Who is S.A. Cosby? The author behind Obama’s favorite rural noir books

When the king of Southern noir, S.A. Cosby, sent out his debut novel, “My Darkest Prayer,” it was rejected again and again. “One of the editors said, ‘I just don’t believe this level of violence and intensity exists in rural areas,’” Cosby tells me with a laugh. “I was like, I grew up here. If you live in a rural area and it’s a Friday, Saturday night, there’s not a lot to do but drink and fight and ride around.” He admits he’s exaggerating to some extent. “But Raymond Chandler is exaggerating. Robert Cray is exaggerating. These great writers,” Cosby says. “A novel is not supposed to be a documentary.”

His latest, “King of Ashes,” is riveting and terrifying, and continues to receive wide acclaim. Cosby’s work has topped bestseller lists and been praised by former President Obama. The author’s distinctive storytelling is rooted in his background. He was born poor in rural Virginia. His family lived in a mobile home.

“I grew up loving stories, but didn’t have a lot of money,” he told me. “Didn’t have indoor plumbing until I was 15.”

We spoke via Zoom, with a spotty connection because he still lives in rural Virginia. When he was young, Cosby’s parents separated, and his mother, who had health issues, struggled. Cosby started college but dropped out to move home and take care of her.

He wanted to be a writer, but was working full-time as an associate manager at a big-box hardware store. He grabbed whatever time he could. “I wrote on my lunch break,” he said. “I wrote late at night because when I was working, I was also a primary caregiver for my mother.” After his mother died — a loss reflected in his fiction — he moved in with his now-wife and was on call to help with her funeral home. Through it all, he kept writing, eventually gaining traction and support from the online magazine Thuglit.

(Flatiron / Pine & Cedar)

Cosby has since published five novels (plus a sci-fi series for kids co-written with Questlove). He won an L.A. Times mystery/thriller books prize in 2020 for his gripping noir “Blacktop Wasteland,” and this year he is up for the same award for his brilliantly plotted thriller “King of Ashes.”

In it, eldest brother Roman leaves his high-end financial management business in Atlanta to return home after his father is badly injured in an accident. There, his sister Neveah has been keeping the family crematorium business going. Their little brother Dante is an irresponsible party boy, tangled up with a ruthless local gang. The book is strewn with bloody corpses.

“King of Ashes” is so high stakes that it’s good they have a place to burn bodies. Roman takes charge to fix things, but the more power he wields, the darker his life becomes. It has elements of a classic tragedy, where characters’ lives are destined to intersect badly.

“When I was writing, I was thinking about the weight of secrets, the weight of pain, and how what we hold onto can hold us down,” Cosby says. “For me, the heart of the book is the siblings.”

As a writer he’s more inclined to stretch out than double-down. His novels can be slotted into some mystery/thriller subcategories — “Blacktop Wasteland” is a heist novel, “Razorblade Tears” a revenge thriller, “All the Sinners Bleed” a police procedural.

What they have in common is the setting, southeastern Virginia. “I like being able to tie my characters back into this place that exists,” Cosby said. It’s a combination of his hometown and the neighboring counties. “I like the stability that that creates. I wanted you to feel grounded, like this place has history. This place has legend and myth and lore.” If an editor long ago thought there wasn’t enough going on there, he was overlooking William Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a fictional place with boundless stories.

What is rural noir, exactly? Cosby defined it to me as “books that took noir existentialism out the cities and the back and brought it down into the hills and the hollers, the low country.” He related something crime writer James D.F. Hannah once said: “I know a dark alley is scary. But I’ll tell you, there’s no scarier place than a country road at night when the sky’s gone full dark and no stars.”

In “King of Ashes,” danger often waits where the streetlights at the county line end. But his next book will combine the two — in addition to the familiar Virginia setting, the action will go cross-country and reach Los Angeles. Apart from a few cameos and crossovers — “the S.A. Cosby Shared Universe,” he jokes — Cosby writes stand-alone novels. For mystery writers, who often write quickly for people who like to read quickly, doing stand-alones might be considered a disadvantage. Novels in series often come out once a year, are addictive, have characters people love. Think of Michael Connelly — he’s Harry Bosch and the Lincoln Lawyer, Mickey Haller — who each will have another book coming soon.

But Cosby’s singular narratives haven’t gone unnoticed by Hollywood. Earlier this year, Netflix announced that it will adapt Cosby’s “All the Sinners Bleed” into a limited series, to star Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù as the novel’s small town black sheriff dealing with a serial killer. It will include a guest appearance by new Oscar winner Amy Madigan. It’s a big deal.

‘All the Sinners Bleed,’ by S.A. Cosby

(Flatiron Books)

The television adaptation of “All the Sinners Bleed” is being executive produced by Higher Ground Productions, with Amblin Television. Higher Ground is Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company. Obama has twice included Cosby’s novels on his summer reading list. Cosby says he hasn’t met the former first couple yet, but he did speak to the former president on the phone.

“It was so surreal, not just that he’s the president, not just that he’s a cultural touchstone as the first Black president, but that I’m talking to him, this little poor kid from Virginia,” Cosby said.

“When I first started writing, all I wanted was for somebody other than my mother or my brother to like my books,” Cosby said. “I wanted people who didn’t have to like it to like it.” Now he’s been on the phone with former President Obama and talked with him about his work. He’s keeping that private — except for one part of the conversation.

“He said, ‘I think you’re a great American novelist.’ And he didn’t caveat it with ‘crime novelist’ or genre. He just said, ‘I think you’re a great American novelist.’ And gosh, that’s one of the highest compliments you could get.”

S.A. Cosby will be at the L.A. Times Festival of Books April 18 and 19.

(Rob Ostermaier / Consociate Media)

Recent S.A. Cosby faves:

Movie: “Blue Ruin” by Jeremy Saulnier. That’s an amazing movie. Somebody recommended it to me ‘cause it takes place in Virginia. I was kind of hesitant, but this was set in Virginia and shot in Virginia, and it is a wonderfully dark rural noir.

Music: I love the Black Pumas. I just discovered them about a year ago. It’s Southern twang, but also with this heavy sort of influence of R&B and soul and rock.

Podcast: I listen to “Last Podcast on the Left” a lot. I listen to “True Crime Garage.” There’s a sci-fi podcast called “Wolf 359,” about a crew of a space station circling a red dwarf star. It’s very funny. I love sci-fi.

Science–fiction franchise: I am a “Star Wars” nerd from way back. The Expanded Universe novels, and I’ve seen the “Star Wars” Christmas special in all its glory. I haven’t been as much a part of the fandom as I used to be, because there’s been some issues. I think Darth Vader’s a great villain. I love the ethos of “Star Wars.” Anything “Star Wars”-related, I’m going to watch it and think it’s amazing.

L.A. TIMES BOOK PRIZES & FESTIVAL INFO

Book prizes:

S.A. Cosby is a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize in mystery/thriller

Book festival:

Appears Sat. April 18 at 3 p.m. at Norris Theater on the panel “It Goes All the Way to the Top” with Ace Atkins, Lou Berney and Luke Goebel. Tickets required.

Sun. April 19 at 12:30 p.m.: S.A. Cosby will appear on the Audiobook & Spotify Stage. Free.