Review: All the Sinners Bleed by S.A Cosby

Titus Crowne is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County. A former FBI agent and security expert, Titus came home to take care of his father and look out for his troubled younger brother. He ran for Sheriff to make a difference, especially in the Black community, which has so often been treated unfairly by the police.

But a year to the day after his election, a school shooting rocks the town. A beloved teacher is killed by a former student, and as Titus attempts to deescalate and get the boy to surrender, his deputies fire a fatal shot.

In the investigation, it becomes clear that the student they shot had been abused by the dead teacher, as well as by unidentified perpetrators. The trail leads to buried bodies—and secrets. While Titus tries to track down a killer hiding in plain sight, while balancing daily duties like protecting Confederate pride marchers, he must face what it means to be a Black man wearing a police uniform in the American South.~ Goodreads

Source: Audiobook from library - narrated by Adam Lazarre-White

The Bookpusher(s): Jen Ryland Reviews & A Book a Week Blog

Review: This book is SO outside my wheelhouse. All the Sinners Bleed is a gritty, riveting, procedural about the newly elected (& first) Black sheriff of Charon County, Virginia. Titus Crowne - a former FBI agent,  moved back home to help out his aging father, troubled brother and to try to make a difference in local law enforcement. 

On the first anniversary of his election, Titus is called to an active school shooting. A beloved teacher is killed by a former (Black) student who is then killed, by one Titus's deputies, as he exits the school, waving a gun, yelling vague religious rantings about the angel of death and a plea to look into the dead teachers phone. Most residents take this as a win - bad guy dead after killing good guy- but others (including Titus) have questions about whether the shooting was justified and what the popular teacher had done to set the troubled young man off.

Although Titus won the election, his support is fragile, at best, and the deaths rock the community. The investigation proves to be even more fraught when Titus discovers a trail of bodies, details too shocking to be believed and the knowledge that his small town of Charon is not the safe haven most of the residents thought it was. While the teacher and shooter may be dead, there is still a killer amongst them, taunting Titus and endangering the residents.

As sheriff, Titus Crowne has to navigate the minefield of racist snake charming pastors and the Black church that helped him get elected and now feels they are owed things, as well as members of his own team that might be on the take. All while dealing with his own past trauma.

S. A. Cosby expertly weaves history, race, religion, duty, and the sins of the past into this taught thriller that digs far deeper than figuring out "who done it". In fact, I would say that the villain was the least important & (sorry to say) least interesting part of this story. 

In Titus we have a man who wants to do right by everyone but has his own cross to bear. While dealing with the complexities of a small, (historically) racially charged, Southern town, he always leads with a quiet strength, compassion, and expertise. I absolutely loved Titus as a character and guiding moral force. The other characters are richly drawn as well and not mere caricatures of the South.

The crimes are gruesome and not for the faint of heart. They are explicit and described in detail but never ventured into just to shock or torture porn, IMO. Through Titus's eyes, I felt the victims, even if they weren't *innocent* victims at times, were given the sense of compassion, gravity and horror the crimes deserved. 

I also loved the Titus and his team were competent. There was no pissing contest/in-fighting over what agency would handle the investigation. He didn't come up with answers out of nowhere. He had expertise, as a former FBI agent and profiler, but didn't come off as the ONLY person who could solve this case. It was really refreshing to read a thriller that hit all the trope notes while being nuanced and competent. 

However, as I mentioned earlier, the villain and the ending weren't as powerful for me. Everything ties together, and there's even a wonderful epilogue but the big bad, while truly evil, lacks the carefully laid out scenes that rest of the book does so brilliantly. They are left behind for an explosive end that felt out of character and more like scene chewing for the story.

Even though the end didn't stick the landing for me, it in no way ruined my reading experience. I adored this book - which is a weird thing to say about such horrible subject matter - but it was Titus, the detailed setting, the sense of history, respect for the subject matter - that had me riveted. I don't know if  the author is interested, but this would make an amazing series, with Titus Crowne as the lead. 

I do recommend the audiobook if you like that format. Adam Lazarre-White's narration was perfect!

And I also recommend you read CW because this book gets DARK -> 

• Death of a parent & child, murder, racism, children killed/tortured, video taped, school shooting, kidnapping, torture, racial slurs - racist marches/confederate statues protests, sexual assault, religious bigotry, panic attacks, animal abuse. <--
• I always struggle with thrillers because, in following the clues - usually an unreliable narrator, a know everything detective, or so many red-herrings I feel manipulated - that I never feel a connection to anyone or the outcome - but if I could find more thrillers like All the Sinners Bleed, I could be converted!

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