"Everything burns."

WoW! This was my first book by S.A. Cosby and now I know what all the hype is about! His writing is nothing short of poetic, yet wholly realistic. An ordinary businessman gets sucked into a situation that forces him to act in reprehensible ways in the name of protecting loved ones. While it's a theme that's been done before, Cosby puts his unique touch on this gritty family drama! You can't help but root for the main character even as you see him make questionable choices and sink to the level of the gangsters he's dealing with.

The pacing is intentional with an increasing tension and sense of foreboding. There's violence which is not unexpected, though it never seemed gratuitous or thrown in for shock value. It's utterly believable and that's the tough part. There's a bit of a mystery regarding what happened to the matriarch of the family, though the answer seemed evident to me from very early on.

I can't recommend the audio enough! Adam Lazzare-White is spectacular with a singular voice for EVERY character, each infused with a unique cadence, inflection and emotion in any given situation. The raw intensity in Lazzare-White's performance of certain scenes made me feel as if I should be looking for the movie screen! He vividly brought to life Cosby's dark Shakespearean tale.

All said and done, KING OF ASHES is intensely riveting and hard to put down. The details of what will happen are unpredictable, yet there's a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach as you read. In many ways it's knowing you're about to see a horrible train wreck, but can't look away. If you enjoy unflinching morally grey crime fiction such as The Ozarks or Breaking Bad, you must get your hands on this ASAP!
____

Notable Quotes:

"They didn't know what he was capable of or what he was willing to do to achieve his goals.
That was their mistake."

"Fate is like a train roaring down the track. There are times you can beat that train and there are times that train plows right through you."
____

Thank you to partner Flatiron Books for my free copy and to Macmillan Audio for my free audiobook. All opinions are my own.

Characters: 4⭐️
Setting: 4⭐️
Plot: 4.5⭐️
Themes: 3⭐️
Personal enjoyment: 4⭐️
Emotional Impact: 3⭐️
Overall rating: 4/5⭐️

Godfather esque Southern crime family drama. Gripping and exciting with emotional depth. Mystery/thriller. Compelling storytelling with deeply flawed characters. With an epic plot twist!

How far are you willing to go to protect your family?

Centered in Virginia, the Carruthers family owns a crematorium. When a car accident leaves their father in a coma, Roman the eldest son & financial advisor returns home after years of living away. Dante, his younger brother, has become entangled with criminals and drugs. While his sister Neveah is overwhelmed in upholding the family business after the disappearance of their mother twenty years ago. Roman must use his unique set of skills to help unburden his family and uncover deeper truths.

Thank you to NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for providing me with an advanced copy for my honest review

One thing about S.A. Cosby is that he does not disappoint. This story was high energy, dark, disturbing, graphic, violent, bloody and action packed. Cosby is going to pull you in make you feel the tension and atmosphere of his stories and what these characters are going through. I felt immersed in the story. These characters had me on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. The dynamics and the siblings relationships. The family trauma and how secrets ultimately eat at us and tear us apart. The lengths we'll go through for family. Nothing is sugar coated. It's all raw and exposed for us to see. The good the bad and the ugly of it all. I felt it! The tension, the build up. The plot was plotting! So many twists and turns. A slow burn crime thriller and I enjoyed every gritty, graphic moment of it up til the bitter bloody, fiery end. And oh boy the end that ending I am still MIND BLOWN by it all. I gasped at the ending. I was shook! OMG, Roman! Thank you Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the ALC. I would highly recommend this story via audiobook but cannot wait to get my preorder copy and reread. It's that good. I wanted to reread immediately. This one is definitely being brought to book club. Another banger from S.A. Cosby.

This was my second audiobook by SA Cosby, and once again he and narrator Adam Lazarre-White deliver a story that has a cinematic feel and pulls you as you wonder how Roman will possibly dig himself and his family out of their predicament. As Roman tries to solve the mess his brother got himself into, his sister digs into the mystery of their mother's disappearance years before that has been the talk of their town.

If the previous title I listened to, Blacktop Wasteland, was a straight up action film, in King of Ashes we had more story development and psychological complexity as Roman thinks about how his past shaped him and explores a new love interest. I also appreciate Cosby's ability to write well-rounded characters, including a respect for his female characters. I know some reviewers were put off by scenes of violence but IMO it isn't different than the violence would get in any mobster film and didn't feel gratuitous.

Minor qualms with the book: I wish I got to know Roman's brother and particularly his sister better, as we heard little from her other than being upset with her brothers about being kept in the dark; also, as the story picked up it also accumulated secondary characters and various criminals that were hard to keep track of (probably challenging since I was listening to audio in particular).

