Southern noir crime-fiction writer S.A. Cosby is a New York Times bestselling author known for his gritty thrillers featuring graphic violence and plotlines with a high body count. An early scene in his new novel, “King of Ashes,” depicts his main character, Roman Carruthers, in a scenario where the barrel of a gun is shoved into his mouth before he gets smashed on top of his head, breaking off his teeth in a maneuver that mimics a “curb stomp.”

The revolting depiction ratchets the tension and informs both the reader and the book’s characters that the villains in Cosby’s fifth narrative aren’t to be trifled with. But, as the novel soon reveals, neither is Carruthers.

Cosby has featured protagonists in his previous stories who are criminals determined to turn good, mediocre humans who o

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