Now none of that matters when the flame licks the spoon: KING OF ASHES.

King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a very S.A. Cosby book. It's incredibly well-written, but wow, it's brutal and sometimes almost too hard to read. I had to read it in small chunks, with lots of breaks for the light and fluffy romance I was also reading.

Roman returns home to Virginia from Atlanta, where he's a high-flying financial advisor. In Virginia, Roman's father is in a coma, leaving Roman's sister Neveah and brother Dante to run the family crematory business. Soon he learns Dante has gotten on the wrong side of a gang and is in horrible debt to a set of cruel and ruthless brothers.

Roman must enact a plan to save Dante, the family business, and ultimately, everyone's lives. Doing so will mean examining what exactly he's willing to do for his family. The resulting story is brutal and violent but also a masterful exploration of familial ties and the lengths people will go for power. Roman confronts a lot of dark truths--is he doing this for his family, his own power, or something else. Being home also reminds him constantly of his mother, who went missing when he was a teen. To this day, locals still think Roman's father killed her (and used the crematory).

Cosby does an amazing job of showing how secrets and grief can build up and consume a person--even a family. I can't say that I totally enjoyed this book, but I certainly appreciated it. He remains a master of this genre.

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