Overall a solid 4 star read for me and great on audiobook.

(Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC.)

This book gets five flaming HOT stars
Just wow! I just finished this audiobook and I’m still processing this book, but all I can say is I loved it! I can also say in the words of the Carruthers “Everything must Burn!🔥
This story focuses on a financial analyst/wealth manager named Roman Carruthers who lives in Atlanta and hasn’t been home to Virginia in 5 years. Roman is a problem solver. He is also good at helping people make money, get out of money problems, and has good friends that help him solve problems with their special set of skills.
In the book Roman returns home after his father who is known as the King of Ashes because he run the Carruthers Crematorium is injured in accident. This accident has left him in a coma, and Roman goes back home to help with the family business. Roman wants to assist his sister Neveah who helps run the family Crematorium, and his brother Dante who is nothing but trouble. Dante has gotten into big trouble with two brothers who lead a deadly gang and the family finds that they are indebted to them.
There is also the mystery of what happened to Roman’s mother who one day disappeared and never returned. The gossip in town is that their father or her lover killed her. This is another part/ layer of this mystery thriller that ties into the plot of the Carruthers family.
I love the author’s writing style. I love how he allows characters in this book to give their own narrative. I don’t want to give away the plot but once I started this book I didn’t want to hit pause. This book grabbed me from the beginning and didn’t let go.
I love a good thriller especially when it’s fast moving and the characters all just click, and the let’s not forget the ending. The ending was so awesome.
After listening to this audiobook all I can say is “Everything must burn!
I highly recommend this book to my lovers of thrillers mixed with high action. This is one of my favorite books this year! Hands down!
Thank you Net galley and Macmillan audio for allowing me the opportunity to review this arc.

I found this audiobook completely immersive from start to finish. The narration pulled me in immediately, making every scene feel vivid and intense. I felt like I was right there in Jefferson Run, caught in the tension between Roman, Dante, and Neveah as they fought to keep their family from falling apart. I appreciated how the audio brought out the raw emotion in Roman’s struggle—his desperation, his anger, and his determination to protect the people he loves. I felt fully engaged in the mystery surrounding their mother and the dangerous deals Roman was forced into. The pacing kept me hooked, and the voice performance heightened every twist and turn, making the stakes feel even higher. By the end, I felt completely satisfied with the journey. The mix of family drama, crime, and mystery made for an unforgettable listening experience.

I would highly recommend this audiobook to anyone looking for a tense, gripping story that comes alive through its narration.

SA Cosby did a fantastic job at bringing to light the challenges siblings have with each other and how that effects all aspects of life. This story follows Roman who returns home after his father gets into a bad car accident. While he is home he is informed that his brother Dante has fallen in with the wrong crowd and is now in debt with those people. While trying to figure out how to help his brother out, he is also keeping his sister Neveah out of it to try and shield her. Their journey incorporates lengths you will take for your family, murder, gun violence, gang violence, love and family trauma. From what I know about SA Cosby and his stories they all incorporate some sort of family moral value challenge and this story did not walk away from that. Will Roman come back from how far he is going and be ok with who he turns out to be... who knows. This was a fast paced audiobook to listen to and I enjoyed every minute of it.

A gripping story of a brother’s love for his family. When a man’s brother finds himself in bed with all the wrong people, Roman does everything he can to save the people he loves. As Rome does everything he can, family secrets unravel, lives are taken and hearts break. Absolutely incredible story telling. The narrator does an incredible job.

Kings of Ashes by C.A. Cosby
5/5 stars
ALC - Audiobook

About the Book:

Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author S. A. Cosby returns with King of Ashes, a Godfather-inspired Southern crime epic and dazzling family drama.

My Thoughts:

My first C.A. Cosby book ever and this did not disappoint!
Took me right out of my reading slump and now I need more!

A true and raw, gritty story teller! The build up was insane!
This book was exhilarating and I devoured it in 2 days!

The narrator! AMAZING! Sucks you in like you are in the story! I can’t get over how great this book was!
Highly recommend!

The thing I love about reading is discovered authors I have never read before and he will be an auto buy for me and can’t wait to read his other masterpieces.

