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Epic is the only word I’ve got for S.A. Cosby’s riveting new crime drama, King of Ashes. Both Southern crime thriller and family drama, it’s one of two books I’m recommending to EVERYONE this summer. After his father is in an accident, wealth management whiz Roman Carruthers is called home to Jefferson Run, Virginia. He finds his father in a coma; his brother Dante in deep and in debt to local gangsters; and his sister Neveah carrying the crematory that’s their family business. The flames of that crematory made his glitzy ATL life possible, but Roman’s got no intention of sticking around. Heh. Best laid plans.
As much as King of Ashes is a gritty, sometimes violent crime drama (the “Oh, sh-t!” moments are many), it’s got a gorgeously introspective side. If Roman is the success and Dante is the f-up, of course it falls to Neveah as the only daughter to hold it all together. And doesn’t it always? But it’s the family ties that yield some of King of Ashes’ most affecting prose.
“Ancestry stretched marionette strings down through a generation of couplings, of sighs, of long winter days and champagne Saturday nights, to make them move with unpracticed synchronicity. Their family tree had deep roots that bound them all together in its grip.” Another fave: “Behind his closed eyes a movie played starring his mother, missing now for nineteen years, and his father. He saw them both, fading away, turned to dust, and lost in the wind as the universe shrugged and continued on its way.”
Don’t sleep on this one. King of Ashes is a must read.
It’s already been optioned by Netflix, Amblin Entertainment and Higher Ground, with plans to make it a TV series. I’m already imagining Aldis Hodge as Roman. Cosby’s 2023 release, All The Sinners Bleed, is also in development and received a nine-episode order from Netflix last month.
Get King of Ashes from Bookshop.org | Apple Books | Kobo | Amazon
The audiobook is narrated by Adam Lazarre-White. Get it on Kobo | Audible
S.A. Cosby is on tour this month with stops in cities including Cleveland, Nashville, San Diego, Philly, and Atlanta. Some events are ticketed. Dates and details below.
