolds
Publication Date: 1/19/21
Genre: Locked Room Mystery
From My Review:
SHIVER is pure “popcorn reading” material: lighter on violence but heavy on entertainment value, this engaging, relentlessly suspenseful mystery begs to be devoured in one or two sittings. In SHIVER, readers travel to the French Alps, where a group of friends are arriving for a reunion. Ten years ago, the group met while training for a snowboarding competition. That fateful winter, things took a tragic turn, and one of their own went missing. Fast forward ten years, and each member of the group has tried to move on… but this reunion is poised to bring old tensions, rivalries, and secrets back into the light. As the group settles into the resort where their reunion weekend is set to take place, they discover that things aren’t quite right. The resort is abandoned, with not a soul in sight. Then their phones go missing. And when they discover that the person they each believed invited them on this trip didn’t actually plan this getaway, things take a dark and deadly turn. Who called this group together? And who is behind the increasingly sinister events of the trip? Moving between present-day locked room mystery and flashback chapters that illuminate the dynamics and relationships between our central cast of characters, SHIVER is deliciously readable and delightfully chilling mystery fun. This book thoroughly exceeded my expectations and left me wishing it were even longer, just so I could spend more time with its engaging, endearing characters. SHIVER had me, the least-athletic person I know, ready to throw it all away and move to the mountains to take up snowboarding. If that’s not saying something, I don’t know what is. Readers who love the modern-day locked room mysteries of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley won’t want to miss Allie Reynolds’ chilling debut. | Read the Full Review
About the Book:
In this propulsive locked-room thriller debut, a reunion weekend in the French Alps turns deadly when five friends discover that someone has deliberately stranded them at their remote mountaintop resort during a snowstorm.
When Milla accepts an off-season invitation to Le Rocher, a cozy ski resort in the French Alps, she's expecting an intimate weekend of catching up with four old friends. It might have been a decade since she saw them last, but she's never forgotten the bond they forged on this very mountain during a winter spent fiercely training for an elite snowboarding competition.
Yet no sooner do Milla and the others arrive for the reunion than they realize something is horribly wrong. The resort is deserted. The cable cars that delivered them to the mountaintop have stopped working. Their cell phones--missing. And inside the hotel, detailed instructions await them: an icebreaker game, designed to draw out their secrets. A game meant to remind them of Saskia, the enigmatic sixth member of their group, who vanished the morning of the competition years before and has long been presumed dead.
Stranded in the resort, Milla's not sure what's worse: the increasingly sinister things happening around her or the looming snowstorm that's making escape even more impossible. All she knows is that there's no one on the mountain she can trust. Because someone has gathered them there to find out the truth about Saskia...someone who will stop at nothing to get answers. And if Milla's not careful, she could be the next to disappear...
THE SANATORIUM by Sarah Pearse
Publication Date: 2/2/21
Genre: Locked Room Mystery
From My Review:
[THE SANATORIUM] blends elements of Gothic suspense with a locked room mystery set in the Swiss Alps, and the result is an irresistible, just-one-more-page thriller perfect for your next wintry read. Selected as Reese Witherspoon’s February book club pick, Pearse’s debut novel delivers all the atmosphere, chilling intrigue, and hair-raising suspense that I hoped for and more. Following a woman who has recently taken a leave of absence from her work as a detective, THE SANATORIUM pits an unwitting group of individuals against a shadowy killer who appears to be at work in a high-end, minimalist hotel nestled in the Swiss Alps. When a snowstorm cuts off access to and from the hotel, it’s up to protagonist Elin to investigate a series of disturbing occurrences within the hotel, and get to the bottom of the case before anyone else gets hurt. What begins as a slow-burning suspense story gradually builds to a thriller that will have you up all night turning its pages. Sarah Pearse’s atmospheric, detail-oriented writing brings this sinister story to life, immersing readers in the beautiful-yet-unsettling world of sanatorium-turned-hotel Le Sommet—and all the deadly secrets hidden within its walls. Enter the world of THE SANATORIUM: you won’t want to leave, which is lucky, because you just might not be able to. THE SANATORIUM is a superb debut mystery novel, and I’m already looking forward to seeing what this author writes next. | Read the Full Review
About the Book:
You won't want to leave. . . until you can't.