PUB DAY: JUNE 10,2025

This was a great 5 star read! Roman gets a call to come home after something happens to his father. Shortly after he finds out his brother got into some trouble! This is where the story really starts to capture my interest! Roman then tries to fix the situation his brother got him in but makes it 10x worse! From here I was fully invested to see what would happen next and how they were going to resolve this issue! There was also a secondary plot that involved their mother that had me just as eager to find out what really happened! There were so many good one liners that had me dying laughing which I wasn’t expecting from a thriller! The ending left my jaw on the floor with multiple twists being revealed back to back! Such a fun read! (I will post a video review on TikTok and instagram @joeschapter on the release date)

This is another gritty southern thriller with well written characters and heartfelt insight. Cosby is the master at writing hard characters doing hard things and the reader still liking them. This book does not disappoint. It is a suspenseful, dark story about a man trying to save his family from a violent gang. The violence is real and the buildup to the finale is suspenseful and ominous. As I stated in previous Cosby reviews - I was hoping for a happy ending - after all the madness, despite the madness. Cosby shows how our best intentions don't always turn out the way we planned. In hindsight, had the book ended more happily it wouldn't have had the same powerful impact.

The audio version is excellent. Adam Lazarre-White is the narrator and he does an excellent job of differentiating between all the characters and his baritone voice was perfect for the main character. Even the audio book music at the start of the book sets us up for the book ahead.

'Jefferson Run was a difficult place to leave, and even harder to leave behind.'

'The more you love somebody, the more a broken heart turns that love into hate.'

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an early copy in exchange for an hones review.

This was my 1st read by this author and I was thoroughly surprised and impressed by this book. I’ve heard great reviews on the author. This book made me think, provided emotions and was thought provoking. I will definitely check out more of his books.

4.5 rounded up

“Does it make you a bad person if you do a horrific thing to save your brother’s life?”

A father of three is nearly killed in a car accident and is left in a coma. Roman returns to small town VA to see his father only to discover that his brother, Dante, is in trouble and needs help paying off a huge sum to drug dealers. Roman offers his services as a money manager to the group in order to help Dante pay off his debt.

Dante is the family “troublemaker,” knows it, and is not proud. That’s what is nice about Cosby‘s characters – they’re not always tropes or one dimensional. Dante both looks up to his older brother and can identify the nerdy qualities in Roman. (Cosby’s novels are typically “male heavy”- women are typically side characters… coming in for a couple pages for male pleasure or around to worrying over the men. Not a criticism, just a fact.) Also, like other Cosby novels, this one includes the looming threat of violence as a major motivator.

There is a parallel story involving the mystery of their mother’s disappearance a long time ago. As is typical of most cases of missing spouses, her disappearance had been blamed on the father for years. Cosby will satisfy readers with an explanation by the end of the book (expect a Shakespearean flare)!

Note: Some readers may be turned off by what Roman gets up to in his own time, but I try never to yuck someone else’s yum. And it’s not as if Cosby doesn’t make it explicitly clear from the first occurrence that this proclivity is related to the family mystery.

Narrator: Adam Lazarre-White. He's been the narrator for all of the Cosby books and I can’t say good enough things about him. He has a knack for really bringing the story to life and giving each character their own distinct feel and style.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, for an advanced audio copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Macmillan Audio, S.A. Cosby and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

WOW. I finished this audiobook moments ago and feel a bit at a loss for words because it is a LOT to process The combination of S.A. Cosby’s masterful prose and Adam Lazarre-White’s powerful narration - this book packs a gut punch!

Our main character Roman is a successful investor in Atlanta who returns home after his father is a target of a hit & run. His younger brother has made a deal with the devil, and now it is up to Roman to try to save his family. How far will Roman go to protect the ones he loves? Trust me, you would want Roman on your side!

This book is raw, violent, gripping and an entire mood unto itself. I felt completely transported on this journey and was trying to reason with these characters in my head. It’s like when you’re watching that horror movie and shout at the person in your head not to go into the basement when the lights suddenly don’t work anymore.

As to the narration, I don’t know if it gets any better than the skill set Adam Lazarre-White brings to the table. His voice, first and foremost, has such a rich timber which was a perfect match for Roman. He is also able to change pitch, inflection and cadence to seemlessly transition into distinct voices for other characters, making you feel like this is a full case production!

If you are a fan of crime fiction, and can handle the dark reality of what goes on behind closed doors - read from the best and I recommend this one on Audio!!

S.A. Cosby knows how to keep a reader on her toes. This book is full of surprises, well plotted and has me hoping for a sequel. Adam Lazarre-White is the perfect choice for narrator.

S. A. Cosby knows how to spin a good yarn and King of Ashes is no exception!

Roman Carruthers returns home to Jefferson Run, Virgina because his dad is in a coma. Waiting at home are both his sister, Neveah and his younger brother Dante. Also waiting there is the memory of their mother, missing for many years and presumed dead. While Roman has been away in Atlanta, building a prosperous career as a money manager, Neveah has been home running the family crematorium and Dante has been burying his troubles and worries in various pill bottles and gallons of liquor. As it turns out, Dante has gotten himself into real trouble and now owes the local sydnicate money, so much money that his life is now in danger. Roman puts his singular set of skills to the task of extricating his brother from the situation, helping Neveah keep the family business going, and all the while worrying about his comatose father. You will have to read this to see if Roman is successful in these endeavors!

