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My Darkest Prayer
Whether it's working at his cousin's funeral home or tossing around the local riff raff at his favorite bar, Nathan Waymaker is a man who knows how to handle the bodies. A former Marine and Sheriff's deputy, Nathan has built a reputation in his small Southern town as a man who can help when all other avenues have been exhausted. When a local minister with grandiose ambitions is found dead, Nathan is approached by his parishioners who feel the local police are dragging their feet with the investigation. What starts out as an easy payday soon descends into a maze of mayhem filled with wannabe gangsters, vicious crime lords, porn stars, crooked police officers and a particularly treacherous preacher and his mysterious wife. Nathan must use all his varied skills and some of his wit to navigate the murky waters of small town corruption even as dark secrets of his own threaten to come to the surface.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,648 reviews
June 9, 2022
i still haven't reviewed this yet, but i met s.a. cosby recently at a book thing
and he was simply delightful and generous and kind to me while i was fangirling all over the place, and he made me a sincere promise:
and i'm holding him to it!
******************
every bit as good as Blacktop Wasteland, and now i am even more impatient for Razorblade Tears!!!
review to come!
and he was simply delightful and generous and kind to me while i was fangirling all over the place, and he made me a sincere promise:
and i'm holding him to it!
******************
every bit as good as Blacktop Wasteland, and now i am even more impatient for Razorblade Tears!!!
review to come!
December 26, 2022
This is S.A. Cosby's debut novel, having read both Blacktop Wasteland and Razorblade Tears, all the elements of his future success can be found here, and it is clear that his development as a writer can be seen, as an author he will go on to become subtle, and more nuanced in his creation of characters, action and plot in his novels. I listened to this on audio, ably narrated by Adam Lazarre-White in a style that effortlessly grips, it is 9 and a half hours long approximately. Once again, the reader is immersed in a gritty, brutally violent and corrupt Southern small town world and its blatantly unequal communities where race is a central issue. The mixed race Nathan Waymaker is a former marine and ex-Sheriff's Deputy, he now works as an assistant to his cousin, Walt, at his funeral home.
He is a man with a presence and stature that cannot be ignored, a fact that can make him a target and get him into trouble. When a popular local minister is found dead, rumours swirl of it being a suicide, but a couple of his parishioners are far from convinced that this is the case. They take their reservations to Waymaker, offering to pay him to dig a little deeper, including finding out what the Sheriff's office is doing about it, something he is not happy about. He had left his post as a Deputy after evidence was lost pertaining to the death of his parents, which led to him throwing one of the Deputy's through a window. Nevertheless, Waymaker thinks he will ask a few questions and that he will be able to leave it at that. How wrong he is, his plan disintegrates as he becomes aware he is looking at murder, that the Sheriff is reluctant to engage in any form of investigation, and finds himself passionately involved with the victim's daughter, Lisa, a porn star who has nothing but pure hate for her father.
Waymaker is going to the need the help of his friend, Skunk, as he finds himself in the gravest of danger with powerful forces intent on doing anything it will take to stop him uncovering the murky secrets and truths hidden below the dark underbelly of the town. Skunk has similar characteristics to Walter Mosley's Mouse in his Easy Rawlins series, he kills without the blink of an eye. This was a compulsive and engaging listen which I think many fans of Cosby will enjoy, but I must warn readers that there is plenty of violence, profanity and explicit sex scenes. I can definitely recommend listening to the audio. Many thanks to Headline Audio and Netgalley.
He is a man with a presence and stature that cannot be ignored, a fact that can make him a target and get him into trouble. When a popular local minister is found dead, rumours swirl of it being a suicide, but a couple of his parishioners are far from convinced that this is the case. They take their reservations to Waymaker, offering to pay him to dig a little deeper, including finding out what the Sheriff's office is doing about it, something he is not happy about. He had left his post as a Deputy after evidence was lost pertaining to the death of his parents, which led to him throwing one of the Deputy's through a window. Nevertheless, Waymaker thinks he will ask a few questions and that he will be able to leave it at that. How wrong he is, his plan disintegrates as he becomes aware he is looking at murder, that the Sheriff is reluctant to engage in any form of investigation, and finds himself passionately involved with the victim's daughter, Lisa, a porn star who has nothing but pure hate for her father.
Waymaker is going to the need the help of his friend, Skunk, as he finds himself in the gravest of danger with powerful forces intent on doing anything it will take to stop him uncovering the murky secrets and truths hidden below the dark underbelly of the town. Skunk has similar characteristics to Walter Mosley's Mouse in his Easy Rawlins series, he kills without the blink of an eye. This was a compulsive and engaging listen which I think many fans of Cosby will enjoy, but I must warn readers that there is plenty of violence, profanity and explicit sex scenes. I can definitely recommend listening to the audio. Many thanks to Headline Audio and Netgalley.
May 25, 2020
If you want to know where the bodies are buried in a small town, ask the local undertaker. You can take that literally or figuratively.
Nathan Waymaker is a former Marine, an ex-cop, and he currently lives and works at the funeral home owned by his cousin. Despite being a generally good guy he also has a temper that would make the Hulk nervous, and his anger problems weren’t helped by the corrupt sheriff’s department he used to work for letting the man who killed his parents go free. When the leader of a local church was shot to death it seems like the cops may be tanking the case so some of the parishioners ask Nathan to check up on the police. Soon Nathan finds himself on the bad side of the cops as well as a dangerous gangster, but on the good side of the church leader’s estranged daughter who is a gorgeous porn star.
You win some, you lose some…
SA Cosby is another author I learned about at last year’s Bouchercon. He caught my attention with his reading of a short story at the Noir-At-The-Bar event. Then he impressed me even more with his participation on a panel about modern noir, and he was in the audience of other panels where he asked great questions so I made a point out of meeting him at one of the signings. Every time I was around him it was obvious that not only was he a dedicated and intelligent fan of crime fiction, but that he was living his dream by being there as an author and loving every second of it. His enthusiasm was contagious, and I’d say he deserved a MVP award for the conference as well as the Anthony Award he won for best short story.
As for the book, it’s gritty, violent, funny, and almost as entertaining as its author. It follows some of the tropes of crime fiction with a well-intentioned detective of sorts taking what seems like a simple job and getting in over his heard. There’s even the obligatory bad ass friend in the form of Nathan’s buddy Skunk. If a good friend helps you move, and a great friend helps you move a body, then Skunk qualifies as a great friend. There’s also some humor along with it that reminded me of how Joe Lansdale mixes violence, profanity, depth, and laughs. Some angles of the story also reminded of Mosley’s Easy Rawlins series.
Yet Cosby has his own voice that firmly establishes the small town Virginia setting, and then he built an intriguing lead character to guide us through it. Nathan’s history as the biracial son of a white man dedicated to a life of peaceful non-violence and a more pragmatic black woman makes him conflicted in that he feels like he’s constantly failing his late father in some ways. Yet deep down he’s just not the kind of guy who thinks that turning the other cheek is the correct response to a cruel and unfair world.
While Cosby’s personality may have sold me on reading this book, his writing is what will get me to buy his next one.
Nathan Waymaker is a former Marine, an ex-cop, and he currently lives and works at the funeral home owned by his cousin. Despite being a generally good guy he also has a temper that would make the Hulk nervous, and his anger problems weren’t helped by the corrupt sheriff’s department he used to work for letting the man who killed his parents go free. When the leader of a local church was shot to death it seems like the cops may be tanking the case so some of the parishioners ask Nathan to check up on the police. Soon Nathan finds himself on the bad side of the cops as well as a dangerous gangster, but on the good side of the church leader’s estranged daughter who is a gorgeous porn star.
You win some, you lose some…
SA Cosby is another author I learned about at last year’s Bouchercon. He caught my attention with his reading of a short story at the Noir-At-The-Bar event. Then he impressed me even more with his participation on a panel about modern noir, and he was in the audience of other panels where he asked great questions so I made a point out of meeting him at one of the signings. Every time I was around him it was obvious that not only was he a dedicated and intelligent fan of crime fiction, but that he was living his dream by being there as an author and loving every second of it. His enthusiasm was contagious, and I’d say he deserved a MVP award for the conference as well as the Anthony Award he won for best short story.
As for the book, it’s gritty, violent, funny, and almost as entertaining as its author. It follows some of the tropes of crime fiction with a well-intentioned detective of sorts taking what seems like a simple job and getting in over his heard. There’s even the obligatory bad ass friend in the form of Nathan’s buddy Skunk. If a good friend helps you move, and a great friend helps you move a body, then Skunk qualifies as a great friend. There’s also some humor along with it that reminded me of how Joe Lansdale mixes violence, profanity, depth, and laughs. Some angles of the story also reminded of Mosley’s Easy Rawlins series.
Yet Cosby has his own voice that firmly establishes the small town Virginia setting, and then he built an intriguing lead character to guide us through it. Nathan’s history as the biracial son of a white man dedicated to a life of peaceful non-violence and a more pragmatic black woman makes him conflicted in that he feels like he’s constantly failing his late father in some ways. Yet deep down he’s just not the kind of guy who thinks that turning the other cheek is the correct response to a cruel and unfair world.
While Cosby’s personality may have sold me on reading this book, his writing is what will get me to buy his next one.
November 30, 2022
My Darkest Prayer is the republished first novel by the brilliant S.A. Cosby. He dazzled me with Blacktop Wasteland and Razorblade Tears and when I saw that this book was coming out, I was extremely excited. I love his writing and vivid descriptions. I said it before, he has the heart of a poet. He writes beautiful, insightful and often violent passages that leave me in awe. I had high expectations for this book, and he did not let me down!
“The truth is no one can be fully protected. Safety is an illusion. There is no safety. Just downtime between tragedies.”
Nathan Waymaker is a southern man who has pretty much seen it all and done it all. He is a former marine, sheriff's deputy and works in his cousin's funeral home. When a local minister is found dead, Nathan is asked to make sure his death does not get forgotten. What sounds like a cut and dry feat, turns into so much more. Nathan soon learns that he is up against crime lords, low life criminals, crooked cops, corruption, and a not so honorable preacher.
