All The Sinners Bleed, by SA Cosby (Headline, $37.99)
How do you follow two of the best crime novels of the past decade? For Virginia storyteller SA Cosby, who honed his craft in relative obscurity for 20 years before stunning crime aficionados worldwide with the one-two punch of Blacktop Wasteland and Razorblade Tears, the answer is All the Sinners Bleed.
Another Southern Noir knockout, Cosby’s fourth novel may be his best yet, offering fans his now-expected blend of poetic ferocity and richly developed characters, further seasoned with a James Lee Burke-ian exploration of religious fervour and white supremacy.
Titus Crown is an ex-FBI agent who’s now the first-ever black sheriff of his hometown. Murders seem rare: two in recent decades. But when a high school teacher is killed by a former student, who’s then shot by Crown’s deputies, the lid is ripped off a Pandora’s box of festering secrets and horrific crimes. Meanwhile, a far-right group is keen to honour the town’s Confederate history. Cosby soaks readers in the complexities of the American South while delivering a powerful tale of a man under siege. A strong contender for best of the year.
Drowning, by TJ Newman (Simon & Schuster, $37.99)
Former flight attendant and bookseller TJ Newman also made a big splash during the pandemic, with her cinematic debut Falling delivering high-stakes thrills as an airline crew faced its worst nightmare. The Arizona author has dialled up even more tension with her second novel, Drowning. This time, a freak mechanical failure plunges Flight 1421 into the ocean off Hawaii mere minutes after takeoff. Some passengers die on impact, others in the water after evacuation, and a dozen survivors end up trapped inside the fuselage as it sinks on to an undersea cliff. As the Coast Guard, Navy and Chris Kent’s private diving crew battle the weather, near-impossible odds, and each other to attempt a rescue, the trapped passengers have only a few hours of air. It’s a horrific tragedy, getting worse. Failure isn’t an option for Chris, though, as her young daughter and ex-husband are on board Flight 1421. Newman has conjured up another edge-of-seat adrenaline ride. Although there are moments that require plenty of suspension of disbelief, Newman sets the hook well and delivers a taut thriller that tugs on heartstrings and provides emotional wallops to match the tension.
Night Will Find You, by Julia Heaberlin (Michael Joseph, $37)
Texan author Julia Heaberlin offers readers thrills of a different tempo with her latest character-centric standalone set in her home state. Vivvy Bouchet is an astrophysicist searching for what others haven’t seen – artificial light in the depths of the universe – but it’s a different kind of insight that her brother-in-law Mike is looking for. A cop who owes his life to Vivvy from when they were young, he believes in her psychic abilities, and hopes they’ll help crack the cold case of a missing child. Except, is it a case when the mother is already in prison for murder? After a popular right-wing podcaster spews conspiracy theories and revs up his audience about Vivvy, her scientific career and the lives of those she loves are put in jeopardy. Meanwhile, she’s battling complicated feelings about Mike and the lead detective, Jesse Sharp. Heaberlin again delivers an intelligent thriller built on rich characterisation, a wonderfully evoked sense of place and a unique heroine who’s flawed and formidable. A very good read.