I have been a fan of S.A. Cosby since I read his first book and I'm still here years later. His crime novels are gritty, raw and often heartbreaking. He pulls no punches and you will find no traditional happy endings in his books. What you will find is a view of real American lives in the American south, and as such, his work is not often pretty because many of those lives are not pretty.

I was rooting for Roman quite a lot at first, but being an S. A. Cosby character means you are not one dimensional and as the tale progressed my feelings about Roman changed quite a bit. For whatever reason, Roman reminded me a lof of Walter White from the televsion show Breaking Bad. If you've seen that brilliant series, you know that Walter started out trying to protect his family and look out for their future. But somehow along the way, Walter slowly changed from the protagonist into...something else. I am not saying that Roman's changes were similar to Walter's....or am I? I guess that depends on the viewpoint of the reader.

I listened to this book, narrated by the incredible Adam Lazarre-White. He has narrated most of Cosby's work and together they make a great team. I mean this in the way that Ray Porter & Jonathan Maberry have created the world of Joe Ledger, and in the way that Scott Brick and Gregg Hurwitz have created the world of Orphan X. If you've read these series' you know what I am talking about. It's the strange phenomenon where a writer and a narrator combine to create something of a higher level than just a mere "book." That said, I also want to mention that Adam Lazarre-White might have the sexiest voice to ever exist, or at least the sexiest since Barry White. LOL

Cosby's work often reminds me of Dennis Lehane's. While Lehane is generally focused on the Boston area, Cosby focuses on Virginia. Maybe it's the old axiom "write what you know" but these two authors have never let me down. I don't know if they're even capable of doing so. It's a great feeling to pick up a book by one of your favorite authors and KNOW that you're going to enjoy it before you even start. The only negative thing about finishing their books is beginning the wait for their next one. If you're a fan of dark, gritty crime novels with colorful characters and horrible moral complications, this is the book for you!

My highest recommendation!

*ARC from Macmillan Audio

NetGalley ARC Audio

3.75 Stars.

I'm taking of .25 stars because of the horrific, gratuitous violence. I know Cosby's books are generally violent, but this crossed my personal line in the sand about a half hour into the book.

Roman Carruthers is summoned back to Jefferson Run after his father is injured in a car accident. His younger brother Dante confesses that he squandered $300k of drugs and is now in debt to two truly terrifying gangsters, brothers Tranquil and Torrent.

Roman thinks he can make a deal but he's dealing with real criminals this time, not the white collar financial crimes with which he is more familiar. Tranquil and Torrent react poorly to Roman's prideful offer of financial guidance in return for not murdering Dante.

Roman will burn Jefferson Run to the ground to save his family, but will he lose his soul in the process?

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the advance copy.

4.25 star for King of Ashes!! SA Cosby is such a wildly entertaining writer. King of Ashes os so very intense and had me fully immersed in the story. Adam Lazarre -White is an absolutely fantastic narrator. I love every minute of it.

This is as good or better than ALL THE SINNERS BLEED, which, when that was published, I considered it Cosby’s best to date. And while this is good it is very VIOLENT. Like ALL CAPS VIOLENT. Even in comparison to his quite violent backlist. But I liked it.

Let me tell y’all something, King of Ashes took me out! Although this book is outside of my norm, I enjoyed every moment of this it. SA Cosby knows how to craft a thriller that hits you in the chest, twists your emotions, and then leaves you staring at the last page like, “Wait… that’s it?!” I’m still not okay. What really had me locked in was the relationship between the siblings. The love they have for each other felt so real and unbreakable, even in the middle of all the chaos and trauma. Their bond was the heart of the story, and honestly, I was rooting for them the whole way through. It’s rare to see that kind of raw, deep connection on the page.

Now let’s talk about Cassie and Dante. Whew. I’ve got words. I wanted to throw my book across the room every time they showed up!! Manipulative, messy, selfish, and just straight-up trash behavior from beginning to end. And that’s what makes them so good as characters. I couldn’t stand them, but they were written so well it made the story even more intense.

I’m already itching for a sequel because there is no way Cosby is just going to going to leave us hanging like that. I need more. I need closure. I need to see what comes next for these characters I’ve grown way too attached to.

If you love gritty thrillers with heart, complicated family dynamics, and writing that pulls no punches, King of Ashes needs to be on your list. Cosby never misses, and this one? Easily a five-star read for me.

Special thank you to S.A. Cosby and Macmillan Audio for allowing to enjoy this ARC!