Carolyn Walsh 's Reviews > Razorblade Tears

4.5 stars. This was a powerful, riveting, ultra-violent book. I found it both enthralling and thought-provoking. This was a pulse-pounding, high-octane thriller. I can't say it was a pleasant reading experience, but I was fully engaged with its flawed characters. I was drawn into the emotions, hearts, and minds of characters of a type unfamiliar to me. It focused on anger, guilt, racism, homophobia, prejudice against transgender people, profound sorrow, and regret. There was hope for retribution and some sort of redemption through bloodshed in acts of revenge. The story was tough and gritty. I felt it would make a terrific action movie if done correctly.

Ike Randolph, a fearsome black ex-convict, spent years in a penitentiary for the one murder for which he was convicted. In the 15 years since his release, he has led an honest, quiet family life in a nice home and built up a successful lawn care business.

Buddy Lee Jenkins would be considered a drunken, redneck racist by some. He lives in a broken-down trailer and drives an old wreck of a truck. We meet his brother, who hates black people. Buddy Lee drinks to excess.

Both men had sons, Isiah Randolph and Derek Jenkins. The two young men came out as gay, were in love, and married. Both men were considered good, upstanding people. They were liked by many, despite a prevailing animosity towards their lifestyle. Neither father accepted that their sons were gay, which drove a wedge in their family relationships. They failed to attend the young men's wedding. Isiah and Derek felt rejected and unloved by their fathers.

They were both shot dead, and the police closed the case as unsolved. Ike and Bobby Lee now feel guilty for how they treated their sons and become further enraged when their graves are desecrated. Both men are determined to destroy everyone who contributed to their sons' deaths. Since they failed to understand their sons during their lifetimes, they are obsessed with their grief, guilt, and tears. What can two elderly grandfathers do to discover and destroy the murderers?

Shortly before the murders, they learn that Isiah and Derek had learned from a gorgeous, intoxicated party girl, Tangerine, that she was having an affair with a prominent, wealthy, unnamed married man. She was living in fear of a deadly biker gang. Their decision to help her may have led to their murders. Ike and Buddy Lee try to find her, but she has gone into hiding. Their attempts to question friends and acquaintances of their sons seems futile.

Soon the elderly grandfathers are in extreme danger from what they discover. What follows are brutal and frightening action scenes. There is violence, injuries, deaths, kidnappings, and explosions after the motives for the deaths of Isiah and Derek become known. This was a chilling, intense, and memorable read.