Southern Crime Thriller Suspense Book Review: All The Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby

Genre: Southern Noir Crime Thriller and Suspense

All the Sinners Bleed was my third S.A. Cosby novel, and it was better than My Darkest Prayer but tied with King Of Ashes. This story took me on a psychological suspense journey that left me genuinely afraid.

I had heard that All the Sinners Bleed was an exceptional read. From listening to several book reviews on YouTube and TikTok, I knew the story centered around a serial killer. I was hesitant because I'm not a fan of serial killer movies, and Cosby's novels tend to read like films. However, with readers and book bloggers raving about the novel and its main character, I was intrigued. I thought I could get past the serial killer elements. In my mind, I wondered how bad it could be. It got pretty bad, though most readers wouldn't feel that way since I'm new to the crime, murder, thriller, and suspense genres.

I started reading the story on August 14th and finished on August 27th. I surprised myself by finishing the book in thirteen days. That speaks to the story's power. It really kept me engaged, and I couldn't wait to return to its pages every night. Now let's dive into the book review, analyzing the characters, story, themes, and villain(s).

Character Analysis

Titus Crown, a former FBI agent, returns home to Charon County. In the story, Titus is surrounded by his father, Albert Crown, and his brother, Marquis Crown.

Titus was a man of integrity with deep religious faith, though he would question that faith after losing his mother to illness and witnessing how the world operates when it comes to African Americans. And how the Black church operates with its congregation. Titus felt like the church was more about money than actually teaching God's word.

What I admired about Titus was his ability to stand his ground as sheriff against anybody in Charon County, whether that person was white, Black, a politician, or a pastor. Titus wasn't afraid to speak his mind, and with his thorough knowledge of the Bible, he was able to express his thoughts methodically.

He was also hiding a haunting secret. A secret he kept from his family. During his time with the FBI, Titus had overstepped his bounds, and many agents died during a sting operation he was in charge of. Titus nearly lost his life. Instead of losing his life, he took the life of the religious cult leader Red DeCrain, and for that he was dismissed from his job as an FBI agent.

Titus carried a heavy burden about losing his mother. He blamed himself instead of accepting there was nothing he could do. His relationships with women weren't the best. He tried to love as best as he could, starting with Kellie, his first girlfriend when he was an FBI agent, then with Darlene when he returned home.

Plot Overview

The story opens with Titus Crown, who is now the Sheriff of Charon County—the first Black sheriff. Titus's primary goal was to make a difference as sheriff, not just for the Black residents but for the white residents too. Soon he would find his conviction tested as tensions mounted between the Black church congregation and the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy, a white nationalist group. To make matters worse, his world implodes when he unearths—literally—a buried secret about his town that he never knew existed.

The unraveling of that secret starts with the murder of a popular teacher, Jeff Spearman, by one of his students, Latrell Macdonald. Latrell is eventually killed by the cops, but before his death he leaves ominous final words: "I have become death." Titus is shaken by those words. As he begins to conduct his investigation, he's eventually led to the bodies of eight children. Black boys and girls who were tortured and buried under a weeping willow tree which leads to the discovery of a third killer.

As Titus and his deputies try to find the third killer who was part of Latrell and Jeff's murderous trio, the town is thrown into chaos as more bodies pile up. Titus becomes desperate to find the serial killer while trying to keep a level head as he deals with the bubbling tensions overheating between the two factious groups in town.

What Worked and What Didn't

There were too many names in the book, so I decided to focus on Titus's character analysis and a bit about the killer. With all the various names, it became difficult to keep up with who was who. When the killer's identity was finally revealed, I couldn't remember if the name had been mentioned earlier in the novel, which spoiled some of the mystery for me.

Of course, I didn't like the killing. But truthfully, it wasn't the killing that bothered me—it was the over-detailed descriptions of each murdered body. How parts were cut off and mailed. The things that were done to the bodies of those poor boys and girls. There was a part in the story that reminded me of The Silence of the Lambs (a movie I'd never watched but had heard so much about). I skipped over those details at least three times whenever I reached that part in the book.

Of course, the chef's kiss is always the book's ending. The killer's identity wasn't revealed until the last two chapters. For the longest time, Gabriel, aka Royce Lazare (the lone wolf and killer), had walked among the community in plain sight. His trail of murder had started ten years ago in Charon.

Royce tried to hide his African American heritage under a wig and trucker cap. He was white-passing and hated himself, so he took that hatred out on Black bodies. He was also obsessed with religion. He was adopted and raised by Elias and his wife, a fanatically religious pastor and his spouse.

That family treated Royce monstrously. His hatred for them had embedded itself in Royce's soul. He grew up despising God for not rescuing him from the clutches of his adopted family. That hatred led him to kill innocent children. He told Titus he was doing them a favor because the world would treat them just as badly.

Spoiler: Relief washed over me when Titus took him down with the help of his kidnapped victim; Latrell's baby brother. I thought that was a sweet ending to the story.

Final Thoughts

The book did a great job of keeping me engaged in the story. I give it four stars as a solid, good read and an enjoyable book if you can stomach some of the atrocities. I wouldn't give the story a lower rating because of the graphic content since this isn't my normal genre, and I don't think it's fair to penalize the author for a genre I'm unfamiliar with. I believe I made that mistake with his second book.

Who was the actual villain in the story? Several people. The Black religious church and the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy both wanted to keep their old way of living. They became obsessed with holding onto a statue of one of their perceived heroes. The Black church was trying to get people to change, hoping they would see that racism is what's tearing the world apart. Titus, with his inability to open his heart, broke the heart of a good woman.

And lastly, Royce Lazare. He was filled with so much hate and anger toward himself and God that it drove him to commit the most horrendous crimes against other human beings I've read so far.

Themes

The themes in the novel centered around race, religion, racism, fanaticism, pride, and redemption.

Recommendation

Despite the few issues I had with the book, I still highly recommend it. S.A. Cosby is a fantastic writer. One you won't regret reading.