GROUP A BOOKS 2023-2024: 14 Nominated books. Vote for no more than 7.

A7 Type: Police Procedural (Cop-FBI-Sheriff-GameWarden) All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby, June 6, 2023 / MVLC: A LOT most likely

Basics · Protagonist: Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of this Virginia county. Titus investigates a school shooting in which both a teacher is shot by a student, and the student shooter is killed by Titus’s deputies. As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes and a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight. · Setting: Charon County (fictitious), in contemporary Virginia · Context: This is Cosby's fourth standalone book of crime fiction. It has just been released, so with no data on this book, let's look at the previous books: o 2019-Darkest Prayer: 963 ratings, no awards. o 2020-Blacktop Wasteland: 9,024 ratings, 6 major awards. o 2021-Razorblade Tears: 10,464 ratings, 8 major awards. I read Blacktop Wasteland. It was a page-turner. It was well written; no, masterfully written which is why I wanted so much to enjoy it. Unfortunately, I was put off by the theme of revenge in that book; I cannot explain why I can read about some of the most bizarre human motivations with no problems, yet revenge sours me in a protagonist. In any case, the themes in this 2023 book seem clearly different, especially with a law enforcement officer as protagonist. So keeping in mind the extraordinarily high attention, ratings and awards on his writing in previous books, I am looking forward to this year's book with a sheriff as the focus. –Dick Long Form Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, quiet Charon has had only two murders. But after years of working as an FBI agent, Titus knows better than anyone that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface. Then a year to the day after Titus’s election, a school teacher is killed by a former student and the student is fatally shot by Titus’s deputies. As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes and a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight, haunting the dirt lanes and woodland clearings of Charon. With the killer’s possible connections to a local church and the town’s harrowing history weighing on him, Titus projects confidence about closing the case while concealing a painful secret from his own past. At the same time, he also has to contend with a far-right group that wants to hold a parade in celebration of the town’s Confederate history. Charon is Titus’s home and his heart. But where faith and violence meet, there will be a reckoning. Powerful and unforgettable, All the Sinners Bleed confirms S. A. Cosby as “one of the most muscular, distinctive, grab-you-by-both-ears voices in American crime fiction” (The Washington Post). ------- ".... Novels of crime and pursuit ... usually end with a pitched battle between the good guy and the bad guy, what I believe Elmore Leonard called “a shootout in the swamp,” and Cosby delivers a fine climax. Then, in an epilogue, he serves up a final treat that’s worth the whole trip. "So: a well-told novel of crime and detection. There are plenty of them on the market. What sets this one apart, what gives it both grit and texture, is its unerring depiction of small-town rural life and the uneasy (and sometimes violent) interactions between Charon’s white and Black citizens. Sheriff Crown finds himself in that gray area between, with a foot in both worlds. ..." –Stephen King, excerpted from his full review in the NYTimes. "... All the Sinners Bleed is rough, smart, gritty, intricate, and Southern to the core. Cosby understand that thrillers need to thrill in order to work, but he spends a lot of time making sure we feel empathy for his characters and understand the historical context of everything that happens in Charon. This is a story about a town in flux and a sheriff from a small town trying to use everything he learned while working as an FBI agent to track down a serial killer in a place that lacks the resources and technology of a big city. However, it's also a novel that deals with religious zealots railing against "gay marriage, the liberal agenda, and how all lives matter." Yes, this is a novel that acts like a mirror — and that makes it necessary reading. Charon County is a mellow place on the surface, but right underneath that there is a lot of hate, racism, and what Titus calls "putrefaction of the soul." ... While Cosby's deconstruction of small-town America in the South and his critique of racism are great, he also manages to explore the effects of religious zealotry and how it contributes to the perpetuation of the status quo. Some people in Charon effortlessly hold on to their hatred without losing sleep because they belong to a church that supports their ideas. Much like Obama's presidency didn't usher in the "post-racial era" some folks thought it would, Titus becoming sheriff was not the end of Charon's deeply rooted racism, and racism is a disease that impacts everything, including criminal investigations. ..." – Gabino Iglesias, excerpted from his full review on the NPR website. Another great review. Awards for this Book: TBD - but will likely be many.