Half-hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks, Le Sommet has always been a sinister place. Long plagued by troubling rumors, the former abandoned sanatorium has since been renovated into a five-star minimalist hotel.
An imposing, isolated getaway spot high up in the Swiss Alps is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But Elin's taken time off from her job as a detective, so when her estranged brother, Isaac, and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, Elin really has no reason not to accept.
Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge--there's something about the hotel that makes her nervous. And when they wake the following morning to discover Laure is missing, Elin must trust her instincts if they hope to find her. With the storm closing off all access to the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.
Elin is under pressure to find Laure, but no one has realized yet that another woman has gone missing. And she's the only one who could have warned them just how much danger they are all in. . .
THE BURNING GIRLS by C.J. Tudor
Publication Date: 2/9/21
Genre: Suspense-Meets-Folk Horror
From My Review:
C.J. Tudor never writes the same book twice, but you can always count on her books to be consistently great. Tudor, author of fan-favorite thrillers including The Chalk Man and The Other People, returns this week with her latest offering: THE BURNING GIRLS, a sinister story that blends folk horror with small-town mystery to chilling end. Tudor’s genre-bending novels are some of my favorites, and THE BURNING GIRLS more than met my high expectations. In this spine-tingling story, Tudor invites readers to Chapel Croft, a small village with a dark history that seems to be informing the sinister events of its present. Things haven’t been right in Chapel Croft in quite some time, and for newcomer Jack and daughter Flo, a fresh start in the quiet village is going to be much more complicated—and potentially dangerous—than either could have imagined. Jack is the town’s new vicar, come to step in after the untimely death of their predecessor. As Jack and Flo navigate this new community, they find themselves confronted not only by the town’s brutal and violent history, but also by the ghosts of the past that seem to linger in Chapel Croft to this day. THE BURNING GIRLS is a story of folk horror perfect for fans of The Wicker Man; it’s also a compelling mystery, inviting readers to unravel the truth about a missing persons case that has long gone cold, but has never stopped haunting this small community. Written with C.J. Tudor’s trademark razor-sharp plotting and sinister, atmospheric suspense, THE BURNING GIRLS is perhaps the author’s most ambitious—and most haunting—story yet. | Read the Full Review
About the Book:
An unconventional vicar must exorcise the dark past of a remote village haunted by death and disappearances in this explosive and unsettling thriller from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man.
A dark history lingers in Chapel Croft. Five hundred years ago, Protestant martyrs were betrayed—then burned. Thirty years ago, two teenage girls disappeared without a trace. And a few weeks ago, the vicar of the local parish hanged himself in the nave of the church.
Reverend Jack Brooks, a single parent with a fourteen-year-old daughter and a heavy conscience, arrives in the village hoping for a fresh start. Instead, Jack finds a town rife with conspiracies and secrets, and is greeted with a strange welcome package: an exorcism kit and a note that warns, “But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known.”
The more Jack and daughter, Flo, explore the town and get to know its strange denizens, the deeper they are drawn into the age-old rifts, mysteries, and suspicions. And when Flo begins to see specters of girls ablaze, it becomes apparent there are ghosts here that refuse to be laid to rest.
Uncovering the truth can be deadly in a village with a bloody past, where everyone has something to hide and no one trusts an outsider.
THE LOST VILLAGE by Camilla Sten
Publication Date: 3/23/21
Genre: Suspense with Horror Influences
From My Review:
Camilla Sten’s outstanding debut thriller THE LOST VILLAGE has all the ingredients of a CBTB favorite. This chilling, horror-tinged story takes place in Sweden, following a compelling female protagonist as she embarks on a (possibly misguided) mission that feels like perfect fodder for your next favorite horror movie. THE LOST VILLAGE has been compared to films including The Blair Witch Project and Midsommar—high praise, to be sure, and praise that I actually felt this book completely deserved. In THE LOST VILLAGE, a documentary filmmaker travels with her crew to an abandoned mining town to begin gathering information and footage for her newest project. But as the group settles in and begins exploring, a series of bizarre and increasingly sinister events call into question just how abandoned the town really is… and whether they are actually welcome there. Blending the subtle sensibility of Scandinavian crime fiction with a plot that blends psychological thrills and horror to pitch-perfect effect, THE LOST VILLAGE is a thoroughly engrossing, read-with-all-the-lights-on book. I was fortunate enough to read a review copy of this stellar suspense novel back in January, and it became my first 5/5 star review of the new year. For readers who love sinister suspense stories with cinematic settings, and thrillers that incorporate elements of horror, THE LOST VILLAGE is a book you won’t want to miss. | Read the Full Review
About the Book:
The Blair Witch Project meets Midsommar in this brilliantly disturbing thriller from Camilla Sten, an electrifying new voice in suspense.
Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt has been obsessed with the vanishing residents of the old mining town, dubbed “The Lost Village,” since she was a little girl. In 1959, her grandmother’s entire family disappeared in this mysterious tragedy, and ever since, the unanswered questions surrounding the only two people who were left―a woman stoned to death in the town center and an abandoned newborn―have plagued her. She’s gathered a small crew of friends in the remote village to make a film about what really happened.
But there will be no turning back.
Not long after they’ve set up camp, mysterious things begin to happen. Equipment is destroyed. People go missing. As doubt breeds fear and their very minds begin to crack, one thing becomes startlingly clear to Alice:
They are not alone.
They’re looking for the truth…
But what if it finds them first?
Come find out.
THE GIRL WHO DIED by Ragnar Jonasson
Publication Date: 5/4/21
Genre: Suspense with Supernatural Touches
From My Review:
Icelandic crime writer Ragnar Jonasson has been a staple of Crime by the Book ever since I started this blog, and this coming week, Ragnar’s first-ever standalone novel will be published here in the US. THE GIRL WHO DIED is a significant departure for an author who has built an international brand on his classic-crime-inspired detective novels; now, in his newest release, Ragnar sets his sights on a story of psychological suspense that dabbles in the possibly-supernatural. In THE GIRL WHO DIED, readers follow a young woman who accepts a teaching position in a very remote Icelandic village, only to discover that she has unwittingly moved into a community that is even more insular and sinister than she could ever have imagined. Fans of Ragnar’s previous releases will recognize in his newest novel his elegant and subtle writing, and his masterful ability to paint a vivid picture of Iceland’s landscape and atmosphere; readers of Ragnar’s work both new and old will fall under the hypnotic spell of his most chilling story yet in THE GIRL WHO DIED. Though not a traditional Nordic Noir novel, THE GIRL WHO DIED nevertheless holds significant appeal for fans of the Scandinavian crime tradition, and will also appeal to readers who love suspense tinged with the supernatural, and crime stories set in small towns. Pick up THE GIRL WHO DIED for a brooding, slow-burning, haunting tale of suspense. | Read the Full Review
About the Book:
Teacher Wanted At the Edge of the World
Una wants nothing more than to teach, but she has been unable to secure steady employment in Reykjavík. Her savings are depleted, her love life is nonexistent, and she cannot face another winter staring at the four walls of her shabby apartment. Celebrating Christmas and ringing in 1986 in the remote fishing hamlet of Skálar seems like a small price to pay for a chance to earn some teaching credentials and get her life back on track.
But Skálar isn’t just one of Iceland’s most isolated villages, it is home to just ten people. Una’s only students are two girls aged seven and nine. Teaching them only occupies so many hours in a day and the few adults she interacts with are civil but distant. She only seems to connect with Thór, a man she shares an attraction with but who is determined to keep her at arm’s length.
As darkness descends throughout the bleak winter, Una finds herself more often than not in her rented attic space—the site of a local legendary haunting—drinking her loneliness away. She is plagued by nightmares of a little girl in a white dress singing a lullaby. And when a sudden tragedy echoes an event long buried in Skálar’s past, the villagers become even more guarded, leaving a suspicious Una seeking to uncover a shocking truth that’s been kept secret for generations.
