Book Review: All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby

Virginia’s S.A. Cosby is one of the most celebrated names in contemporary crime fiction—and for good reason. His gritty, heartrending, and nuanced stories of the South illuminate both the horrors and humanity of those who’ve been marginalized. Cosby’s debut novel, My Darkest Prayer, was recently reissued while his second, Blacktop Wasteland, was a New York Times bestseller and his third, Razorblade Tears, recently took home the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; he also collaborated with Questlove on the children’s middle grade adventure, The Rhythm of Time. June sees the publication of a new standalone suspense novel, All the Sinners Bleed, which is destined to rank among Cosby’s very best. 

Meet Titus Crown, the first Black sheriff of Charon County, Virginia. A former FBI agent who left the bureau under dubious circumstances to return home, he now wears the badge of a small town whose racist past threatens to destroy a tenuous truce among its residents. The tipping point comes when a young man enters the high school and shoots a beloved teacher dead before being cut down by deputies after rushing them with a gun in hand. The ensuing investigation reveals sinister secrets and a serial killer in their midst who has committed acts of extreme depravity against seven African American children whose bodies are unearthed in a local hunting ground.  

As a “season of pain” envelops Charon County, Titus—still grappling with the death of his mother, a reconciliation with his father (who’s traded the bottle for God), and an estrangement from his brother—is pushed to physical and emotional limits that would break a lesser being. In addition to the intense pressure to find a killer (“The Last Wolf”) who will strike again, his authority is challenged by those who would like nothing more than to see him stripped of power before the next election. But leadership demands perseverance, even as he struggles to reconcile his broken faith with fidelity (to himself, his family, and his community) in the pursuit of justice. It’s a largely thankless and often dangerous task but a necessary one.

Excepting a few brief chapter breakers that establish Charon County at large, the story is told solely through Titus’s vantage point. This keeps the narrative intimate while highlighting the enormity of the odds he’s up against, both as a man and a man of the law. The juxtaposition of his internal thoughts and outward presentation illustrates the delicacy with which he must weigh his every word and action; any misstep has the potential to ignite a firestorm that’s been simmering for generations (and has already been stoked by the approval of a parade celebrating the confederacy). Undeniably flawed but admirably well intentioned, Titus is no less than honorable. Will this be his downfall?

In All the Sinners Bleed, S.A. Cosby once again proves awe-inspiring with the breadth of his talents. Both a provocative crime novel and a profound exploration of race, religion, and romance (or something like it), the narrative is punctuated by sinewy prose, visceral action, and an underlying emotional truth that transcends fiction. Arguably, the best novels show us realities that may be difficult to confront but require a reckoning. To read a book like this is to learn about lives that may be outside of our own—and to discover something(s) about ourselves in the process. This one comes with my highest recommendation.