Author: S.A. Cosby
Year published: 2025
Category: Adult fiction (thriller)
Pages: 352 pages
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Location: (my 2025 Google Reading map): USA (VA)
Summary: 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.
Review: I liked Cosby's Razorblad Tears (link to my review) so was pleased to see BOTM offer his latest novel. And I liked this one even more.
Cosy's novels are not for the faint of heart; there is quite a bit of violence (drug dealers enforcing their power over a town can get pretty gritty). But if you are okay reading about murders (note that the main characters own a crematorium....yikes!) there is a really good story in this novel.
The main brothers really have gotten themselves in a horrible situation due to one brother's misdeeds, and it falls upon the other brother to work with/against the drug dealers to get them out of the situation. Having to take action that goes against your very fiber to save your family is not an easy thing, and I like that Cosby showed the internal struggles alongside the horrendous actions.
This book went places I did not expect, and that's a good thing. I did not figure out the ending, I didn't expect it to be as much about family, loyalty, and what people will do when pressed. Is it an uplifting book? No. Is it really good? Yes.
Challenges for which this counts:
- Diversity--characters and author are African American
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