S.A. is back with another banger!!! Roman the oldest, is summons to come back home to deal with his father that has been in an accident. The details to said accident was express until he finally touched down. This is where he finds out that his brother is behind it and Roman has no choice but to clean up the mess that his brother left behind. While doing this he is also met with details from the past, that he would have never expected.

The Master of Suspense does it again this one!

Gritty. Gripping. and hard to put down. You’ll be so hooked from page one I’d say cancel plans for the week- first for reading and then for the book hangover

This was excellent - so dark and pretty graphic but a very compelling story, I couldn't put it down. He just keeps getting better & better!

SA Cosby is one of my favorite crime/mystery authors out there!

I was so excited to see that he had an upcoming release this summer and thoroughly enjoyed King of Ashes as much as I anticipated.

Roman Carruthers' family has owned, run, and operated a crematory for his whole life. After Roman leaves Jefferson Runs and gets a job as a hot shot money manager in Atlanta, he is forced to return home when his dad is in an accident leaving him unconscious and fighting for his life in the hospital.

It's there that we discover the Carruthers family has many dark secrets, and learn of one especially mysterious incident that resulted in the disappearance of Roman's mother.

I loved some of the big reveals and twists at the end of this story. It was set up beautifully and was wildly entertaining from start to finish.

SA Cosby has a way with writing about extremely stressful situations that I could never imagine a way out of, and resolving everything perfectly at the end.

I highly recommend this one to all Cosby lovers out there!

King of Ashes is the darkest and most violent of Cosby’s books. I cannot imagine living in the type of environment that Roman and his siblings find themselves in. But Cosby describes it so vividly that you literally feel the anger, the fear, the anguish, and the grief that the Carruthers have gone through for most of their lives. I did not understand at first why Roman did the things he did to help his brother, but family is everything as you will soon come to realize. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my review and feedback.

When Roman is called home after his dad's accident, he learns his brother Dante is in deep debt to a local gang. Roman agrees to go under in the gang to pay off his debts by offering his services as financial whiz. But with each move he makes, he finds himself deeper and deeper into the underworld of gangs and trying to figure out how far he will go to save his brother.

Wow. This was my second book by this author and I instantly purchased all of his others. S.A. has the ability to write gritty, raw tales, but with such heart and realism you can not put them down. I have read tough stories before and often need to read something fluffy simultaneously to break it up, but this is one book I could not put down and flew through in two days.

The characters in this book were so real and raw and while they did not always make good choices, I could always understand the intent. The ending was heart wrenching and i can not stop thinking about it!

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Southern gothic crime drama at its best. Three siblings coming to terms with the father’s coma, long ago disappearance of their mother, while keeping the family crematorium running and the gang that is entwined. Propulsive and gritty read. Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron books for an advanced copy for a honest review.

3.5 rounded up because the author is such a good writer.

I have loved Crosby’s last 2 books and was super excited for his latest release!

It started pretty strong for me. I immediately felt invested in the story and in Roman and his family. But as the story unfolded, I just found it got a bit too outlandish for me. I honestly think this one would make a better movie than it was a book. It was definitely full of action and suspense and went quickly due to this.

I just struggled with how far Roman would go to protect his family. Especially a family he hadn’t visited for 5 years? That was never explained and was always nagging me. Why did he not visit them for 5 years and now is willing to kill for them?

If you have a hard time with violence, definitely skip this one. It was incredibly violent, to the point that it was hard for me to read at times. I also didn’t love the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

King of Ashes is a gritty, violent, and emotionally charged novel that roots deep into family secrets, loyalty, and revenge. Though the narrative is often dark and disturbing, S.A. Cosby's lyrical prose gives it a haunting beauty and emotional resonance.
"Everything burns." The line stays with you. The Carruthers Crematorium serves as a powerful backdrop—some subtle, some central—its furnace often the only source of literal and symbolic light as events spiral into chaos. The family at the heart of the story is flawed yet compelling, making heartbreaking decisions that invoke both frustration and sympathy. The pacing is relentless; the action, brutal and intense. I found it gripping, bloody, and stressful—in the best way.
The story begins when Roman Carruthers is summoned home to Jefferson Run, Virginia, after his father is critically injured in an accident. Roman, a financial advisor now living in Atlanta, returns to find his family unraveling. His brother Dante is in deep with dangerous gang members, his sister Neveah is overworked and obsessed with their mother’s mysterious disappearance, and dark rumors about their father’s role in that event still linger.
Roman steps in to fix things, but his arrogance leads him into dangerous territory. He attempts to pay off Dante’s debt, only to find himself entangled with violent criminals who don’t negotiate. As Roman is drawn into their world, he’s forced to confront his own moral limits of what he’s willing to do to protect his family. How far is too far?
Cosby crafts a masterful tale of crime, power, and fractured loyalty. Violent, yet poetic in its exploration of how violence corrodes everything it touches. Cosby’s knowledge of financial systems and real estate schemes adds a fascinating layer of authenticity.
This isn't just another crime novel—it’s a visceral, thought-provoking story about the cost of love, the weight of secrets, and the gray areas we all navigate. While some scenes were unsettling and there were a lot of secondary characters they added depth. Overall, it’s a standout in its genre.

