When Stephen King praises an author in the New York Timeswe can safely say that it has obviously achieved consecration.
This review of his novel The blood of the innocent, which has just been published here in French, Shawn A. Cosby has framed it and hung it in his office. “For someone who I consider to be one of the best writers of the last 50 years to say that he loved the book and to recommend it unequivocally, it means so much to me”, confides on the line the writer who lives near Richmond, Virginia.
With this third novel translated into French, the African-American author constructs a social thriller even darker than his previous one, Anger, which was among our favorites last year, all categories combined. A social thriller which rises to the rank of the great novels of the genre published in recent years – whose intensity recalls titles like The silenceby Dennis Lehane, or even Billy Summersby Stephen King, precisely.
The blood of the innocent tackles head-on the racism that still plagues the South, and Cosby doesn’t take it lightly. In Virginia, where many counties were founded in violence and bloodshed, there is still dispute over preserving a Confederate memorial. And it is in this tense context that its protagonist, Titus Crown, becomes the first black sheriff of a small fictitious town, but very similar to so many others in these former southern regions of the United States. A small town like the one where he grew up, where everyone knows each other and measures each other by the color of their skin.
The characters in my previous novels are not heroes. They are broken, grieving and angry. But Titus, I believe he is a hero. He understands the power that comes with the uniform and he is determined to treat everyone fairly. But it’s not easy because white people don’t respect him, while people in his community see him as a traitor.
Shawn A. Cosby
Social criticism
Like any good thriller, The blood of the innocent begins with a murder. A young black man kills his former teacher in his class and the police, fearing that he will cause other victims, are forced to shoot him dead on the school steps. A scenario like reality occurs too often among our neighbors to the South… Except that the matter is much more complex than it seems. During his investigation, the sheriff will discover a horror story that no one suspected and which will revive the distrust of the black community towards the police.
“In crime fiction, we can talk about religious hypocrisy, homophobia, racism, misogyny,” believes Shawn A. Cosby. I like to say that the detective genre is the gospel of the dispossessed. » The writer also likes to remind us that the thriller is the new novel of social criticism. And if he is so critical of this South “haunted” by all these evils, he says, it is because he loves it deeply.
Among his influences, the one who was a “voracious reader” since his childhood and dreamed of becoming a writer, encouraged by his mother, cites Raymond Chandler among others. It was also his aunt, a big reader of horror novels, who gave him his first Stephen King. More recently, the television series True Detective and his “phenomenal” first season also had a lot of impact on him. But it was above all his discussions with African-American police officers that allowed him to construct a character of great depth like Titus, caught in the crossfire.
Dream accomplished
After years of writing for himself, publishing a few short stories here and there, Shawn A. Cosby can finally say he accomplished his dream. He even wrote a first book for teenagers with the musician Questlove, who came looking for him after reading his novel The forgotten roads. And between his trips to promote the Blood of the innocenttranslated in around ten countries to date (notably in Norway, where he is a hit, it seems, and must go in the following days), he still finds the time to work on his next thriller, which is will title King of Ashesin English.
“It’s a detective novel set again in Virginia. Three brothers own a crematorium with their father, and as the plot begins, the eldest son, who lives in another state, comes home because his father was in a car accident. He discovers that his little brother is in trouble with gangsters and that they caused his father’s accident to try to get the money he owes them,” he says.
This is definitely an appointment that we won’t want to miss.
The blood of the innocent
Sonatina
396 pages