THE DARK ROAD

In Rhodes’ debut thriller, two emotionally wounded people thrown together by a random accident must rely on each other to survive a strange and terrifying world.

Shelly can’t remember her past, but she knows something terrible happened, something so awful that she’s become detached from her loved ones and disassociates from her body. She loves her daughter Josie, but thinking about her fills with her with anxiety over her well-being. Her husband Paul doesn’t understand what she’s dealing with and is frustrated by Shelly never being fully present with him. Beleaguered by the growing strain of his dead marriage and his extremely stressful job as hospital operations manager, Paul makes a reckless decision. In the wake of this action, Shelly leaves—driving with Josie in the car, she loses control of the vehicle and crashes into a biker named John. He has his own tragic history with a physically abusive father and an emotionally abusive mother; John’s internal issues and anger reached a boiling point when his girlfriend left him for his best friend. In the aftermath of the crash, Shelly and John wake up on dark road and must bravely navigate a strange place—a kind of purgatory—if they hope to find the way back to their lives. Rhodes creates a compelling world full of danger and tragedy, replete with well-wrought plot twists and shocking details. Shelly’s and John’s histories of abuse are especially complex and provide an emotional core to the story’s themes of survival and healing. The character development is outstanding, with Shelly’s arc standing out as particularly enthralling and grounded. Well-crafted imagery and descriptions render the story vivid and realistic: “By the time Shelly regained consciousness, the grass and the glow of emergency vehicles had disappeared, leaving only the long, yellow line of the highway. Her brain felt heavy, like the ache of a hangover.”

An excellent thriller.