Thank you to FlatIron Books and NetGalley for providing an Advance Readers Copy for honest review.

KING OF ASHES is the latest mystery/thriller by award-winning author S. A. Cosby. His first, Blacktop Wasteland, continues to be my favorite although I have also read or listened to Razorblade Tears and would highly recommended All the Sinners Bleed. The publisher describes KING OF ASHES as "a Godfather-inspired Southern crime epic and dazzling family drama." The story is set in Jefferson Run, Virginia where older brother Roman Carruthers has returned briefly from his investment business in Atlanta and where sister Neveah now runs the family crematorium business. Both are drawn into a dangerous situation initially created by their younger brother, drug-using Dante. Cosby explores the family dynamics, including the disappearance of their mother, saying, "[Roman] hadn't shared the weight the way he should have, but they were sister and brother, the three of them: Dante, Neveah, and Roman had shared the same womb, been brought into the world with the same alchemy of love, passion, and need that had lived between their parents. That magic united them for all time ..." Initially Roman "had no desire to be the King of Ashes. That title belonged to his father and Roman was content to let him live on through him or burn with him." Danger and violence, however, increasingly thwart Roman's efforts to right Dante's wrongs; there are some truly evil characters and the crematorium itself becomes an instrument of death, both rumored and real. Readers need to be prepared as suspense and tension build: this text turns quite brutal, dark, and gruesome.

Having received a starred review from Library Journal, KING OF ASHES is a LibraryReads selection for June 2025 and an Indie Next pick ("A Faustian deal with his hometown devil descends into depravity."). Plus, it appears on recommended summer reading lists from NPR, New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic and more.

Well, this was quite a read, and so much darker than S. A. Cosby's previous works. In both Blacktop Wasteland and Razor Blade Tears I found something to laugh about as well as action packed crime. In the King of Ashes, the mood was more Shakespearean vengeance - with Roman Caruthers returning home to avenge his father's accident, and to help his younger brother, Dante, get out of a huge jam with the local drug running brother duo. I mostly listened to this book, and once again, the narrator Adam Lazare-White does a fantastic job bringing Cosby's characters to life. Once I got to about 50% in I switched to the digital ebook, because I can read faster than I can listen, and I needed to know how Roman planned to get his family out of this mess. In the book there are also flashbacks to June 6, 2004, the day that Bonita Caruthers, the mother of Roman, Dante and sister Nevea calls him home when their father has a car accident and remains in a coma. There was so much crime, guilt, and remorse in this novel - all three siblings carry their own demons forward from that fateful day when their mother disappeared. Roman has an S & M kink to assuage his guilt, Dante has a drug addiction, and Nevea is chained to her hometown, and the crematorium that bears her families name. Although I think Cosby is a tremendously talented writer, and can really spin a tale of vengeance and guilt - I did not enjoy this book as much as others. Thank you to Netgalley for both the audio and ebook advance reader copies.

For me Cosby’s newest novel was a bit too dark. Focused on a trio of siblings in a small town in Virginia as they navigate gangs, crooked cops, and the disappearance of their mother 20 years earlier.

I love how dark and graphic and violent this book is. Cosby really leans into those elements and pulls them off so well. There is a real masculine energy in the book.The pacing was a little slow and the way the plot is structured I felt like I was miles ahead of the book and the message (and the reveal). The slower pace was due to a lot of repeated information.

Author S.A. Cosby’s KING OF ASHES is a bold, brutal, in your face Southern Noir family drama by 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 plot lines towards 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.

4.5 stars
Cosby is always an unputdownable reading experience. This is no different. Packed with tension and family drama and deep rich characters. A must read!

S.A. Cosby is a craftsman. All the characters feel purposeful and the story is always compelling. Auto buy author. Will be purchasing on publication and will continue to recommend this author.

S. A. Cosby does it again, bringing the grittiest thriller packed full of tension, familial love and difficulties, and danger to the pages of yet another book. I was wholly encaptured by King of Ashes, which is not a surprise because Cosby is an auto-buy for me. I cannot wait for the release of this book so that I can get it into the hands of other readers that I know will LOVE it as much as I did.

This book was completely unputdownable. Like all of S.A. Cosby's novels, King of Ashes features impressively complex characters, seemingly impossible situations, and edge-of-your seat suspense. I truly cannot get enough of his work.

This novel was somehow darker and heavier than All the Sinners Bleed, even though that novel was about child abuse and serial killing. King of Ashes was just as compelling and just as well written, but carried a darkness that came from the fact that the main character was caught up in the crime, no matter how unwillingly, rather than trying to solve it. Roman returns home to help his sister with their sick father, only to be thrown into a disaster caused by his brother’s bungled drug deal.

S.A. Cosby never disappoints and King of Ashes was no different. This book illustrates just how far we will go for the ones we love and care about. Though it was a dark novel, it was navigated with such prose that I have come to love by Cosby.