“Propulsive and powerful. . . A gripping roller coaster ride of escalating danger in cars and crematories, punctuated by pulpy moments of dark glamour in the bedroom and the club, interspersed with elegiac meditations on the art of war. The story overflows with immersive velocity and crackling sensory details. . . With Roman, Cosby has sculpted a character of Shakespearean proportions: kingly, devoted, shrewd. He reminds us of Hamlet, a tormented antihero struggling with how best to take revenge while preserving his soul in a depraved land.”
—New York Times Book Review
“Dark, riveting, and accomplished. . . Cosby has built an impressive reputation for creating brutal, fast-paced novels in which bad things happen to just about everybody.”
—Washington Post
“Proof that crime fiction isn’t always a churn of brand-name antiheroes. . . His latest may be inspired by “The Godfather,” but it deposits you in seriously Shakespearean territory. Blissfully pulpy and mournfully tragic, all at once.”
—Chicago Tribune
“Pick up the novel everyone will be talking about. . . The flashy sequences of violence feel apt for TV (Netflix, along with Steven Spielberg’s production outfit and the Obamas’ media company, is working on a series), but the novel’s real draw is the quieter ache of a family torn apart.”
—The Atlantic
“A thrilling and thought-provoking look at privilege and loyalty. . . Raw, gritty and undeniably entertaining, King of Ashes delivers one sizzling summer read that concludes with a few unexpected twists.”
—Atlanta Journal Constitution
“This is a tale of Shakespearean proportions, of festering passions, brutal vengeance, of loyalty and love. Cosby’s prose is a brilliant conflagration of fiery metaphors and brutal realism.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Restraint is not a hallmark of S.A. Cosby's crime fiction. His writing is rough, raw and violent. . . Cosby invests the classic noir plot of the ordinary man pulled into a nightmare with emotional depth. . . I warn you, that crematory gets put to use — a lot — but King of Ashes is so ingenious neither grit nor gore could make me stop reading it.”
—NPR’s Fresh Air
“Cosby’s precise prose and exacting plotting keep King of Ashes on a forward momentum. Cosby knows how to draw in a reader. . . King of Ashes is a noir tragedy that grabs the reader and holds on.”
—Sun Sentinel
“A fast-paced thriller that will have readers asking whether the ends justify the means if there is no end in sight. . . Reminiscent of the great tragedies, this is Cosby at his best.”
—Library Journal, starred review
“Cosby is one of the biggest names in the crime/thriller world these days. . . King of Ashes takes its cue from The Godfather – an ailing patriarch, a family falling apart and a son who comes back home to hold it all together.”
—NPR.com
“A Southern crime drama to the tune of “The Godfather.”
—USA TODAY
“Riveting. . . Cosby drives his readers through the story at full-throttle, and yet little ends up rushed: His characters are deeply crafted, and the issues he tackles are complex. This is yet another winner from the author of All the Sinners Bleed.”
—ELLE
“Cosby has published one magnificent crime novel after another. . . and this new book spotlights the author’s gift for building complex characters. . . His dialogue, too, is pitch-perfect: colloquial and idiomatic, reflecting the education and upbringing of his characters—it feels like we’re eavesdropping on real people. A stunning novel.”
—Booklist
“Classically tragic.”
—Wall Street Journal
“Cosby keeps things tense, making great use of the crematorium and freshening the genre with lofty philosophizing. . . Rarely has a crime fiction family been given a more bitter spin than this one. Another strong outing by a modern noir master.”
—Kirkus, starred review
“A thrilling and dark take on a twisted American Dream cum Shakespearean tragedy. . . Cosby crafts an exquisite thriller; the pages whir by on superb prose. . . Building to a cataclysmic finale, Cosby once again propels readers on one hell of a ride. Excellent.”
—Deadly Pleasures, A+
"Cosby's King of Ashes might be his best novel, which is a big deal if you know Cosby’s books, because his other ones (Razorblade Tears, for example, a brilliant tale of revenge) are magnificent. . . like Elmore Leonard-level magnificent. Cosby writes about the people of rural Virginia, where he was born and still lives. His books feature abundantly human characters in exquisitely rendered settings, the dialogue is pitch perfect and the stories are morally complex. . . A splendidly conceived and executed novel.”
—Winnipeg Free Press
“Today’s modern master of crime fiction is back in a scathing work that does what S.A. Cosby does best — entertain, but also leave a scar on the reader’s psyche.”
—Cemetery Dance
“A dark, complicated “Southern noir” tale of family relationships. . . King of Ashes, once again, proves that S. A. Cosby is a mesmerizing crime fiction storyteller. . . The depth and sincerity of the Carruthers siblings and their trials will resonate with the reader long after the final explosive page.”
—BookTrib
“Cosby is on brutal, relentless form. . . A pulsating thriller.”
—The Mail on Sunday
“Does not disappoint. . . Dazzlingly bold and brutal, yet still manages to break your heart.”
—Crime Monthly
“A pulsating saga of family secrets and double and triple-crossing.”
—The Sunday Times (Ireland)
“As gripping, dark, and disturbing as anything I have read this year. . . The violence is horrific, the ending sad, and the narrative irresistible.”
—Literary Review
