5 out of 5 stars, reviewed by me.
The Darkest Road (the third book in Connor Coyne’s Urbantasm series) contains relatable and lovable characters who have become more complex, as has the story. Akawe’s parallels to Flint are all there for any reader who grew up in Flint, and for any others who want to know what it was like. I found myself really pulling for the entire cast of characters, but especially for John and Selby. There’s a lot going on in this novel. Books one and two have set it up. The intricacy and scope of the overarching plot is impressive, and the action and drama really pick up here. Coyne’s sense of poeticism and unabashed maximalism are fine-tuned and in good form. I’m a fan. In this third book, the characters have hit high school. They are dealing with intense emotions, the confusion of adolescence and Akawe’s troubled economy. John Bridge struggles to cope with the challenges his parents are presented with as Akawe’s auto industry continues to crumble, abandoned houses are burned to the ground and urban blight becomes a deeper reality. The dark secrets and past events that motivate Selby, and come to consume John, propelled me along. The web of public school life, auto history, raves and parties and old neighborhoods transformed by hard times, gangs and drug dealing is rich and complex. The themes of mortality, loyalty, morality, growth, decay and God are all there, too. Coyne packs in as much as he can, and he does it well. I’m looking forward to Book 4: The Spring Storm.
Connor Coyne (he/him) is a writer living and working in Flint, Michigan.
Connor has published several novels and a short story collection, and his work has been featured in Vox.com, Belt Magazine, and elsewhere. He is the director of the Flint-based Gothic Funk Press and is facilitator for the Flint Public Library‘s writing workshops.
Connor is a graduate of the University of Chicago and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the New School. Today, he lives with his wife and two daughters in Flint’s College Cultural Neighborhood (aka the East Village), less than a mile from the house where he grew up.
Connor Coyne
