Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author S. A. Cosby’s debut novel My Darkest Prayer is republished in a new edition, with a new introduction from the author.
“I handle the bodies.”
Whether it’s working at his cousin’s funeral home or tossing around the local riffraff 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 beloved local minister is found dead, his parishioners ask Nathan to make sure the death isn’t swept under the rug.
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.
Book Information: Listening Length: 9 hours 23 mins. Narrator: Adam Lazarre-White. Audible Release Date: 6 December 2022. Print Length: 289 pages. Publisher: Headline
S.A. Cosby is the New York Times national best selling award-winning author from Southeastern Virginia. His books include MY DARKEST PRAYER, Blacktop Wasteland, Amazon’s #1 Mystery and Thriller of the Year and #3 Best Book of 2020 overall, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, Winner of the LA Times Book Award for Mystery or Thrillers and a Goodreads Choice Awards Semifinalist and the winner of the ITW award for hard cover book of the year, the Macavity for best novel of the year, the Anthony, The Barry , a honorable mention from the ALA Black Caucus and was a finalists for the CWA Golden Dagger. He is also author of the best selling RAZORBLADE TEARS which was also nominated for numerous awards as well
His short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines, and his story “Slant-Six” was selected as a Distinguished Story in Best American Mystery Stories for 2016. His short story “The Grass Beneath My Feet” won the Anthony Award for Best Short Story in 2019. His writing has been called “gritty and heartbreaking” and “dark, thrilling and tragic” and “raw ,emotional and profound “
My Review:
I read S.A. Cosby’s incredible Razorblade Tears in September 2022 – my full review is here and met Sean the same month at Capital Crime Book Festival in London. When I saw that Netgalley had his debut novel available as an audible book I immediately downloaded it.
Firstly, I need to say I have the biggest crush on Adam Lazarre-White’s voice.. I have never heard anything quite so soulful, sexy and seductive and as I only listen to audio books whilst walking my dog Riley, I think I may have exhausted my poor dog because I just kept on walking…. even thinking about Adam’s voice gives me the shivers !!
So back to the book, My Darkest Prayer was first published in Jan 2019 and has been republished in Dec 2022. Nathan (Nate) Waymaker is a former marine and sheriff’s deputy in a small town and now works at his cousin’s funeral home collecting bodies and helping out with the funerals.
When the local pastor dies in suspicious circumstances the police decide it was suicide, however several of his parishioners approach Nathan because of his previous role within the sheriff’s department to look into his death and offer to pay him $2000 for any information. As Nathan begins to dig he starts to uncover some really unsavoury facts regarding the church and the newly deceased minister.
As with Razorblade Tears, you can expect lots of violence and as the body count start racking up, Nathan finds himself in serious danger.
This wonderful Southern tale simmers with danger and darkness. There is graphic violence throughout the book and also lots of sex…. I adored Nate and his buddy Skunk and loved all the dry humour and brilliant dialogue.
I would 100% recommend this book especially as an audio as I thought that Adam Lazarre-White was able to bring all the characters to life and I am thrilled to see that he has also narrated Razorblade Tears and Blacktop Wasteland which I have just downloaded and can’t wait to start.
