Book Review - King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby

Title: King of Ashes
Author: S.A. Cosby
Genre: Thriller/ Crime
Published: 2025
 
Description: Roman Caruthers left the smoke and fire of his family’s crematory business behind in his hometown of Jefferson Run, Virginia. He is enjoying a life of shallow excess as a financial adviser in Atlanta until he gets a call from his sister, Neveah, telling him their father is in a coma after a hit-and-run accident. When Roman goes home, he learns the accident may not be what it seems. His brother, Dante, is deeply in debt to dangerous, ruthless criminals.
 
And Roman is willing to do anything to protect his family. Anything.
 
A financial whiz with a head for numbers and a talent for making his clients rich, Roman must use all his skills to try to save his family while dealing with a shadow that has haunted them all for twenty years: the disappearance of their mother when Roman and his siblings were teenagers. It’s a mystery that Neveah, who has sacrificed so much of her life to hold her family together, is determined to solve once and for all.
 
As fate and chance and heartache ignite their lives, the Carithers family must pull together to survive or see their lives turn to ash. Because, as their father counseled them from birth nothing lasts forever.
 
Everything burns
 
Review: “King of Ashes” by S.A. Cosby is a gripping, gritty crime thriller that explores the boundaries of family loyalty and moral corruptions. Powerful yet tragic, though its explicit rawness requires a strong stomach. But if you read from S.A. Cosby you know what to expect.
 
The story revolves around Roman Caruthers, a successful asset manages in Atlanta who thought he had left the darkness of his hometown, Jefferson Run, Virginia, far behind him. When his father falls into a coma after a mysterious accident, Roman returns to the family business: a crematorium. He finds a mess, His brother Dante is deeply in depth to the violent Black Baron Boys gang, and his sister is struggling to keep the family together.
 
The raw and poetic style of Cosby is one of the reason why I love his stories so much. He describes Jefferson Run as a town slowly rotting away, which perfectly mirrors the characters’ inner struggles. The core of the book isn’t just action, but the traumas that have haunted the family for twenty years since their mother’s disappearance. The dynamics between the brothers and sister feel painfully real.
 
Roman is not your typical hero, but an intellectual anti-hero who uses his financial skills as a weapon in a deadly game of chess against criminals.
 
The book is extremely violent at times. Trigger warnings for readers who have a hard time reading about severe abuse and violence.
 
“King of Ashes” is a blood-curdling thriller about how far you’ll go for you own kin. It didn’t hit me as hard as “Razorblade Tears” and “All the Sinners Bleed” did, but if you’re a fan of S.A. Cosby, you should definitely pick it up.
 
Rating: 4/ 5