King of Ashes Review

Author: S.A. Cosby

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Release Day: June 10, 2025

Thanks to Flatiron Books for a complimentary arc of this title for review. Opinions expressed are my own.

Review first published in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author S. A. Cosby returns with King of Ashes, a Godfather-inspired Southern crime epic and dazzling family drama.

 

Review:

Author S.A. Cosby’s KING OF ASHES is a bold, brutal, in your face Southern Noir family drama by that begs the question, "What would you do to protect your family?". Like Cosby's preceding books, this tension laden story is a gritty, raw, gut-wrenching masterpiece with blood, sweat, and tears permeating every page. Settle in your favorite corner before starting this highly addictive page burner. It's a wild ride!

Roman Carruthers, a financial guru, left his run-down hometown of Jefferson Run, Virginia, and the family Crematorium business he detested in the rearview five years ago, seeking the bright lights and opportunities of the big city. Over time, Roman built a reputable, profitable business as a respected expert managing clients’ money and making them wealthy. He's living the good life when a phone call informs him his father is comatose following a near fatal car crash, and he's needed back home. Roman has no choice but to swallow his dread and return to the place he fled to pay his dues with plans to make an appearance and then get back out as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Roman's plans change when he finds his sister, Neveah, exhausted and nearing the end of her rope as she single handedly works killer hours to keep the Crematorium running while keeping vigilance by her father's hospital bed and riding shotgun over younger brother, Dante, whose bad decisions put him in a dicey situation with local, lowlife criminals. Upon arrival, Roman analyzes the situation as he would any mathematical problem and proceeds with a plan to pay off Dante's debt; however, events backfire and quickly escalate out of control. He learns the hard way that Dante's careless actions have attracted criminal elements way beyond the local thugs. Someone with power is seeking retaliation against his family, leaving him to wonder if his father's car crash was a warning . . . not an accident. Now, everyone Roman cares about is in danger, and to Roman, family is everything. Money won't buy them off, but Roman knows how the game is played. Swallowing his pride and the bile rising in his throat, Roman crosses over to the dark side, selling his soul to the devil in a bargain that may forever bind him to the small town life he worked so hard to escape. While he doesn't like it, one lesson Roman learned from his father is that everything burns. And he's not above striking the match that'll burn this town down around them to save his family.

Cosby never lifts his foot off the gas in KING OF ASHES. From beginning to end, it's an action-packed, fast paced family drama with flawed, larger than life characters battling impossible odds in an age-old battle of good vs. evil, but in doing so, what do they become? What sets Cosby's characters apart is their strong family ties, hearts of a lion, keen sense of morality even as they're forced to cross lines in the name of old timey justice, and their ability to display vulnerability while stepping up as antiheroes all in the name of family. Fueled by an increasing tone of impending doom, nonstop action drives the maddening pace forward through flawlessly woven, twisted, multiple plot lines towards an explosive climax that left me breathless. Family skeletons along with all the dark family secrets escape to wreak havoc in this epic southern noir thriller. Who will remain standing when they sift through the ashes? Highly recommended to readers who enjoy fast-paced, graphic, family drama thrillers.

 

Synopsis:

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 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.

Dogged Pursuit Review

Author: David Rosenfelt

Series: Andy Carpenter Prequel

Narrator: Grover Gardner

Publisher: Minotaur Books & MacMillan Audio

Release Day: July 1, 2025

Special thanks to Minotaur Books for a complimentary arc of this title for review. Opinions expressed are my own.

First published in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

In Dogged Pursuit, David Rosenfelt takes readers back to the start of this beloved series as Andy Carpenter begins his career as a defense attorney in Paterson, New Jersey.

Review:

Author David Rosenfelt sweeps fans of the Andy Carpenter series away with a nostalgic journey back in time to the beginning of it all in DOGGED PURSUIT. Readers are introduced to a young Andy along with a few of the main characters that play significant roles in the many books that follow. Perhaps more importantly, we get our first look at Andy's beloved dog, Tara, and learn about the events that brought him to adopt her from the shelter. This prequel is the perfect entry point for first time readers and an absolute must read for longtime fans of the series.