Things get interesting fast! Cosby does not hold back in detailing violence. Nathan needs to reach down deep and count on all the skills he has to go up against small town corruption. Go up against them he does!
As I mentioned, this book is full of violence but also has glimpses of humor. I was fully invested in the plot and thought the narrator of the audiobook did a fantastic job. I felt like a fly on the wall watching everything unfold. As with his previous books, Cosby knows how to draw readers in while having his characters fight their way out of tough, often impossible situations.
Keep in mind that this was his first novel and has been republished. His writing has only gotten better with each book he writes. Cosby is from the south and sets his books/characters from there as well. He writes about communities, friendships, family, crime, vengeance and violent acts. He successfully intertwines violence with humor. He creates characters readers come to care about and root for. What a ride this was!
This book is gritty, dark, violent and hard to put down. I love his writing, his descriptions and characters. I look forward to reading more of his books in the future!
Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
“The truth is no one can be fully protected. Safety is an illusion. There is no safety. Just downtime between tragedies.”
Nathan Waymaker is a southern man who has pretty much seen it all and done it all. He is a former marine, sheriff's deputy and works in his cousin's funeral home. When a local minister is found dead, Nathan is asked to make sure his death does not get forgotten. What sounds like a cut and dry feat, turns into so much more. Nathan soon learns that he is up against crime lords, low life criminals, crooked cops, corruption, and a not so honorable preacher.
Things get interesting fast! Cosby does not hold back in detailing violence. Nathan needs to reach down deep and count on all the skills he has to go up against small town corruption. Go up against them he does!
As I mentioned, this book is full of violence but also has glimpses of humor. I was fully invested in the plot and thought the narrator of the audiobook did a fantastic job. I felt like a fly on the wall watching everything unfold. As with his previous books, Cosby knows how to draw readers in while having his characters fight their way out of tough, often impossible situations.
Keep in mind that this was his first novel and has been republished. His writing has only gotten better with each book he writes. Cosby is from the south and sets his books/characters from there as well. He writes about communities, friendships, family, crime, vengeance and violent acts. He successfully intertwines violence with humor. He creates characters readers come to care about and root for. What a ride this was!
This book is gritty, dark, violent and hard to put down. I love his writing, his descriptions and characters. I look forward to reading more of his books in the future!
Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
November 20, 2022
S. A. Crosby had such success with his last two novels, he is re-releasing his debut novel. And his signature style shines through this one as well, although it definitely was honed in his later books. Still, it’s great entertainment although lacking the poignancy of his last two.
Nathan Waymaker is a former Marine, former sheriff’s deputy, current funeral home assistant. He left the sheriff’s department after evidence was lost in the investigation into his parents’ deaths. So, when several parishioners of the local black church suspect the sheriff’s department of not actively investigating the death of their pastor, he agrees to look into it.
What should be an easy way to make some money quickly becomes complicated and dangerous. Before he knows it, he’s dealing with minor league punks, a crime lord and the police.
Crosby’s skill includes creating colorful characters on both sides of the equation. His writing style is definitely dark, with lots of profanity, violence and sex. But there’s also plenty of humor and I found myself chuckling numerous times.
The ending was as you would expect, overly violent and OTT.
Adam Lazard-White did a good job as Nathan and Skunk, but was less successful with other voices.
My thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this audiobook.
Nathan Waymaker is a former Marine, former sheriff’s deputy, current funeral home assistant. He left the sheriff’s department after evidence was lost in the investigation into his parents’ deaths. So, when several parishioners of the local black church suspect the sheriff’s department of not actively investigating the death of their pastor, he agrees to look into it.
What should be an easy way to make some money quickly becomes complicated and dangerous. Before he knows it, he’s dealing with minor league punks, a crime lord and the police.
Crosby’s skill includes creating colorful characters on both sides of the equation. His writing style is definitely dark, with lots of profanity, violence and sex. But there’s also plenty of humor and I found myself chuckling numerous times.
The ending was as you would expect, overly violent and OTT.
Adam Lazard-White did a good job as Nathan and Skunk, but was less successful with other voices.
My thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this audiobook.
December 5, 2022
I am about the last person on earth not to have read Razorblade Tears, and this is a grievous error I will soon be rectifying, because my God, SA Cosby can write. This is the kind of book you want to put down to write down all the beautiful quotes, a book you just want to savor forever. The audiobook narration by Adam Lazarre-White matches this beauty word for word. The narrator’s voice is so gorgeous and his acting so compelling that I had to take a little Google journey to find out exactly who had this major gift.
But let’s get back to the main attraction - this incredible noir writer SA Crosby. Now I know I’m late to the party, but I am thrilled to discover him. His metaphors would make Raymond Chandler proud. His dialogue is crackling. His characters are humorous, intense, and will get you immediately invested. This book goes into the world of undertakers, which is not a universe I thought I was interested in, but Cosby had me riveted by the start. This authors voice is so lyrical and funny and brutal. You feel every punch in every fight, every description is that perfect. I can’t compare this to his better-known works but I can tell you this audiobook is truly a gift, both in writing and narration, and several cuts above anything else I have read recently. Every sentence is so beautifully crafted. I can’t wait to read more from Cosby and I sure hope this is narrator he uses again, because it is a perfect fit.
Many thanks to Macmillan Audio and the author for one of the best books of the year.
April 3, 2024
Nathan Waymaker is a big, intimidating guy, an ex-marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now he’s back in his small hometown in America’s Deep South, working at his cousin���s funeral home. He’d had a spell as a Sheriff’s Deputy after leaving the army, but that ended when in quick succession his parents were killed by a drunk driver and the evidence to convict the the man responsible for their deaths was ‘lost’. Was this error down to incompetence, or was something else going on? Either way, Nathan demonstrated his thoughts by throwing one of his colleagues through a window. It was time for a career change.
When a local minister is found dead and is reported to have committed suicide, a pair of ladies from his parish approach Nathan requesting that he root around a bit on their behalf as they fear that foul deeds may have been at play. An offer of two thousand dollars for what seems, on face value, to be a simple task of asking a few questions of his ex-boss turns out to be anything but a bargain. The minister, it seems, once owned a local barber shop and dealt drugs on the side, and there’s something about his church that smells distinctly off, too. A bunch of gangsters, a feared crime lord, a porn star, and an assortment of other undesirables enter the stage – yes, I’m afraid this is going to get messy!
Having already experienced the power of the author’s writing in Razorblade Tears I wasn’t surprised by the profanity, violence and explicit sex here. But be warned, this is Southern noir at it’s rawest. If you can accept that, then this story is likely to grab you as it did me - I found it totalling compelling. It’s amazing to think that this was the author’s very first novel. But best of all, in my view, the audio version I listened to was superbly read by Adam Lazarre-White, whose deep lilting tones could not have been better suited to the task. It’s definitely one of the best narrations I’ve ever come across. I’ve already lined up another of the author’s books, and my only complaint is that I’ll have then exhausted the supply, for now. But S. A. Cosby is a writer I will definitely be keeping a close eye on, I’m already a long-term fan.
My thanks to Headline Audio for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
When a local minister is found dead and is reported to have committed suicide, a pair of ladies from his parish approach Nathan requesting that he root around a bit on their behalf as they fear that foul deeds may have been at play. An offer of two thousand dollars for what seems, on face value, to be a simple task of asking a few questions of his ex-boss turns out to be anything but a bargain. The minister, it seems, once owned a local barber shop and dealt drugs on the side, and there’s something about his church that smells distinctly off, too. A bunch of gangsters, a feared crime lord, a porn star, and an assortment of other undesirables enter the stage – yes, I’m afraid this is going to get messy!
Having already experienced the power of the author’s writing in Razorblade Tears I wasn’t surprised by the profanity, violence and explicit sex here. But be warned, this is Southern noir at it’s rawest. If you can accept that, then this story is likely to grab you as it did me - I found it totalling compelling. It’s amazing to think that this was the author’s very first novel. But best of all, in my view, the audio version I listened to was superbly read by Adam Lazarre-White, whose deep lilting tones could not have been better suited to the task. It’s definitely one of the best narrations I’ve ever come across. I’ve already lined up another of the author’s books, and my only complaint is that I’ll have then exhausted the supply, for now. But S. A. Cosby is a writer I will definitely be keeping a close eye on, I’m already a long-term fan.
My thanks to Headline Audio for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
May 13, 2023
As I've said in the past, debut novels can be hit or miss, but when they're written by a guy like Cosby, its pure delight.
We meet Nathan Waymaker, former Marine, cop and co-worker of cousin Walt, the owner of a local funeral home in a small town in VA. Built like a black armored car with the temperament of a school teacher, his first person POV narrative is akin to the great detectives of yesteryear. At the funeral for Reverend Esau, a popular preacher, the mystery of his death raises suspicion. A couple of the more prominent women in the church pull Nate aside to discuss it. Knowing he'd quit the local sheriff's due to how they handled the death of his parents, they offered him cash to do some PI work into the reverend's death.
Cosby shows how he'd studied some of the best and if not, is a natural born mystery author. Well developed characters that include his best friend Skunk. a black mob boss named Shade, red neck cops and a black porn star, he builds momentum, mystery and pace with each chapter. But like any well crafted mystery, once the ponies are out of the gate, the 'dash around the track' becomes a puzzle as they approach the finish
Those who have read past reviews, know I'm not a fan of spoilers, or providing explicit details about a story. Writing is art and like all of them, we're each drawn to something different. That said, Cosby's other books, Razorblade Tears , and Blacktop Wasteland were equal to if not better than this one and I'm eager for the release of All the Sinners Bleed
As you can see from the 5 star rating, which is something I rarely hand out, this is a book worth adding to your list :)
"And that's all I'm gonna say about that" ~ Forrest Gump
We meet Nathan Waymaker, former Marine, cop and co-worker of cousin Walt, the owner of a local funeral home in a small town in VA. Built like a black armored car with the temperament of a school teacher, his first person POV narrative is akin to the great detectives of yesteryear. At the funeral for Reverend Esau, a popular preacher, the mystery of his death raises suspicion. A couple of the more prominent women in the church pull Nate aside to discuss it. Knowing he'd quit the local sheriff's due to how they handled the death of his parents, they offered him cash to do some PI work into the reverend's death.
