Audiobook Review: King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby

King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby
Publsiher: Macmillan Audio
Release Date: June 10, 2015
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

When eldest son Roman Carruthers is summoned home after his father’s car accident, he finds his younger brother, Dante, in debt to dangerous criminals and his sister, Neveah, exhausted from holding the family—and the family business—together. Neveah and their father, who run the Carruthers Crematorium in the run-down central Virginia town of Jefferson Run, see death up close every day. But mortality draws even closer when it becomes clear that the crash that landed their father in a coma was no accident and Dante’s recklessness has placed them all in real danger.

Roman, a financial whiz with a head for numbers and a talent for making his clients rich, has some money to help buy his brother out of trouble. But in his work with wannabe tough guys, he’s forgotten that there are real gangsters out there. As his bargaining chips go up in smoke, Roman realizes that he has only one thing left to offer to save his brother: himself, and his own particular set of skills.

Roman begins his work for the criminals while Neveah tries to uncover the long-ago mystery of what happened to their mother, who disappeared when they were teenagers. But Roman is far less of a pushover than the gangsters realize. He is willing to do anything to save his family. Anything.

Because everything burns.

Roman is a wealthy investment manager living in Atlanta. When his father is critically injured in a suspicious car accident, he returns to the small town that he grew up in to help his sister run the family’s crematorium. His younger brother Dante still lives with their father and has found himself mixed up with one of the town’s drug-dealing gangs. They may kill Dante if Dante doesn’t pay them back the money he owes them. Roman is used to a world where money talks and can solve any problem but he quickly realizes that is not the case for the this gang. They are determined to take their pound of flesh just to prove a point.

While all of this is going on, Roman’s younger sister, Neveah, is investigating what happened to their mother. She disappeared years ago under suspicious circumstances. Neveah is also growing increasingly worried about Roman and Dante, who are trying their best to shield her from their dealings with the gang.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. My stomach was in knots wondering how Roman and Dante could possibly get out of some of the troublesome situations they found themselves in. The plotting was excellent. Everything made sense – it didn’t rely on coincidences like some thrillers. The characters were vividly drawn, especially Roman. He was deeply flawed but I couldn’t help but root for him and Dante. King of Ashes centers around the question of how far are you willing to go to protect your family?

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator is fantastic. His voices for the various characters was remarkably distinct and matched each characters’ personality. His voice for Roman was almost sultry and his voice for the gang leader was perfect. He really brought the characters to life. I’d like to listen to more audiobooks read by him.

King of Ashes is five stars all the way. Highly recommended.

(I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook for review.)