"I was thinking about how the good die young." Buddy Lee said. "I guess that's why we're still here." Ike said.
In this story we follow the lives of two fathers, Ike and Buddy Lee, who are both ex-convicts. Their lives collide after their sons, who were married to each other, are brutally murdered. Faced with the police's inability to solve the crime, the two grieving fathers decide to seek justice on their own. Taking matters into their own hands, Ike and Buddy Lee discover their sons' pasts and the dangerous criminal connections that led to their deaths.
Both Buddy Lee and Ike grappled with their sons' sexuality when they were alive. They never really accepted them and were ashamed of them. But after their deaths, Buddy Lee and Ike realized that none of that mattered in the end. They just wish their sons were still alive. The two fathers now have to confront their own prejudices and the harsh realities of their pasts while seeking vengeance for their sons.
This gritty crime thriller hooked me from the very start. Buddy Lee and Ike are two complex, flawed characters who are richly developed. There are some hard-hitting conversations between the two fathers regarding race and their own prejudices towards their sons that I found really impactful. This novel took me on an emotional journey while following these two broken fathers who have to deal with such significant loss.
I thought the execution of the plot was really well done.The author was able to explore the racial and societal tensions that simmer beneath the surface, all while delivering a thrilling and action-packed narrative. I really appreciated the author's incisive prose, resulting in several memorable and quotable passages. I will leave some of my favourite quotes below.
Overall I found this to be a really great, engaging read. I think this is a great novel for fans of crime fiction and for those who appreciate stories that grapple with profound social issues.
QUOTES FROM RAZORBLADE TEARS
“Life sends us down some strange roads on our way to our destiny.”
“It occurred to Buddy Lee that anything could be a weapon if you were dedicated enough. Even love. Especially love.”
“Folks like to talk about revenge like it’s a righteous thing but it’s just hate in a nicer suit,”
“Tears ran from his eyes and stung his cheeks. Tears for his son. Tears for his wife. Tears for the little girl they had to raise. Tears for who they were and what they all had lost. Each drop felt like it was slicing his face open like a razorblade.”
“When the people you love are gone, it’s the things they’ve touched that keep them alive in your mind. A picture, a shirt, a poem, a pair of baby shoes. They become anchors that help you keep their memory from drifting away.”
“I ain't gonna lie and say I get you, because I don't. I can't even pretend I know what it must be like to be... you. But if all this has taught me one thing, it's that it ain't about me and what I get. It's about letting people be who they are. And being who you are shouldn't be a death sentence.”
“He needed your love then. Not now that he's in the ground”
“A man once told me we can’t change the past but we can decide what happens next.”
“Most of it is just being respectful of people and accepting them for who they are”
“Oh, you get the truck. But you also get pulled over four or five times a month because ain’t no way your Black ass can afford a nice truck like this, right? You get the truck but you get followed around in the jewelry store because you know you probably fitting to rob the place, right? You can get the truck but you gotta deal with white ladies clutching their purses when you walk down the street because Fox News done told them you coming to steal their money and their virtue. You get the truck but then you gotta explain to some trigger-happy cop that no, Mr. Officer, you’re not resisting arrest. You get the truck but then you also get two in the back of the head because you reached for your cell phone,” Ike said. He glanced at Buddy Lee.”
“You love a person enough and you’ll make excuses for almost anything.”
“This is who I am. I can’t change. I don’t want to, really. But for once I’m gonna put this devil inside me to good use.”
“Human beings were wired to get used to just about anything. That didn't make you hard. It made you indoctrinated.”
“It didn’t seem fair for a man to mourn someone abundantly that he had loved so miserly.”
“Get that what’s normal ain’t up to me. That it don’t fucking matter who he wanted to wake up next to as long as he was waking up,”
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