Cosby shows how he'd studied some of the best and if not, is a natural born mystery author. Well developed characters that include his best friend Skunk. a black mob boss named Shade, red neck cops and a black porn star, he builds momentum, mystery and pace with each chapter. But like any well crafted mystery, once the ponies are out of the gate, the 'dash around the track' becomes a puzzle as they approach the finish
Those who have read past reviews, know I'm not a fan of spoilers, or providing explicit details about a story. Writing is art and like all of them, we're each drawn to something different. That said, Cosby's other books, Razorblade Tears , and Blacktop Wasteland were equal to if not better than this one and I'm eager for the release of All the Sinners Bleed
As you can see from the 5 star rating, which is something I rarely hand out, this is a book worth adding to your list :)
"And that's all I'm gonna say about that" ~ Forrest Gump
December 4, 2022
BLACKTOP WASTELAND and RAZORBLADE TEARS made me a huge fan of both S.A. Cosby and Adam Lazarre-White. When I saw that Cosby's debut novel was available on audio from Macmillan, via NetGalley, I jumped all over it and here we are. S.A. Cosby is the REAL DEAL!
MY DARKEST PRAYER is the story of Nathan Waymaker. Nate works at a funeral home in his small Virginia town. Nate is a retired Marine, (because once a Marine, always a Marine), and an ex-deputy, whose parents were killed by a drunk driver that got off scot-free. Nate is asked by the family to look into the recent death of a local preacher and before you know it, (and before Nate knows it), he's sucked into a mystery turned murderous. Featuring a wide variety of memorable characters, (Skunk!), acts of violence, and a few smoking hot sex scenes, this mystery is a tough nut to crack. Will Nate figure out who killed the preacher? Will Nate survive his investigation? You'll have to read this to find out!
Once again, Cosby has drawn me in to a tale full of mesmerizing characters that feel real. Gritty crime novels have never felt so real as Cosby makes them feel. They are full of casual racism, nasty villains, and protagonists that aren't perfect. There are lots of grey areas and I think that's what I like the best...nothing is as easy as black and white, certainly not real people.
Adam Lazarre-White has the perfect voice for Cosby novels. At times sexy, at times growly, at times both at once, and ALL the time: flat out awesome. I would pay to have him read my grocery list just so I can listen to him again.
Put these two men together and you have one compulsive read that I tore through in a matter of a few work days.
If you are already a fan of Cosby, I expect you will enjoy this, his debut novel. If you are new to Cosby, then prepare yourself, because if this effort is your first, you should know that the next two novels are even better than this one. Sometimes it's fun to see how an author grows and polishes his skills, and in this case- that is true. When a debut is as good as this one, you just KNOW that the author's later books are going to be better and better. Readers, I'm here to tell you they ARE.
Treat yourself by going back to when Cosby first started, so you can see for yourself that very little improvement was needed, right from the get-go. I, for one, look forward to what Cosby does next!
Highly recommended! Audio available December 6th, 2022!
*Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free audio download in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
MY DARKEST PRAYER is the story of Nathan Waymaker. Nate works at a funeral home in his small Virginia town. Nate is a retired Marine, (because once a Marine, always a Marine), and an ex-deputy, whose parents were killed by a drunk driver that got off scot-free. Nate is asked by the family to look into the recent death of a local preacher and before you know it, (and before Nate knows it), he's sucked into a mystery turned murderous. Featuring a wide variety of memorable characters, (Skunk!), acts of violence, and a few smoking hot sex scenes, this mystery is a tough nut to crack. Will Nate figure out who killed the preacher? Will Nate survive his investigation? You'll have to read this to find out!
Once again, Cosby has drawn me in to a tale full of mesmerizing characters that feel real. Gritty crime novels have never felt so real as Cosby makes them feel. They are full of casual racism, nasty villains, and protagonists that aren't perfect. There are lots of grey areas and I think that's what I like the best...nothing is as easy as black and white, certainly not real people.
Adam Lazarre-White has the perfect voice for Cosby novels. At times sexy, at times growly, at times both at once, and ALL the time: flat out awesome. I would pay to have him read my grocery list just so I can listen to him again.
Put these two men together and you have one compulsive read that I tore through in a matter of a few work days.
If you are already a fan of Cosby, I expect you will enjoy this, his debut novel. If you are new to Cosby, then prepare yourself, because if this effort is your first, you should know that the next two novels are even better than this one. Sometimes it's fun to see how an author grows and polishes his skills, and in this case- that is true. When a debut is as good as this one, you just KNOW that the author's later books are going to be better and better. Readers, I'm here to tell you they ARE.
Treat yourself by going back to when Cosby first started, so you can see for yourself that very little improvement was needed, right from the get-go. I, for one, look forward to what Cosby does next!
Highly recommended! Audio available December 6th, 2022!
*Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free audio download in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
April 2, 2021
For a while, I've been staying away from most "detective" novels because I began to find them repetitive and not fulfilling anymore. I longed for something more than just solving a mystery over and over. But every now and then, a standard mystery comes along and impresses me! I read Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby recently and I really enjoyed it and sought out this one, his previous debut novel. I enjoyed it just as much and I can confidently say that he truly is a rising star to watch.
This book is armed with a cool, collected protagonist, who's pretty badass but not ridiculously so, tortured but not in a forced, clichéd way. Nate Waymaker works as an undertaker in his small Virginia town, but has been hired by the local church ladies to look into the mysterious death of a clergyman with a shaky past. The strange thing is that Cosby falls into many tropes here, with a structure lifted right out of Devil in a Blue Dress and with a hero who seems to be able to get every woman in the world drop their panties for him. But at the same time there was something that felt genuine about the novel, as if I was reading these clichés for the first time. The characters jump off the page, the dialogue is rich and grounded, and I enjoyed witnessing this author crafting a good story while finding his voice.
This book is armed with a cool, collected protagonist, who's pretty badass but not ridiculously so, tortured but not in a forced, clichéd way. Nate Waymaker works as an undertaker in his small Virginia town, but has been hired by the local church ladies to look into the mysterious death of a clergyman with a shaky past. The strange thing is that Cosby falls into many tropes here, with a structure lifted right out of Devil in a Blue Dress and with a hero who seems to be able to get every woman in the world drop their panties for him. But at the same time there was something that felt genuine about the novel, as if I was reading these clichés for the first time. The characters jump off the page, the dialogue is rich and grounded, and I enjoyed witnessing this author crafting a good story while finding his voice.
December 6, 2022
4.5 rounded to 5
Want a good story that’s authentic, vulnerable, deep, well-written, with great pacing? Look no further!
I loved Razorblade Tears and really enjoyed Blacktop Wasteland. I have a new favorite by S.A. Cosby.
Nathan is a bada$$. A former marine who resigned as a sheriff’s deputy, he begins a quest to find what happened to a recently deceased pastor. What follows is a high stakes look into small town secrets and a collection of characters only Cosby could pull together. Somehow he’s able to weave nuance with blunt force in a way nobody else I’ve read can.
Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Want a good story that’s authentic, vulnerable, deep, well-written, with great pacing? Look no further!
I loved Razorblade Tears and really enjoyed Blacktop Wasteland. I have a new favorite by S.A. Cosby.
Nathan is a bada$$. A former marine who resigned as a sheriff’s deputy, he begins a quest to find what happened to a recently deceased pastor. What follows is a high stakes look into small town secrets and a collection of characters only Cosby could pull together. Somehow he’s able to weave nuance with blunt force in a way nobody else I’ve read can.
Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
December 9, 2022
Strong warning on this one....explicit sex scenes, language, murder scenes, and profanity
I have read three of S.A. Cosby's books and although super gritty and filled with profanity, enjoyed them all. He is a master storyteller one who could weave a tale so flawlessly.
In this telling we have the death of a well-liked minister who some of his parishioners thinks was murdered. She hires Nathan Waymaker, a former police person, to investigate the supposed murder. Nathan is no novice in understanding people's motives, plus his own background has been somewhat murky. A former marine, Nathan is now is a mortician's assistant who toils at a loval funeral parlor.
The former minister, has a daughter, a porn star who becomes involved with Nathan. She hated her father, but does provide a sex filled environment for Nathan to luxuriate in. These scenes are super steamy and the author is quite explicit in his descriptions. However, as Nathan begins his investigation, he gets deeper and deeper into a tale of bad guys, crime lords, and of course the minister. Nate is a great reader of people, and puts himself in the midst of what is turning out to be a sex ring which might have involved the police department. Nate holds nothing back and his speech is littered with many X-rated words and his many escapes. However, he is astute and is a man with a mission that he is determined to see through to its end.
This book is super gritty and the first by this author, where his writing ability and his way with words and atmosphere is profoundly seen. He is also quite witty and brings a smile to the reader's face many times. It is definitely not for everyone as it might offend some's sensibilities. It was addictive as Cosby takes us down a road filled with trash, deceptions, sex. and death. Nathan is certainly a character one would want firmly on your side with some very "down to earth" friends.
"Some people need to go to hell, and we need to get them there."
Thank you to S.A. Cosby, Adam Lazarre-White who did a fantastic time with the narration, and Macmillian Audio for a copy of this harrowing story.
I have read three of S.A. Cosby's books and although super gritty and filled with profanity, enjoyed them all. He is a master storyteller one who could weave a tale so flawlessly.
In this telling we have the death of a well-liked minister who some of his parishioners thinks was murdered. She hires Nathan Waymaker, a former police person, to investigate the supposed murder. Nathan is no novice in understanding people's motives, plus his own background has been somewhat murky. A former marine, Nathan is now is a mortician's assistant who toils at a loval funeral parlor.
