A review by joyceheinen
All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 The story takes place in 2017, but it could easily be 2024. Titus Crown has been elected the first black sheriff of Charon County. He has brough his experience as a former FBI agent to this depraved rural area where, besides notorious discrimination, little criminal activity occurs. One day he receives an alarming call from one of his deputies. There is a school shooting. When Titus arrives at school with his team, there is great panic. The black perpetrator comes running out of the school and is shot by two of Titus’s team members. Inside lies the body of a beloved teacher. It is the beginning of a nerve-wrecking investigation into the motive and cause.
 
Author S.A. Cosby has a masterful sense of timing. All the components are of high quality. The dialogue, the character development, the sequence of events, the plot twists and turns, and the uncertainty that stays upright until the last page.
 
The crimes in the book are gruesome and are described in detail and explicitly. There is a deeper reason for being explicit. The shock it brings to readers is meant to make us thing. About how condescendingly many people behave toward others and how narrow-mindedness can lead to a sense of superiority.
 
The books also deals with religion, which I’m not always comfortable reading about. But it’s viewed from various perspectives, one is not better than the other. It could be more confrontational though, if you are religious yourself. I found is an additional component that gave even more interpretation to the underlying themes.
 
“All the Sinners Bleed” has many layers, interesting characters, an intriguing small-town mystery, tension and strong plot twists.