Andy Carpenter is feeling a bit untethered as he and his wife Nicole are finagling their way through some marital issues that have her living at her parents' house while he roams around the empty rooms of their home. Andy has turned down yet another offer from Nicole's dad to come work for his firm - a move that would secure their financial future but contribute nothing to Andy's mental health and personal satisfaction. Since finishing law school, Andy has spent three years working as a prosecutor but has now chosen to switch sides by becoming a defense attorney to serve as a voice for the accused. All he needs now is a client. In Nicole's absence, Andy decides a small dog will make the perfect companion, so he heads to the local animal shelter where it's love at first sight when he spies Tara, a golden retriever, who is most definitely not a small dog. As it turns out, Tara has a little sidekick, Sonny, a beagle who belongs to a man arrested for a triple murder. Not having the heart to split the pair up, Andy seeks permission from the incarcerated man to take Sonny home and in doing so winds up taking the man on as his first client as a defense attorney. Frank Tierney stands accused of planting explosives under the car of his former boss thereby blowing him and his two passengers to smithereens. Tierney swears he's innocent, but the prosecutor’s unsurmountable evidence says otherwise. Andy needs to sift through an array of red herrings to unmask a murderer to prove his client's innocence. Things are about to get complicated...and dangerous for Andy and those he cares about.

DOGGED PURSUIT is a delight to read! Fans of the series are transported back to the beginning of it all to witness Andy’s first connection with several series' favorites like Laurie, the ex-cop investigator, Sam, the computer whiz, along with an "almost meet" with the enforcer, Marcus. And, of course, we meet a young, enthusiastic, gung-ho Andy as he hones his courtroom skills utilizing what later becomes his signature sharp wit and charming personality to irritate the judge, win over the jury and successfully wrap up his first case as a budding defense attorney . . . all while navigating his turbulent personal life with all the bumps and bruises of a young, floundering marriage. If this is your first Andy Carpenter book, this book serves as the meet-cute foundation for the rest of the series, and I promise you'll be hooked! If you're a longtime fan, what a gift!

Like all the rest of the books that follow, DOGGED PURSUIT is a highly entertaining, humorous whodunit rendered via complex characters, adorable dog scenes and an intriguing murder mystery. While it would be easy to label it as another lighthearted mystery, Rosenfelt's expertise at weaving weighty themes throughout a convoluted, twisted plotline while challenging readers and Andy to figure it out is evident. The end result is a page burner, often funny, always heart touching story that's impossible to put down. Narrator Grover Gardner delivers a star performance on audio. In my eyes, he IS Andy Carpenter! Highly recommended to fans of the series, first time readers and any reader who enjoys a good mystery with a healthy dose of laughter.

Synopsis:

Andy Carpenter has spent the three years since graduating law school working as a prosecutor in Paterson. But having seen how the system never looks out for the little guy, he leaves to start his own practice as a defense attorney. His office might be a little bit of a dump, but he's excited to make a change.

Andy goes to the shelter to adopt a dog, where he meets his beloved golden retriever, Tara, for the first time and feels an immediate connection. The shelter is crowded and Tara's been sharing space with a dog named Sunny; Andy hates to break them up and so asks to take Sunny, too, but since there's a pending criminal case involving the owner, he'll need to get written permission for temporary possession.

Andy discovers that Sunny's owner, Frank Tierney, has been arrested for the murder of his ex-boss. But he takes an immediate liking to Frank and his clear dedication to his dog, and ends up with his first case along with the two dogs.

The Debt Collector Review

Author: Steven Max Russo

Publisher: Steven Max Russo Books

Release Date: March 20, 2024

Review:

THE DEBT COLLECTOR by Author Steven Max Russo is an intriguing, character driven thriller with a protagonist readers won’t forget. Abigail Barnes is driving down the street in Hackensack, New Jersey, when a man (Hector) wearing nothing but boxers runs out of a store into the street waving a gun and carjacks her. Her reaction is anything but typical and sets the tone for the rest of this highly entertaining crime thriller.

Abigal aka Abby is a pretty, petite, angelic little blonde whose good looks are deceiving, often giving her the upper hand in her occupation of choice. Abby is a debt collector - not for legitimate companies, but rather for bookies and loan sharks looking to collect past due debts. Being a pretty, demure blonde, Abby often has to prove her worth by giving a demonstration of her skills. She easily handles gangsters triple her size, reducing them to a humiliated, whimpering pile of bloody limbs on the floor. Such a demo earns her a job collecting for Bennie, a lowlife bookie, with her new carjacker friend, Hector, by her side. Things are going great until a man she just collected from is found murdered, and she's the prime suspect. Things become even more complicated when the bookie she was working for also turns up dead. Abby can't go to the police because it seems she left her last gig under highly suspicious circumstances so what's a girl to do? Solve the crime, of course. Armed with her weapons of choice, a special set of brass knuckles, a gun, and a don't mess with me attitude, Abby begins her own investigation while avoiding the local thugs, mobsters, and the cops. Things are about to get western!