The former minister, has a daughter, a porn star who becomes involved with Nathan. She hated her father, but does provide a sex filled environment for Nathan to luxuriate in. These scenes are super steamy and the author is quite explicit in his descriptions. However, as Nathan begins his investigation, he gets deeper and deeper into a tale of bad guys, crime lords, and of course the minister. Nate is a great reader of people, and puts himself in the midst of what is turning out to be a sex ring which might have involved the police department. Nate holds nothing back and his speech is littered with many X-rated words and his many escapes. However, he is astute and is a man with a mission that he is determined to see through to its end.
This book is super gritty and the first by this author, where his writing ability and his way with words and atmosphere is profoundly seen. He is also quite witty and brings a smile to the reader's face many times. It is definitely not for everyone as it might offend some's sensibilities. It was addictive as Cosby takes us down a road filled with trash, deceptions, sex. and death. Nathan is certainly a character one would want firmly on your side with some very "down to earth" friends.
"Some people need to go to hell, and we need to get them there."
Thank you to S.A. Cosby, Adam Lazarre-White who did a fantastic time with the narration, and Macmillian Audio for a copy of this harrowing story.
November 21, 2023
My Darkest Prayer is S.A. Cosby's debut novel. I listened to it on audiobook and it is superbly narrated by Adam Lazarre-White who also narrated Cosby's All the Sinners Bleed.
Cosby wrote a powerful, memorable, humble introduction to My Darkest Prayer. He shared the power and history of storytelling as well as his passion for writing. Much of his interest in writing came after a teacher gave him an A on a paper.
My Darkest Prayer is aptly named because it is dark, evil, and filled with religious leaders who are immoral and unethical. The protagonist was a Marine and a police detective before working at a mortuary. A local pastor dies and it's ruled a suicide but several ladies from the church don't believe it and they want it investigated.
Fast-paced and action packed.
Cosby wrote a powerful, memorable, humble introduction to My Darkest Prayer. He shared the power and history of storytelling as well as his passion for writing. Much of his interest in writing came after a teacher gave him an A on a paper.
My Darkest Prayer is aptly named because it is dark, evil, and filled with religious leaders who are immoral and unethical. The protagonist was a Marine and a police detective before working at a mortuary. A local pastor dies and it's ruled a suicide but several ladies from the church don't believe it and they want it investigated.
Fast-paced and action packed.
February 4, 2023
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Not to sound dramatic but I feel betrayed. Blacktop Wasteland and Razorblade Tears managed to be gripping and gritty reads that managed to pack an emotional punch. The only nice thing I can say about My Darkest Prayer is that it attests to Cosby having grown as an author. My Darkest Prayer reads like a generic story in the realm of a hardboiled novel that thinks it's being way smarter and funnier than it actually is. While Cosby’s penchant for snappy and occasionally bombastic metaphors won me over in Blacktop Wasteland and Razorblade Tears, here they often struck me as unfunny, over-elaborate, and even puerile (“I felt his thin lips split like a pair of cheap pantyhose”). Yet, maybe I could have accepted a story that reads like it’s trying too hard to tick every box in the Walter Mosley or Kenzie & Gennaro book, with its wannabe sigma protagonist who happens to have a friend who is as dangerous, possibly unhinged (always there when our protagonist is going against the bad bad guys), is a magnet for curvaceous women (maybe one of them needs rescuing after being kidnapped by the baddies), and spends way too much time coming up with or responding to colorful threats that don’t make anyone sound particularly tough or clever or intimidating (au contraire, they sound like they have just moved past the recess jokes stage of their lives). Except that this book’s constant objectification of women got to me. Maybe if this had been published during Raymond Chandler’s days, maybe I might feel more inclined to overlook it, but given that My Darkest Prayer was first published in 2019, I just cannot. Worse still, this book pretends it's different from the usual hard-boiled or grit-lit reads, with our main guy calling out other men for being sexist pigs. He even tells us: “I tried to adhere to the three-second rule as I watched her walk. If I looked longer than three, I was straying into pervert territory”. My oh my, what a nice guy. Truly not like other men. At one point, he even tells us that he believes that his traumatic past means that he is not like other people.
Anyway, set in a small Southern town, we follow Nathan, a former marine and sheriff's deputy, who now works at a funeral home, he handles the bodies, and now-and-again teaches the local ‘riffraff’ a lesson or two. After the death of the cherished local minister, his parishioners, knowing that the police won’t properly investigate this, pay Nathan to make sure to discover just what went down. We learn that Nathan’s relationship with the authorities is strained not only due to their general incompetence, but somehow connected to his parents’ deaths. Nathan goes around asking questions, having some physical altercations, which establish him as the sigma man that he says and even becomes involved with the minister’s daughter, who happens to be a ‘sex bomb’ and a pornstar. There are a lot of scenes that can be boiled down to ‘too much testosterone’, with Nathan going on about how muscular he is (he even tells us that unlike other guys he doesn’t do it to gain female attention, further establishing him as the true sigma). He learns that the minister was up to no good and somehow involved with a powerful and dangerous figure.
Way too much page time is dedicated to Nathan’s flexing and his constant objectification of women. If the women are old, forget it, they barely register on his radar (he may note just how scrawny they are). But younger women? Wow. He is a womanizer who isn’t looking to settle down, and these desperate women stand no chance against how smooth and manly he is. It just so happens that most of the women he pursues, has had sex with, or is flirting with (even at the most inopportune of moments, say when the life of someone you care about is at stake), are curvaceous, with firm thighs (“Mrs. Short’s faith was not as firm as her honey-brown thighs”...), and butts that are described as ‘ample’ or compared to ‘peaches’. Every time he comes across a woman he has to make these remarks about their bodies which really gets repetitive fast. He often thinks that the way they dress is solely for his benefit (“a black bra that peeked out at me through the knitting like a shy puppy”, ) and compares their bodies to sweet things like ‘honey’ and ‘butterscotch’. He particularly objectifies light-skinned Black women, “She had a honey-brown complexion that made it appear as if she were sculpted out of amber ambrosia. […] She could have been a tanned Italian or a light-skinned Black woman or a Latin goddess come to life or a combination of all three. You didn’t gaze upon her and think about fucking her. You wanted to protect her. Put her in a gilded cage and admire her for the rest of your life like a captured angel”. Additionally, this is yet another hard-boiled novel that pains a victim of sexual abuse as having to be saved by a man or if she worked as a prostitute or was involved in other activities deemed illegal has to be portrayed as ‘broken’ and ‘unhinged’.
And for all his posturing, Nathan is exactly like the men he looks down upon. After he has sex with Lisa, the minister’s daughter, he wakes “to see Lisa sprawled across the bed like an action figure some kid had left behind once he was done playing”. Later on, he thinks this when coming across a lot of cash: “It was all tens and twenties. Folded over, it was a knot big enough to choke a horse or a whore”...wtf. Not only is he comparing women to playthings, that he can use and toss aside, but placing them in the same category as fucking horses? I found the way the narrator describes and perceives women to be gross & dehumanising.
The sex scenes were cringe, with Lisa reverting to her pornstar persona and having to once again emphasize just how manly Nathan is (“Fuck, you’re strong”, “Well, aren’t you big all over”, “Give it to me! Tame this pussy!”). When having sex Lisa “growls”, her eyes go “feral”. And then we get eye-roll-worthy things like: “Her skin was feverishly hot, but she felt weightless in my arms. It was like holding a feather from a phoenix”.
Lisa of course has to reveal her traumatic past because there is nothing like using female trauma and pain to incentivize our hero.
So many jokes were sexist, homophobic, or simply down-right icky, and may appeal to people who still think of Family Guy as being funny.
The story was boring, predictable. Nathan was a one-note character who wasn't half as cool or funny or edgy as this book thinks he is while the side-characters are painfully cartoonish.
As much as it pains me to write such a review for a Cosby book I can't close an eye to how sexist and dull this book turned out to be.
If you are interested in checking out this novel I recommend you check out more positive reviews out. If you've never read anything by Cosby but want to I recommend you give this a wide berth and check out Blacktop Wasteland and/or Razorblade Tears instead.
Not to sound dramatic but I feel betrayed. Blacktop Wasteland and Razorblade Tears managed to be gripping and gritty reads that managed to pack an emotional punch. The only nice thing I can say about My Darkest Prayer is that it attests to Cosby having grown as an author. My Darkest Prayer reads like a generic story in the realm of a hardboiled novel that thinks it's being way smarter and funnier than it actually is. While Cosby’s penchant for snappy and occasionally bombastic metaphors won me over in Blacktop Wasteland and Razorblade Tears, here they often struck me as unfunny, over-elaborate, and even puerile (“I felt his thin lips split like a pair of cheap pantyhose”). Yet, maybe I could have accepted a story that reads like it’s trying too hard to tick every box in the Walter Mosley or Kenzie & Gennaro book, with its wannabe sigma protagonist who happens to have a friend who is as dangerous, possibly unhinged (always there when our protagonist is going against the bad bad guys), is a magnet for curvaceous women (maybe one of them needs rescuing after being kidnapped by the baddies), and spends way too much time coming up with or responding to colorful threats that don’t make anyone sound particularly tough or clever or intimidating (au contraire, they sound like they have just moved past the recess jokes stage of their lives). Except that this book’s constant objectification of women got to me. Maybe if this had been published during Raymond Chandler’s days, maybe I might feel more inclined to overlook it, but given that My Darkest Prayer was first published in 2019, I just cannot. Worse still, this book pretends it's different from the usual hard-boiled or grit-lit reads, with our main guy calling out other men for being sexist pigs. He even tells us: “I tried to adhere to the three-second rule as I watched her walk. If I looked longer than three, I was straying into pervert territory”. My oh my, what a nice guy. Truly not like other men. At one point, he even tells us that he believes that his traumatic past means that he is not like other people.