BATH HAUS by P.J. Vernon
Publication Date: 6/15/21
Genre: Psychological Thriller
From My Review:
In this sizzling cat-and-mouse thriller, a man’s betrayal of his husband has unintended - and possibly deadly - consequences. On paper, Oliver Park has just about everything: a devoted husband, a gorgeous home in Washington, D.C., and a stable job. But underneath the surface, tensions are brewing. Oliver and Nathan’s relationship has grown cold and distant, and one day, Oliver gives in to temptation and visits Haus, a bathhouse, looking for anonymous sex. When Oliver meets Kristian, his attraction is instant: Kristian’s Scandinavian accent and irresistible good looks draw him in immediately. But not long after the two move into one of Haus’ private rooms, things take a dark and violent turn. Oliver flees, dark bruises on his neck the only proof of this dangerous encounter. Traumatized by the brush with death and fearing for his life, Oliver finds himself at a crossroads: should he admit to Nathan his infidelity and share what he has just survived? Or lie to his devoted husband and protect his marriage by burying the truth? Oliver chooses the latter, concocting a story about a late-night mugging to explain his injuries. The stakes are raised first when Nathan insists Oliver report his mugging to the police, and then again when Oliver’s attacker begins taunting him with messages and signs to indicate that Oliver and his husband are being watched, and that it’s just a matter of time before Kristian comes back to finish what he started. P.J. Vernon expertly ratchets up the tension in this cat-and-mouse thriller, driving Oliver to the edge of sanity as he tries to evade Kristian, dodge the questions of increasingly-suspicious police officers, and preserve his marriage by keeping the secret of his infidelity buried. | Read the Full Review
About the Book:
Oliver Park, a recovering addict from Indiana, finally has everything he ever wanted: sobriety and a loving, wealthy partner in Nathan, a prominent DC trauma surgeon. Despite their difference in age and disparate backgrounds, they've made a perfect life together. With everything to lose, Oliver shouldn't be visiting Haus, a gay bathhouse. But through the entrance he goes, and it's a line crossed. Inside, he follows a man into a private room, and it's the final line. Whatever happens next, Nathan can never know. But then, everything goes wrong, terribly wrong, and Oliver barely escapes with his life.
He races home in full-blown terror as the hand-shaped bruise grows dark on his neck. The truth will destroy Nathan and everything they have together, so Oliver does the thing he used to do so well: he lies.
What follows is a classic runaway-train narrative, full of the exquisite escalations, edge-of-your-seat thrills, and oh-my-god twists. P. J. Vernon's Bath Haus is a scintillating thriller with an emotional punch, perfect for readers curious for their next must-read novel.
THE MAIDENS by Alex Michaelides
Publication Date: 6/15/21
Genre: Suspense and Mystery
From My Review:
Alex Michaelides burst onto the crime fiction scene with his 2019 release The Silent Patient, and this summer, he’s back with another intricate mystery, this one similarly laced with Greek mythology and also featuring dark academia appeal. THE MAIDENS tells an elegant and atmospheric story of secret societies and murder at a university. Grieving widow Mariana Andros’ life is turned upside-down one evening when she receives a fateful call from her niece, Zoe, a student at Cambridge University. Zoe is calling with unthinkable news: one of her classmates has just been found dead, the apparent victim of a brutal attack on campus. Mariana rushes to Cambridge to be by Zoe’s side, and Zoe soon confides something shocking to Mariana: Zoe believes that one of her professors, a charismatic Greek tragedy professor, is the culprit behind her friend’s death. The victim of this brutal attack was a member of a secret society known as “The Maidens,” a group of highly intelligent and mysterious young women who all study under that very same professor, the enigmatic Edward Fosca. Police are quick to dismiss Zoe’s claims; after all, what motivation could the revered Fosca have for the murder? But Mariana isn’t so convinced. Approaching The Maidens and Fosca first with the eye of a professional (Mariana is a group therapist by trade), and slowly but surely spiraling into obsession, Mariana delves into the mysterious and sinister world of The Maidens, determined to prove Fosca’s guilt and stop a killer before he can strike again. | Read the Full Review
About the Book:
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient comes a spellbinding tale of psychological suspense, weaving together Greek mythology, murder, and obsession, that further cements “Michaelides as a major player in the field” (Publishers Weekly).
Edward Fosca is a murderer. Of this Mariana is certain. But Fosca is untouchable. A handsome and charismatic Greek tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students alike—particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens.
Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge.
Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld?
When another body is found, Mariana’s obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt spirals out of control, threatening to destroy her credibility as well as her closest relationships. But Mariana is determined to stop this killer, even if it costs her everything—including her own life.
