This is Michael Maxwell with the Sioux City Public Library and you’re listening to Check It Out.
Today, I am recommending King of Ashes a hard-boiled, dark-as-midnight thriller novel by master of the genre, S.A. Cosby.
I’ve never wanted to use curse words in a Check it Out recommendation before, but describing this book makes me want to swear like a sailor! Suffice to say, King of Ashes is probably one of the most messed up books I have ever read, and that’s why I am recommending it to you.
Readers meet the Carruthers siblings in the wake of their father’s tragic and suspicious car accident. Decades ago, their parents started a cremation business in the small Virginia town of Jefferson Run, and the entire family had a role to play in the operations. Now, it’s just Neveah running the crematory while her two brothers, Dante- the chemically dependent black sheep and Roman- a successful financial manager and fixer for Atlanta’s elite, find themselves on the wrong side of the local gang. Bodies begin to pile up, but if anyone knows how to dispose of a body it’s the Carruthers family.
Family secrets unwind and pop under violent pressure as Cosby’s novel careens around Jefferson Run alongside the Carruthers brothers while they walk a fine line between climbing out of a hole and digging themselves in deeper. Much like the bodies in the crematorium, this book is highly combustible! Also, if you’re afraid of dogs, beware: King of Ashes has the scariest fictional canines I’ve read in a book since Stephen King’s Cujo!
Check out King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby and other fresh takes on the noir genre at the Sioux City Public Library today!
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