Anyway, set in a small Southern town, we follow Nathan, a former marine and sheriff's deputy, who now works at a funeral home, he handles the bodies, and now-and-again teaches the local ‘riffraff’ a lesson or two. After the death of the cherished local minister, his parishioners, knowing that the police won’t properly investigate this, pay Nathan to make sure to discover just what went down. We learn that Nathan’s relationship with the authorities is strained not only due to their general incompetence, but somehow connected to his parents’ deaths. Nathan goes around asking questions, having some physical altercations, which establish him as the sigma man that he says and even becomes involved with the minister’s daughter, who happens to be a ‘sex bomb’ and a pornstar. There are a lot of scenes that can be boiled down to ‘too much testosterone’, with Nathan going on about how muscular he is (he even tells us that unlike other guys he doesn’t do it to gain female attention, further establishing him as the true sigma). He learns that the minister was up to no good and somehow involved with a powerful and dangerous figure.
Way too much page time is dedicated to Nathan’s flexing and his constant objectification of women. If the women are old, forget it, they barely register on his radar (he may note just how scrawny they are). But younger women? Wow. He is a womanizer who isn’t looking to settle down, and these desperate women stand no chance against how smooth and manly he is. It just so happens that most of the women he pursues, has had sex with, or is flirting with (even at the most inopportune of moments, say when the life of someone you care about is at stake), are curvaceous, with firm thighs (“Mrs. Short’s faith was not as firm as her honey-brown thighs”...), and butts that are described as ‘ample’ or compared to ‘peaches’. Every time he comes across a woman he has to make these remarks about their bodies which really gets repetitive fast. He often thinks that the way they dress is solely for his benefit (“a black bra that peeked out at me through the knitting like a shy puppy”, ) and compares their bodies to sweet things like ‘honey’ and ‘butterscotch’. He particularly objectifies light-skinned Black women, “She had a honey-brown complexion that made it appear as if she were sculpted out of amber ambrosia. […] She could have been a tanned Italian or a light-skinned Black woman or a Latin goddess come to life or a combination of all three. You didn’t gaze upon her and think about fucking her. You wanted to protect her. Put her in a gilded cage and admire her for the rest of your life like a captured angel”. Additionally, this is yet another hard-boiled novel that pains a victim of sexual abuse as having to be saved by a man or if she worked as a prostitute or was involved in other activities deemed illegal has to be portrayed as ‘broken’ and ‘unhinged’.
And for all his posturing, Nathan is exactly like the men he looks down upon. After he has sex with Lisa, the minister’s daughter, he wakes “to see Lisa sprawled across the bed like an action figure some kid had left behind once he was done playing”. Later on, he thinks this when coming across a lot of cash: “It was all tens and twenties. Folded over, it was a knot big enough to choke a horse or a whore”...wtf. Not only is he comparing women to playthings, that he can use and toss aside, but placing them in the same category as fucking horses? I found the way the narrator describes and perceives women to be gross & dehumanising.
The sex scenes were cringe, with Lisa reverting to her pornstar persona and having to once again emphasize just how manly Nathan is (“Fuck, you’re strong”, “Well, aren’t you big all over”, “Give it to me! Tame this pussy!”). When having sex Lisa “growls”, her eyes go “feral”. And then we get eye-roll-worthy things like: “Her skin was feverishly hot, but she felt weightless in my arms. It was like holding a feather from a phoenix”.
Lisa of course has to reveal her traumatic past because there is nothing like using female trauma and pain to incentivize our hero.
So many jokes were sexist, homophobic, or simply down-right icky, and may appeal to people who still think of Family Guy as being funny.
The story was boring, predictable. Nathan was a one-note character who wasn't half as cool or funny or edgy as this book thinks he is while the side-characters are painfully cartoonish.
As much as it pains me to write such a review for a Cosby book I can't close an eye to how sexist and dull this book turned out to be.
If you are interested in checking out this novel I recommend you check out more positive reviews out. If you've never read anything by Cosby but want to I recommend you give this a wide berth and check out Blacktop Wasteland and/or Razorblade Tears instead.
September 30, 2021
"I once saw him beat a man with a sock full of wood screws over a game of Pac-Man . . ."
Damn, Cosby. Just . . . damn.
P.S. - I hope there's a Skunk spin-off in the works, cause he was da bomb.
Damn, Cosby. Just . . . damn.
P.S. - I hope there's a Skunk spin-off in the works, cause he was da bomb.
February 26, 2023
Wow!
What a page turner!
What an excellent debut!
Thanks to the success of Blacktop Wasteland & Razorblade Tears this book was re-issued by a larger publisher.
The writing is raw and gritty and the storyline is riveting.
I loved the small doses of brilliant humour.
I read this book in one sitting, as I couldn’t put it down.
I also simultaneously listened to the audiobook narrated by Adam Lazarre-White, which I highly recommend. This narrator brought everything to life. A terrific vivid experience!
Now, if you read his other books you know that you should expect high violence and some profanity.
I do hope that this one will also be adapted for the screen.
I’m looking forward to reading his new book coming this June, “All the Sinners Bleed”.
What a page turner!
What an excellent debut!
Thanks to the success of Blacktop Wasteland & Razorblade Tears this book was re-issued by a larger publisher.
The writing is raw and gritty and the storyline is riveting.
I loved the small doses of brilliant humour.
I read this book in one sitting, as I couldn’t put it down.
I also simultaneously listened to the audiobook narrated by Adam Lazarre-White, which I highly recommend. This narrator brought everything to life. A terrific vivid experience!
Now, if you read his other books you know that you should expect high violence and some profanity.
I do hope that this one will also be adapted for the screen.
I’m looking forward to reading his new book coming this June, “All the Sinners Bleed”.
January 30, 2024
Well…… this has been sitting on my shelf for a while now. Those who have read Cosby’s work already know he has a gritty style. Some more than others. Considering this was his first novel ever written, it’s pretty damn gritty.
When a local minister is found murdered in a small southern town, Nathan Waymaker is your guy. Nate has been asked for help, to dig into just what the minister had going on behind closed doors. Who would want him dead?
In my opinion, this is a southern countrified gangsta story. Straight up. You got lots of guys with guns, country police, a porn star, and other shady characters. Here’s the problem I have with this——- The dialogue just cheapened what was supposed to be a suspenseful read. I hate it when that happens. 😳😳😳
“Nothing makes me feel more alive than after that than some good hot pussy that would melt Superman’s dick”
Now, I’m no prude, but there is tons of this talk throughout the book. Had certain lines been worded with different words and classier dialect, this would be a 4 ⭐️ read. Seriously. This was just too raunchy for my liking. I know Cosby can do it because I absolutely LOVED All The Sinners Bleed! A 5 ⭐️ read all the way.
I’m glad many of you enjoyed this with all the 4&5 ⭐️. However, it’s just not my cup of tea. Cosby is a phenomenal author with compelling stories. I will definitely read his next for sure.
3 ⭐️
When a local minister is found murdered in a small southern town, Nathan Waymaker is your guy. Nate has been asked for help, to dig into just what the minister had going on behind closed doors. Who would want him dead?
In my opinion, this is a southern countrified gangsta story. Straight up. You got lots of guys with guns, country police, a porn star, and other shady characters. Here’s the problem I have with this——- The dialogue just cheapened what was supposed to be a suspenseful read. I hate it when that happens. 😳😳😳
“Nothing makes me feel more alive than after that than some good hot pussy that would melt Superman’s dick”
Now, I’m no prude, but there is tons of this talk throughout the book. Had certain lines been worded with different words and classier dialect, this would be a 4 ⭐️ read. Seriously. This was just too raunchy for my liking. I know Cosby can do it because I absolutely LOVED All The Sinners Bleed! A 5 ⭐️ read all the way.
I’m glad many of you enjoyed this with all the 4&5 ⭐️. However, it’s just not my cup of tea. Cosby is a phenomenal author with compelling stories. I will definitely read his next for sure.
3 ⭐️
January 30, 2024
3⭐
Genre ~ murder thriller
Publication date ~ December 6, 2022
Est page Count ~ 276
Audio length ~9 hours and 23 minutes
Narrator ~ Adam Lazarre-White
POV ~ single 1st
Featuring ~ suicide references, death, crime, dark, violence, graphic, small town, some steamage
This is a debut re~release.
Nathan is an ex-cop and retired military currently working in a funeral home, and his violent abilities definitely show in this one. It is pretty graphic and action packed which kept me engaged. There were some intense moments and the pace remained steadily fast.
This is my first experience with this author and I'd give him a whirl again.
Narration notes:
He did a fine job. I definitely got a southern vibe from him.
*Thanks to Macmillan Audio, the author and NetGalley for my audio copy. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*
Connect with me ➡ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter
Genre ~ murder thriller
Publication date ~ December 6, 2022
Est page Count ~ 276
Audio length ~9 hours and 23 minutes
Narrator ~ Adam Lazarre-White
POV ~ single 1st
Featuring ~ suicide references, death, crime, dark, violence, graphic, small town, some steamage
This is a debut re~release.
Nathan is an ex-cop and retired military currently working in a funeral home, and his violent abilities definitely show in this one. It is pretty graphic and action packed which kept me engaged. There were some intense moments and the pace remained steadily fast.
This is my first experience with this author and I'd give him a whirl again.
Narration notes:
He did a fine job. I definitely got a southern vibe from him.
*Thanks to Macmillan Audio, the author and NetGalley for my audio copy. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*
Connect with me ➡ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter
March 6, 2024
This debut novel is a unique take on crime fiction. The characters are distinct, interesting, and humanly flawed. It left me thinking long after turning the last page.
December 6, 2022
My Darkest Prayer by S. A. Cosby (audiobook review)
Narrated by Adam Lazarre-White (9 hours 25 minutes).
Thriller - (5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
The best-selling author of My Darkest Prayer, S.A. Cosby, is a master of storytelling. The narrative immediately drew me to the audiobook. Having never read Cosby's work before, I was stunned by it. The story was engaging and heart-pounding! Listening to the chapters unfold, I felt as if I was there. Although I loved it, it may not be suitable for everyone. Please check the trigger warnings listed below before proceeding.