Author Steven Max Russo has crafted a complex crime thriller with unique, fun characters battling life and death situations. Abby is a refreshingly different, highly skilled protagonist with a lot of attitude and sass . . . and a heart of gold. Hector provides comic relief, lending a lighter air to some otherwise heavy scenes. The action moves along at an increasing pace through twists and turns as events escalate, only slowing down later in the story when the same scenes are delivered through three different points of view. After a few times, I found this repetitiveness to be slightly distracting; however, it didn't lessen my overall enjoyment of this story. The ending of THE DEBT COLLECTOR felt like the perfect setup for more episodes with Collector Abigail Barnes. Highly recommended to fans of crime fiction and suspense thrillers with a unique twist.

Synopsis:

Abigail Barnes is young, pretty and petite, but her looks and size can be deceiving. She's a tough as nails drifter who makes her living collecting outstanding debts for low-end bookies and loan sharks, Abigail arrives in Hackensack, NJ, from Baltimore, MD, and gets a job collecting for a small-time bookie, who winds up dead.

With a large Wall Street firm moving into town bringing jobs, prestige, and money, the press is soon up in arms about the killing. So the cops decide to put the squeeze on Ronnie “Slacks” Falcone, a mobster who heads organized crime in the Jersey City area, to help find the killer.

Soon Abigail finds herself being sought by a gang of hoodlums, the mob, and the police. She knows she can’t run and she won’t turn herself in because she has a past that could send her to jail. She has little choice but to try and find out who killed the bookie – without getting killed in the process.

Gabriela and His Grace Review

Author: Liana De la Rosa

Series: The Luna Sisters #3

Publisher: Berkley

Release Day: Aug. 26, 2025

Thanks to Berkley for a complimentary arc of this title for review. Opinions expressed are entirely my own.

#BerkleyPartners #Berkley #BerkleyBookstagram

A scandalous arrangement between a hellion heiress and destitute duke reveals truths that neither can outrun….

Review:

GABRIELA AND HIS GRACE is the third and final book in The Luna Sisters trilogy, and I think the author saved the best for last! This one has everything I love about historical romance - a sassy, independent heroine, a brooding rogue with a heart of gold, and the authentic history of the time period seamlessly woven throughout the story. Who can ask for anything more?

Gabriela Luna is a deviant, fiery, beautiful belle with a brain and a mind of her own who refuses to be manhandled into a marriage of convenience. Fleeing yet another scandalous, British fortune hunter seeking to trap her into marriage, she boards a ship back to her home in Mexico although she knows her father will not be happy to see her return unwed. As she boards the ship, she's dismayed to learn Sebastian Brooks, the Duke of Whitfield, is also traveling to Mexico to tour a silver mine he is investing in with her brother-in-law. Sebastian needs the income to reestablish his family's estate to its' former state. Gabriela and Sebastian have an antagonistic love/hate relationship and continuously trade barbs, matching wits as the tension between them sizzles. The red-hot passion explodes as they interact over the course of the ten-day journey and time spent in Mexico, leaving them both questioning their true feelings. And when Gabriela's father pushes her to choose one of the many suitors he's throwing her way, Sebastian steps up to her defense.

Author Liana De la Rosa renders a delightful, heartfelt story with a lot of snap, crackle and pop in GABRIELA AND HIS GRACE. The characters are so well developed and authentic that readers can't help but cheer them on. The setting and history of the 1860 political conflict between Mexico and Europe are flawlessly woven throughout adding to the tension but not taking over the storyline. While this is the third book in a series, everything you need to know to enjoy GABRIELA AND HIS GRACE  is within these pages. If you love a tantalizing historical romance with snarky banter, sizzling chemistry and passionate main characters, this one is for you! I'll be backing up to read the first two!

Synopsis:

As the youngest and most rebellious daughter of the overly protective Luna family, Gabriela Luna Valdés claws after her freedom in any way she can. This time, her hunger for adventure has led her aboard a windswept ship bearing for her homeland, away from a mob of fumbling British suitors. But Gabby can’t escape her father’s expectation that she settle down to find a proper husband—a compromise she’s unwilling to make.

For Sebastian Brooks, Duke of Whitfield, the trip to Mexico is his last chance. His last chance to rectify his family’s estate and refill their dwindling coffers. And his last chance to match wits with the sharp-tongued but deliciously tempting Gabriela.

When Gabby finds herself in need of a hasty escape, Sebastian agrees to assist her…but their close proximity sparks a red-hot passion that could ruin all their plans. With scandal looming, can Sebastian convince Gabby his regard is sincere or will she sail away with his heart?