SURVIVE THE NIGHT by Riley Sager
Publication Date: 6/29/21
Genre: Psychological Thriller
From My Review:
In his newest thriller, Sager invites readers into the passenger seat for a car ride you’ll never forget. The year is 1991, and college student Charlie has just accepted a ride from a stranger she met on her campus ride board. Charlie is desperate to leave school and get back home to Ohio, and Josh is heading that way, too. What could possibly go wrong? Not long after the two have departed, Charlie becomes suspicious of her traveling companion… and before the night is over, Charlie will have reason to believe that she is in the car with a serial killer. In SURVIVE THE NIGHT, Riley Sager delivers a gripping, just-one-more-page thriller that begins with a simple premise, and unfurls into one of the most memorable suspense stories of the year. SURVIVE THE NIGHT has all the key ingredients readers expect from a Sager suspense novel: an endearing, independent protagonist, a horror-movie-worthy premise, and a masterful command of plot and pacing that will keep readers glued to the pages. Add in a jaw-dropping, earth-shattering final reveal in the book’s last few pages and you’ve got yourself a surefire winner in SURVIVE THE NIGHT. Sly, immersive, and wildly original, SURVIVE THE NIGHT is Riley Sager’s best book yet. | Read the Full Review
About the Book:
It’s November 1991. Nirvana's in the tape deck, George H. W. Bush is in the White House, and movie-obsessed college student Charlie Jordan is in a car with a man who might be a serial killer.
Josh Baxter, the man behind the wheel, is a virtual stranger to Charlie. They met at the campus ride board, each looking to share the long drive home to Ohio. Both have good reasons for wanting to get away. For Charlie, it’s guilt and grief over the shocking murder of her best friend, who became the third victim of the man known as the Campus Killer. For Josh, it’s to help care for his sick father—or so he says.
The longer she sits in the passenger seat, the more Charlie notices there’s something suspicious about Josh, from the holes in his story about his father to how he doesn’t want her to see inside the trunk. As they travel an empty, twisty highway in the dead of night, an increasingly anxious Charlie begins to think she’s sharing a car with the Campus Killer. Is Josh truly dangerous? Or is Charlie’s jittery mistrust merely a figment of her movie-fueled imagination?
One thing is certain—Charlie has nowhere to run and no way to call for help. Trapped in a terrifying game of cat and mouse played out on pitch-black roads and in neon-lit parking lots, Charlie knows the only way to win is to survive the night.
RAZORBLADE TEARS by S.A. Cosby
Publication Date: 7/6/21
Genre: Thriller
From My Review:
Buckle up and clear your calendars: one of 2021’s most buzzed-about crime novels has arrived. On the heels of his breakout 2020 release Blacktop Wasteland, acclaimed crime writer S.A. Cosby returns this summer with RAZORBLADE TEARS, a gritty, compulsively readable thriller that packs as much of a punch with action and violence as it does with emotional resonance and depth of character development. RAZORBLADE TEARS centers around a seemingly random act of violence that sets off an inescapable chain reaction for two fathers. When their sons are murdered in a drive-by shooting, Ike Randolph and Buddy Lee team up to avenge their untimely death. Along the way, they confront not only the villains who stole their sons from them, but also—and perhaps even more impactfully—the prejudices that have defined their relationships with their sons, and with one another. RAZORBLADE TEARS moves at a breakneck pace, giving readers a front-row seat to the righteous quest for vengeance that Ike and Buddy Lee are about to undertake. Equal parts brazen, gritty, emotional, and heartfelt, RAZORBLADE TEARS delivers a pitch-perfect blend of action, thrills, and impactful character development. Pick this book up for its no-holds-barred premise, stay for its unforgettable characters and cinematic storytelling. | Read the Full Review
About the Book:
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 of his father's criminal record. 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.
Provocative and fast-paced, S. A. Cosby's Razorblade Tears is a story of bloody retribution, heartfelt change - and maybe even redemption.
Home ownership feel like a distant dream? Zillow listings have you convinced you’ll be renting for the rest of your life? The woman at the heart of Carissa Orlando’s debut The September House feels your pain—and she’s prepared to put up with a lot if it means she and her husband can finally have a place to call their own. In this case, that might just mean living in a house that’s haunted. Playful and irreverent, spine-tingling and spooky, The September House puts a fresh spin on the classic haunted house story, delivering an immersive tale about the secrets lurking within one building’s walls, and within the lives of its inhabitants.