Synopsis:
Nathan Waymaker, a former marine and sheriff's deputy, has established himself as a dependable source of help in his small Southern town. He is street smart and knows how to take care of bodies, whether he's tossing around local riffraff at the neighborhood bar or working at his cousin's funeral home.
Nathan is asked to investigate the death of a beloved local minister by his parishioners. What begins as a simple job for easy money turns into crazy events filled with wannabe gangsters, ruthless crime lords, porn stars, and crooked police officers. Even as dark secrets of his own threaten to surface, Nathan uses his skills and wit to navigate a dangerous conflict involving small town corruption.
Warnings: Language, violence, physical altercations, death, sex
Book and audiobook versions of My Darkest Prayer by S. A. Cosby will be available on December 6th, just in time for Christmas.
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sharing this intriguing audiobook with me. Your kindness is appreciated.
#MyDarkestPrayer #SACosby #Audiobooks #netgalleyreviewer #bookworm #bookishcommunity #bookstagramcommunity #readingcommunity #Books #bookfriends #booksbooksbooks #booksta #bookstagram #newtobookstagram #bookreview #bookreviews #instabookstagram #bookish #bookishielife #newtobookstagram #newtoinsta #newtoinstagra #Bookishcom #trending #bestsellingbooks #bookoutureauthors #b
Narrated by Adam Lazarre-White (9 hours 25 minutes).
Thriller - (5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
The best-selling author of My Darkest Prayer, S.A. Cosby, is a master of storytelling. The narrative immediately drew me to the audiobook. Having never read Cosby's work before, I was stunned by it. The story was engaging and heart-pounding! Listening to the chapters unfold, I felt as if I was there. Although I loved it, it may not be suitable for everyone. Please check the trigger warnings listed below before proceeding.
Synopsis:
Nathan Waymaker, a former marine and sheriff's deputy, has established himself as a dependable source of help in his small Southern town. He is street smart and knows how to take care of bodies, whether he's tossing around local riffraff at the neighborhood bar or working at his cousin's funeral home.
Nathan is asked to investigate the death of a beloved local minister by his parishioners. What begins as a simple job for easy money turns into crazy events filled with wannabe gangsters, ruthless crime lords, porn stars, and crooked police officers. Even as dark secrets of his own threaten to surface, Nathan uses his skills and wit to navigate a dangerous conflict involving small town corruption.
Warnings: Language, violence, physical altercations, death, sex
Book and audiobook versions of My Darkest Prayer by S. A. Cosby will be available on December 6th, just in time for Christmas.
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sharing this intriguing audiobook with me. Your kindness is appreciated.
#MyDarkestPrayer #SACosby #Audiobooks #netgalleyreviewer #bookworm #bookishcommunity #bookstagramcommunity #readingcommunity #Books #bookfriends #booksbooksbooks #booksta #bookstagram #newtobookstagram #bookreview #bookreviews #instabookstagram #bookish #bookishielife #newtobookstagram #newtoinsta #newtoinstagra #Bookishcom #trending #bestsellingbooks #bookoutureauthors #b
January 1, 2023
Thank you S.A. Cosby, MacMillan Audio Productions, Flatiron Books, and NetGalley for an advanced audio copy of this excellent book.
MY DARKEST PRAYER is S.A. Cosby's first novel, which is now being re-released after the success of his second and third novels, BLACKTOP WASTELAND and RAZORBLADE TEARS and in advance of he new novel, ALL THE SINNERS BLEED, which releases June 6 2023.
In this mystery/thriller, ex-marine-turned -ex-cop-turned-medical-examiner Nathan Waymaker is an all around tough dude with a respectful heart who tends to help folks when they have no one else to turn to. As luck would have it, the minister of his local and very successful church turns up dead. As a favor to the minister's relatives-- one of whom is connected to his new love interest-- Nate agrees to ask some questions. He quickly discovers he's asking the right questions-- but right for whom? And at what price?
The characters felt complete, believable. I love Skunk. More accurately, I love the friendship between Skunk and Nathan. Nathan recognizes Skunk as dangerous, and vice versa, but they don't fear one another. A profound intimacy exists between the two men that is sublime in how Cosby expresses it. The human element of this novel is beautiful and real.
Cosby's writing is gritty, sharp, and deeply addictive, and the wonderful narrator Adam Lazar White reads with a mesmerising quality that had me finishing this book in 2 days. (I even put my phone in a ziploc bag and listened in the shower, because I could not stop
!) I really hope White decides to narrate for Cosby again.
Rating 🥊🥊🥊🥊🥊/ 5 haymakers from Waymaker
Recommend? Absolutely
Finished December 2022
Ready this if you like:
👀 Thrillers
🤑 Stories about corruption
🥊 Good fight scenes
👥️ Men's Friendship
🥰 Healthy romantic relationship
MY DARKEST PRAYER is S.A. Cosby's first novel, which is now being re-released after the success of his second and third novels, BLACKTOP WASTELAND and RAZORBLADE TEARS and in advance of he new novel, ALL THE SINNERS BLEED, which releases June 6 2023.
In this mystery/thriller, ex-marine-turned -ex-cop-turned-medical-examiner Nathan Waymaker is an all around tough dude with a respectful heart who tends to help folks when they have no one else to turn to. As luck would have it, the minister of his local and very successful church turns up dead. As a favor to the minister's relatives-- one of whom is connected to his new love interest-- Nate agrees to ask some questions. He quickly discovers he's asking the right questions-- but right for whom? And at what price?
The characters felt complete, believable. I love Skunk. More accurately, I love the friendship between Skunk and Nathan. Nathan recognizes Skunk as dangerous, and vice versa, but they don't fear one another. A profound intimacy exists between the two men that is sublime in how Cosby expresses it. The human element of this novel is beautiful and real.
Cosby's writing is gritty, sharp, and deeply addictive, and the wonderful narrator Adam Lazar White reads with a mesmerising quality that had me finishing this book in 2 days. (I even put my phone in a ziploc bag and listened in the shower, because I could not stop
!) I really hope White decides to narrate for Cosby again.
Rating 🥊🥊🥊🥊🥊/ 5 haymakers from Waymaker
Recommend? Absolutely
Finished December 2022
Ready this if you like:
👀 Thrillers
🤑 Stories about corruption
🥊 Good fight scenes
👥️ Men's Friendship
🥰 Healthy romantic relationship
January 1, 2023
RTC.
December 10, 2022
Let me begin by saying that I was absolutely ecstatic that I won this republished, new edition, of S.A. Cosby’s debut novel, “My Darkest Prayer”, from Goodreads (it includes a new introduction). My first read of 2022 was “Blacktop Wasteland”, which I thoroughly enjoyed and made me a Cosby fan (I enjoyed this book a tad bit more than it). I have ���Razorblade Tears” in my TBR pile and after reading this, I know I must push it up further in my pile. S.A. Cosby’s writing skills are out of this world!
“I handle the bodies.” Nathan Waymaker, a former marine and sheriff’s deputy, now works alongside his cousin Walt at the Walter T. Blackmon Funeral Home in Queens County, Virginia. To say he has seen some things would be an understatement. For example, he definitely was not ready for one particular pick up of a dead body, Miss Verlaine, at the local nursing home. Let’s just say she went out of this world doing the “deed” and was left in a very interesting position. Then there are incidents at the funeral home where tensions are high amongst family members and Nate sometimes has to step in like that of Momma J’s funeral where her son Carter is not too pleased with his ex wife’s new boyfriend acting out. But not to worry. Nate is strong and could stomp a mud hole in anyone who wants to cause trouble.
A local minister has recently been found dead and two loyal parishioners, Mrs. Parrish and Mrs. Sheer, believe that foul play may have been involved. They ask Nate if he can sniff around, and use his old connections with the sheriff’s department to get more details on the case. He agrees and before recounting the story, says “Fools and flies. I had been one of them that day. I’ll give you a hint. I don’t have wings.” He opens up a can of worms he wasn’t prepared for.
This book kept me on the edge of my seat. S.A. Cosby’s writing is so descriptive, raw, and powerful that I literally felt like I was there with the characters every step of the way. This book is not for the faint of heart. It is full of gangster *$&%. Along the way, we meet Nate’s badass friend Skunk, a porn star (and yes there is a lot of steamy sex), crooked cops, hypocritical church goers, crime bosses….the list goes on and on. It is violent and crazy and full of profanity, but it is just freaking superb.
“That’s the tragedy of this thing we call life, isn’t it? Either none of our prayers are heard or all of them are. Even the darkest ones.”
Thank you to Goodreads for my beloved copy of this gem.
“I handle the bodies.” Nathan Waymaker, a former marine and sheriff’s deputy, now works alongside his cousin Walt at the Walter T. Blackmon Funeral Home in Queens County, Virginia. To say he has seen some things would be an understatement. For example, he definitely was not ready for one particular pick up of a dead body, Miss Verlaine, at the local nursing home. Let’s just say she went out of this world doing the “deed” and was left in a very interesting position. Then there are incidents at the funeral home where tensions are high amongst family members and Nate sometimes has to step in like that of Momma J’s funeral where her son Carter is not too pleased with his ex wife’s new boyfriend acting out. But not to worry. Nate is strong and could stomp a mud hole in anyone who wants to cause trouble.
A local minister has recently been found dead and two loyal parishioners, Mrs. Parrish and Mrs. Sheer, believe that foul play may have been involved. They ask Nate if he can sniff around, and use his old connections with the sheriff’s department to get more details on the case. He agrees and before recounting the story, says “Fools and flies. I had been one of them that day. I’ll give you a hint. I don’t have wings.” He opens up a can of worms he wasn’t prepared for.
This book kept me on the edge of my seat. S.A. Cosby’s writing is so descriptive, raw, and powerful that I literally felt like I was there with the characters every step of the way. This book is not for the faint of heart. It is full of gangster *$&%. Along the way, we meet Nate’s badass friend Skunk, a porn star (and yes there is a lot of steamy sex), crooked cops, hypocritical church goers, crime bosses….the list goes on and on. It is violent and crazy and full of profanity, but it is just freaking superb.
