King of Ashes

When eldest son Roman Carruthers is summoned home after his father's car accident, he finds his youngest 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 soft than the gangsters believe, and he will do anything to save his family. Because growing up in the crematorium taught him that his father's motto is true: in the end, everything burns.Praise for S. A. Cosby:'Sensationally good' LEE CHILD'Exhilarating' STEPHEN KING'Stunning. Can't remember the last time I read such a powerful crime novel' MARK BILLINGHAM'S. A. Cosby is a welcome, refreshing new voice in crime literature' DENNIS LEHANE'Every once in a while a writer comes along with an incredible voice...add S. A. Cosby to that list' STEVE CAVANAGH'Elegant, fierce storytelling at its absolute best.' DAILY MAIL