I went into King of Ashes expecting a gritty crime novel, but even then I was not prepared for how intense and emotionally heavy this story would become. Cosby has a way of writing violence that feels brutally real without ever losing sight of the people caught inside it, and this book is a perfect example of that balance. It is dark, unflinching and often uncomfortable, yet it is also full of heart.
The story follows Roman, who is reluctantly called home after his father is badly injured in a car accident. He has not been back in years and would prefer to keep it that way, but his sister Neveah is struggling to run the family crematorium alone and his younger brother Dante has managed to entangle himself with a local drug gang. What begins as a tense family reunion quickly spirals into something far more dangerous. Old resentments rise to the surface, long buried secrets begin to shift, and the disappearance of their mother nineteen years earlier hangs over everything like a storm cloud.
Cosby writes family dysfunction with a raw honesty that makes every interaction feel heavy. The Carruthers siblings are shaped by grief, guilt and the absence of a mother they never got answers about. Their father’s reputation as the King of Ashes only complicates things further. The rumours surrounding him, the whispers about what really happened to their mother, and the simmering anger between the siblings all create a sense of inevitability. You can feel the pressure building long before anything explodes.
The violence in this book is extreme at times, and I found myself wincing more than once. Yet it never feels gratuitous. It reflects the world these characters inhabit and the danger they cannot escape. What kept me grounded was the humanity threaded through the brutality. Roman’s protectiveness, Neveah’s quiet suffering and even Dante’s desperate attempts to claw his way out of the mess he created all feel painfully real. Cosby’s character work is exceptional, and even the most frightening figures have depth.
The pacing is uneven, with a slower middle section, but the final act more than makes up for it. Once the pieces start falling into place, the tension becomes relentless. The ending left me sitting in silence for a moment, trying to process what I had just read.
Readers who enjoy dark crime fiction, Southern noir and stories that explore the emotional cost of violence will find a lot to appreciate here. It is not a light read, but it is a powerful one.
In the end, King of Ashes is a brutal, gripping and deeply human novel. I am already thinking about what of his to pick up next.