“That’s the tragedy of this thing we call life, isn’t it? Either none of our prayers are heard or all of them are. Even the darkest ones.”
Thank you to Goodreads for my beloved copy of this gem.
May 21, 2023
4 stars
Nate is the man to handle the job - be it big or small. Former cop, former Marine, long time resident of this small Southern town he is now working at the local funeral parlor. When a local well liked Minister is murdered people want to know the truth. They have no faith in the local police, so they go to Nate for answers. But Nate has enemies and they all show up!
This is typical Southern Noir - gritty - sex and violence. Gangsters, crime lords, porn stars, bar fights, crooked police officers, this story has it all.
This is Cosby's second novel. He has many short stories published, and virtually one unknown novel, (Brotherhood of the Blade) but this is his first novel to hit the big time. He took the advice to 'write what you know' so he set this novel in a small town funeral parlor. His wife really owns a funeral parlor, where he often helps out, so that setting is very familiar to him and gives the basis for this story. Little did he know that this novel would send him on his way to publishing a number of books, putting him in the spot light as an accomplished author.
Nate is the man to handle the job - be it big or small. Former cop, former Marine, long time resident of this small Southern town he is now working at the local funeral parlor. When a local well liked Minister is murdered people want to know the truth. They have no faith in the local police, so they go to Nate for answers. But Nate has enemies and they all show up!
This is typical Southern Noir - gritty - sex and violence. Gangsters, crime lords, porn stars, bar fights, crooked police officers, this story has it all.
This is Cosby's second novel. He has many short stories published, and virtually one unknown novel, (Brotherhood of the Blade) but this is his first novel to hit the big time. He took the advice to 'write what you know' so he set this novel in a small town funeral parlor. His wife really owns a funeral parlor, where he often helps out, so that setting is very familiar to him and gives the basis for this story. Little did he know that this novel would send him on his way to publishing a number of books, putting him in the spot light as an accomplished author.
January 9, 2023
Vivid writing with gorgeous descriptive language kept me engaged. However, at some point, maybe around the 80% mark, I was ready for the violence to end.
Here is a selection of quotes that caught my ears:
Describing flashes of temper: "Normal everyday annoyances that burn brightly for a few seconds, then disappear like a shooting star."
"Over the years I've learned that most altercations between unskilled combatants are decided by two factors, size and will."
"People want champagne funerals but got beer budgets."
"I heard his knuckles crack they sounded like knots of sap popping in a wood stove."
Here is a selection of quotes that caught my ears:
Describing flashes of temper: "Normal everyday annoyances that burn brightly for a few seconds, then disappear like a shooting star."
"Over the years I've learned that most altercations between unskilled combatants are decided by two factors, size and will."
"People want champagne funerals but got beer budgets."
"I heard his knuckles crack they sounded like knots of sap popping in a wood stove."
January 26, 2023
This is the second time in less than a month that a highly anticipated book from an author that I REALLY like has utterly disappointed me. At least this one has an excuse though - it was Cosby's FIRST novel, and it really felt like it.
Even Adam Lazarre-White let me down with this one, and the audio version was released AFTER he read Cosby's other two books, so I don't even know what happened there.
So let's get into this, shall we? I have things to do today and I want to get this over with.
Usual spoiler notice applies -- Don't read further if you don't want to see anything you can't unsee.
Alrighty... Where to even begin?
OK, so here's the gist: We have a dead Reverend whose church focused on redemption and faith for people who had lived rough lives (drug addicts, convicts and criminals, etc), and a duo of his parishioners want to know what happened to him, because someone committing suicide doesn't usually go for a belly shot, and so enlist the help of our main character Nathan, who is a former Marine, and an ex-cop with some History with a capital H with the local police force, and now lives and works at his cousin's funeral home. Also in the picture (for some reason) is the dead guy's estranged daughter Lisa, who hasn't seen him in 20 years, lives in LA, and very successfully performs in the adult film industry under the name Cat Noir.
You can see where this is going, right? Because if your first thought after reading that last part was "incoming pornstar wish fulfillment sex" like mine was, you win a gold star! But wait! There's more! Because not only does our main character have all the very Sexlike sex with the Sexqueen, while she praises his stamina/girth/strength,etc, but he has literally either had sex or almost had sex or thought about having sex with or been propositioned for sex by EVERY SINGLE OTHER WOMAN THAT MAKES AN APPEARANCE IN THIS BOOK, except his mother.
I am not joking. There is not a single female character in this book, except the main character's dead mother, who was not sexualized in some way by the main character, either by outright informing us of their sexual history, or by describing them in such a way that it's clear he either DOES or DOES NOT want to fuck them. I'm talking about stuff like a Waffle House waitress who is literally in the book for ONE SENTENCE - we must know about their parking lot sex that one time. (Actually, must correct myself here - there is one character at the end of the book, Skunk's nurse friend Rachel, who avoided this treatment. Likely because 1. Nathan was barely conscious, 2. she was Skunk's friend and not Nathan's. Had she been HIS friend, they'd have that history and we would need to be duly informed about it.)
Like, it was so excessive and gratuitous that I actually skipped ahead while listening to the sex scenes because it was cringeworthy and I needed my eyes to stop rolling enough to not drive my car off a bridge. There was one scene where Skunk asks Nathan if he's going to get some after a fight they have with some guys. Nathan is like "Why do you say that?", and his reply was so cringe and gross that I ALMOST DNF'd the book right there. This book was SO OVER THE TOP sexual that I may need to join a convent to recover.
All of this is bad enough, but when you stop to think about why Lisa/Cat Noir is in this book, it gets even worse. This isn't a romance, and neither she nor Nathan want one. So it's a lot of sex (A LOT - OMG WE GET IT ALREADY SHE DOES PORN - OF SEX), her reason for estrangement from her father, and her subsequent kidnapping by the bad guys to try to recover the info Nathan has on them.
Literally not one single aspect of that was necessary for this story, and would have been a better book without her (and literally ALL of the sex) in it. Let me explain. (Gonna spoiler tag here for a TW for out of consideration for peeps.)
So. All of that history is to illustrate the kind of man that the dead Reverend was. But... that could have been shown without her, or didn't need to be shown at all. The thing that got him killed had NOTHING to do with that, and instead was about blackmailing people who willingly and consentingly acted on their own accord during orgies he held at his house that he secretly recorded.
So then the people being blackmailed take Lisa, in an effort to get Nathan to hand over the evidence against them. But again, didn't need to be her. They could have taken his cousin, the funeral director, and Nathan would have gone after them the same way. And arguably, would have had more reason to do so than for someone he's known 3 days?
So all of this adds up to the feeling that this woman was in this story for the aforementioned pornstar wish fulfillment sex reasons, and then shoehorned into the plot to justify it.
Then there's Shade. The Super Scary Drug "Businessman" who controls all "business" within the Midatlantic coast region and NOTHING drug/money-related happens without his say so... and yet when Nathan crosses his path, or rather when Shade's brick wall of an enforcer is dropped in front of him, he's surprised. Now, at this point in the story, Nathan knows two things: 1) a lowlife skeezebag drugdealer was somehow dropping $20k a month into the good Reverend's collection plate, and 2) that Nathan then got into an altercation with said lowlife skeezebag resulting in lowlife's bodily harm.
WHY would he be surprised that THE MAN who controls that arena would find out and want to "talk" about it? And then that ENTIRE plotline evaporated into a puff of afterthought.
AND then there's Nathan's History with a capital H with the police department. This history is that a young rich dude ran his parents off the road, killing them, and then paid to cover it up with the local PD, and THEN his father capitalized on their deaths by buying their property. Nathan was understandably upset about all of this, and burned some bridges by throwing some police through windows and leaving the force and taking matters into his own hands. I get that it was intended to make him vulnerable and relatable, but again, it just seemed unnecessary to the plot. And especially since it was all left semi-unresolved, I just don't really see the point. Are we gunning for a sequel? Pass.
And then randomly at one point early in the story, despite the "official" story that the Reverend's death was a suicide (the reason that the parishioners wanted outside investigation in the first place, because the official line was obviously crap), when Nathan goes to the police department to ask a few questions, it's mentioned that they think it was a "burglary gone wrong". But that's never brought up, addressed, mentioned again... nothing. It's like it was a mistake in the edit of the book or something, but made it into the final version and nobody noticed.
There was just so much wrong with this book. It was like this book was trying to be ALL of the things, but didn't succeed at any of them. And that's a huge disappointment for me, because I want to love S.A. Cosby's work. I just think I went about reading his books in the wrong order and started with the best first. Hopefully his next will redeem this one.
Even Adam Lazarre-White let me down with this one, and the audio version was released AFTER he read Cosby's other two books, so I don't even know what happened there.
So let's get into this, shall we? I have things to do today and I want to get this over with.
Usual spoiler notice applies -- Don't read further if you don't want to see anything you can't unsee.
Alrighty... Where to even begin?
OK, so here's the gist: We have a dead Reverend whose church focused on redemption and faith for people who had lived rough lives (drug addicts, convicts and criminals, etc), and a duo of his parishioners want to know what happened to him, because someone committing suicide doesn't usually go for a belly shot, and so enlist the help of our main character Nathan, who is a former Marine, and an ex-cop with some History with a capital H with the local police force, and now lives and works at his cousin's funeral home. Also in the picture (for some reason) is the dead guy's estranged daughter Lisa, who hasn't seen him in 20 years, lives in LA, and very successfully performs in the adult film industry under the name Cat Noir.
You can see where this is going, right? Because if your first thought after reading that last part was "incoming pornstar wish fulfillment sex" like mine was, you win a gold star! But wait! There's more! Because not only does our main character have all the very Sexlike sex with the Sexqueen, while she praises his stamina/girth/strength,etc, but he has literally either had sex or almost had sex or thought about having sex with or been propositioned for sex by EVERY SINGLE OTHER WOMAN THAT MAKES AN APPEARANCE IN THIS BOOK, except his mother.
