King of Ashes

“On thinking about Hell, I gather my brother Shelley found it was a place much like the city of London. I, who live in Los Angeles and not in London, find, on thinking about Hell, that it must be still more like Los Angeles.”
–Bertolt Brecht

Author S.A. Cosby’s King of Ashes is a bold, brutal, in-your-face Southern Noir family drama that begs the question, “What would you do to protect your family?” Like Cosby’s preceding books, this tension-laden story is a gritty, raw, gut-wrenching masterpiece with blood, sweat, and tears permeating every page. Settle in your favorite corner before starting this highly addictive page-burner. It’s a wild ride!

Roman Carruthers, a financial guru, left his run-down hometown of Jefferson Run, Virginia, and the family crematorium business he detested in the rearview five years ago, seeking the bright lights and opportunities of the big city. Over time, Roman built a reputable, profitable business as a respected expert managing clients’ money and making them wealthy. He’s living the good life when a phone call informs him his father is comatose following a near-fatal car crash, and he’s needed back home. Roman has no choice but to swallow his dread and return to the place he fled to pay his dues with plans to make an appearance and then get back out as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Roman’s plans change when he finds his sister, Neveah, exhausted and nearing the end of her rope as she single-handedly works killer hours to keep the crematorium running while keeping vigilance by her father’s hospital bed and riding shotgun over younger brother, Dante, whose bad decisions put him in a dicey situation with local, lowlife criminals. Upon arrival, Roman analyzes the situation as he would any mathematical problem and proceeds with a plan to pay off Dante’s debt; however, events backfire and quickly escalate out of control. He learns the hard way that Dante’s careless actions have attracted criminal elements way beyond the local thugs. Someone with power is seeking retaliation against his family, leaving him to wonder if his father’s car crash was a warning . . . not an accident. Now, everyone Roman cares about is in danger, and to Roman, family is everything. Money won’t buy them off, but Roman knows how the game is played. Swallowing his pride and the bile rising in his throat, Roman crosses over to the dark side, selling his soul to the devil in a bargain that may forever bind him to the small-town life he worked so hard to escape. While he doesn’t like it, one lesson Roman learned from his father is that everything burns. And he’s not above striking the match that’ll burn this town down around them to save his family.

Cosby never lifts his foot off the gas in King of Ashes. From beginning to end, it’s an action-packed, fast-paced family drama with flawed, larger-than-life characters battling impossible odds in an age-old battle of good vs. evil, but in doing so, what do they become? What sets Cosby’s characters apart is their strong family ties, hearts of a lion, keen sense of morality even as they’re forced to cross lines in the name of old-timey justice, and their ability to display vulnerability while stepping up as antiheroes all in the name of family. Fueled by an increasing tone of impending doom, nonstop action drives the maddening pace forward through flawlessly woven, twisted, multiple plotlines toward an explosive climax that left me breathless. Family skeletons along with all the dark family secrets escape to wreak havoc in this epic Southern Noir thriller. Who will remain standing when they sift through the ashes? Highly recommended to readers who enjoy fast-paced, graphic, family drama thrillers.