I am not joking. There is not a single female character in this book, except the main character's dead mother, who was not sexualized in some way by the main character, either by outright informing us of their sexual history, or by describing them in such a way that it's clear he either DOES or DOES NOT want to fuck them. I'm talking about stuff like a Waffle House waitress who is literally in the book for ONE SENTENCE - we must know about their parking lot sex that one time. (Actually, must correct myself here - there is one character at the end of the book, Skunk's nurse friend Rachel, who avoided this treatment. Likely because 1. Nathan was barely conscious, 2. she was Skunk's friend and not Nathan's. Had she been HIS friend, they'd have that history and we would need to be duly informed about it.)
Like, it was so excessive and gratuitous that I actually skipped ahead while listening to the sex scenes because it was cringeworthy and I needed my eyes to stop rolling enough to not drive my car off a bridge. There was one scene where Skunk asks Nathan if he's going to get some after a fight they have with some guys. Nathan is like "Why do you say that?", and his reply was so cringe and gross that I ALMOST DNF'd the book right there. This book was SO OVER THE TOP sexual that I may need to join a convent to recover.
All of this is bad enough, but when you stop to think about why Lisa/Cat Noir is in this book, it gets even worse. This isn't a romance, and neither she nor Nathan want one. So it's a lot of sex (A LOT - OMG WE GET IT ALREADY SHE DOES PORN - OF SEX), her reason for estrangement from her father, and her subsequent kidnapping by the bad guys to try to recover the info Nathan has on them.
Literally not one single aspect of that was necessary for this story, and would have been a better book without her (and literally ALL of the sex) in it. Let me explain. (Gonna spoiler tag here for a TW for out of consideration for peeps.)
So. All of that history is to illustrate the kind of man that the dead Reverend was. But... that could have been shown without her, or didn't need to be shown at all. The thing that got him killed had NOTHING to do with that, and instead was about blackmailing people who willingly and consentingly acted on their own accord during orgies he held at his house that he secretly recorded.
So then the people being blackmailed take Lisa, in an effort to get Nathan to hand over the evidence against them. But again, didn't need to be her. They could have taken his cousin, the funeral director, and Nathan would have gone after them the same way. And arguably, would have had more reason to do so than for someone he's known 3 days?
So all of this adds up to the feeling that this woman was in this story for the aforementioned pornstar wish fulfillment sex reasons, and then shoehorned into the plot to justify it.
Then there's Shade. The Super Scary Drug "Businessman" who controls all "business" within the Midatlantic coast region and NOTHING drug/money-related happens without his say so... and yet when Nathan crosses his path, or rather when Shade's brick wall of an enforcer is dropped in front of him, he's surprised. Now, at this point in the story, Nathan knows two things: 1) a lowlife skeezebag drugdealer was somehow dropping $20k a month into the good Reverend's collection plate, and 2) that Nathan then got into an altercation with said lowlife skeezebag resulting in lowlife's bodily harm.
WHY would he be surprised that THE MAN who controls that arena would find out and want to "talk" about it? And then that ENTIRE plotline evaporated into a puff of afterthought.
AND then there's Nathan's History with a capital H with the police department. This history is that a young rich dude ran his parents off the road, killing them, and then paid to cover it up with the local PD, and THEN his father capitalized on their deaths by buying their property. Nathan was understandably upset about all of this, and burned some bridges by throwing some police through windows and leaving the force and taking matters into his own hands. I get that it was intended to make him vulnerable and relatable, but again, it just seemed unnecessary to the plot. And especially since it was all left semi-unresolved, I just don't really see the point. Are we gunning for a sequel? Pass.
And then randomly at one point early in the story, despite the "official" story that the Reverend's death was a suicide (the reason that the parishioners wanted outside investigation in the first place, because the official line was obviously crap), when Nathan goes to the police department to ask a few questions, it's mentioned that they think it was a "burglary gone wrong". But that's never brought up, addressed, mentioned again... nothing. It's like it was a mistake in the edit of the book or something, but made it into the final version and nobody noticed.
There was just so much wrong with this book. It was like this book was trying to be ALL of the things, but didn't succeed at any of them. And that's a huge disappointment for me, because I want to love S.A. Cosby's work. I just think I went about reading his books in the wrong order and started with the best first. Hopefully his next will redeem this one.
July 7, 2024
4⭐️s
Raw and a bit rough around the edges, this definitely reads like the debut novel it is. But when you are endowed with the talent that Mr. Cosby clearly is, even the most unpolished work is saturated with grimy intrigue.
Why You Should Or Shouldn’t Read It
If you like gritty, hard-hitting crime capers, or spurious, underground investigatory procedurals this book is definitely for you. This checks all the boxes and introduces Cosby to the world as a force to be reckoned with
Themes
The seedy underbelly of small towns rife with misguided religious fervor
One Thing I’ll walk away with
A sudden desire to hit the gym to see how many reps I can do at 225
Raw and a bit rough around the edges, this definitely reads like the debut novel it is. But when you are endowed with the talent that Mr. Cosby clearly is, even the most unpolished work is saturated with grimy intrigue.
Why You Should Or Shouldn’t Read It
If you like gritty, hard-hitting crime capers, or spurious, underground investigatory procedurals this book is definitely for you. This checks all the boxes and introduces Cosby to the world as a force to be reckoned with
Themes
The seedy underbelly of small towns rife with misguided religious fervor
One Thing I’ll walk away with
A sudden desire to hit the gym to see how many reps I can do at 225
November 30, 2023
After finishing the brilliant Blacktop Wasteland I went out and bought all of S.A. Cosbys books, such was my enjoyment of it.
My Darkest Prayer is his debut novel and it has most of what made Blacktop Wasteland one of my books of the year. Not as refined and maybe a little rough around the edges at times but his writing style is already finding its feet here and boy when he gets it right it’s just fantastic.
Another anti hero character here, Nathan Waymaker, an ex marine, ex cop and current undertakers assistant in his cousin’s funeral home, when a local preacher is found dead in his home two of his parishioners approach Nathan at the funeral home to persuade him to ask the police about the investigation into his death. They are convinced he has been murdered and want to make sure the case is investigated properly.
Nathan left the police on bad terms after they botched the investigation into his parents death. He doesn’t want to approach the police again but is persuaded to have a word with them.
Bleak, gritty and violent, with again some beautifully realized characters, My Darkest Prayer may not hit the heights of Blacktop Wasteland all the time but it’s fascinating to read the shoots of what the author will become and besides, it’s a bloody good read on its own.
My Darkest Prayer is his debut novel and it has most of what made Blacktop Wasteland one of my books of the year. Not as refined and maybe a little rough around the edges at times but his writing style is already finding its feet here and boy when he gets it right it’s just fantastic.
Another anti hero character here, Nathan Waymaker, an ex marine, ex cop and current undertakers assistant in his cousin’s funeral home, when a local preacher is found dead in his home two of his parishioners approach Nathan at the funeral home to persuade him to ask the police about the investigation into his death. They are convinced he has been murdered and want to make sure the case is investigated properly.
Nathan left the police on bad terms after they botched the investigation into his parents death. He doesn’t want to approach the police again but is persuaded to have a word with them.
Bleak, gritty and violent, with again some beautifully realized characters, My Darkest Prayer may not hit the heights of Blacktop Wasteland all the time but it’s fascinating to read the shoots of what the author will become and besides, it’s a bloody good read on its own.
Read
May 9, 2023I'm going to skip the star rating because I'm all over the place on this one.
The writing is great. I loved so many of Nate's sayings. I laughed out several times and felt a twist of recognition over the depth of others. The narrative would've been stronger with less wittiness, as there were times plain writing would have been more powerful than a clever metaphor.
The characters were well-drawn and compelling. The male characters that is. The females were boiled down to their physical attributes. They were either objects of desire or were too old or too ugly to matter. That definitely got to me by the end of the book.
The writing is great. I loved so many of Nate's sayings. I laughed out several times and felt a twist of recognition over the depth of others. The narrative would've been stronger with less wittiness, as there were times plain writing would have been more powerful than a clever metaphor.
The characters were well-drawn and compelling. The male characters that is. The females were boiled down to their physical attributes. They were either objects of desire or were too old or too ugly to matter. That definitely got to me by the end of the book.
April 14, 2023
UPDATED FOR AUDIOBOOK REVIEW
I first read this book back in 2020 right after I read Blacktop Wasteland and really enjoyed it. I had the chance to get a review copy of the audio book and I'm so glad that I listened to it as well. The narrator, Adam Lazarre-White is amazing and was a 5 star performance! I had a hard time hitting pause when I needed to. I highly recommend listening to this one if you can. Below is my original review.
I started My Darkest Prayer yesterday afternoon and finished it last night. This story is gritty, engaging, and fast paced. Cosby manages to put a lot of character development in a very condensed space. I rarely read anything that needs me to include a content/trigger warning, but this time I need to add it because it was a tough one. One of the important characters to the story relates in detail being raped as a child, which was hard to read, but it was an essential part of the character's story. Cosby is a new favorite and I am so looking forward to reading his next book that's due to be released next year.
Where you can find me:
Instagram: @readermonica
TikTok: @readermonica
I first read this book back in 2020 right after I read Blacktop Wasteland and really enjoyed it. I had the chance to get a review copy of the audio book and I'm so glad that I listened to it as well. The narrator, Adam Lazarre-White is amazing and was a 5 star performance! I had a hard time hitting pause when I needed to. I highly recommend listening to this one if you can. Below is my original review.
I started My Darkest Prayer yesterday afternoon and finished it last night. This story is gritty, engaging, and fast paced. Cosby manages to put a lot of character development in a very condensed space. I rarely read anything that needs me to include a content/trigger warning, but this time I need to add it because it was a tough one. One of the important characters to the story relates in detail being raped as a child, which was hard to read, but it was an essential part of the character's story. Cosby is a new favorite and I am so looking forward to reading his next book that's due to be released next year.
Where you can find me:
Instagram: @readermonica
TikTok: @readermonica
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