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The sky was never the limit.
Enter a world of gangs, vigilantes, and magic that's powerful enough to kill.
Mark has never been the survivor his friend Angie is, but when he rescues a mysterious belt from the flames, it's a decision that changes his life for good. As the two tap into the secret of gravity-controlling magic, they realize the reason Angie's family tried to destroy the belt. Flying comes at a cost, to their lives and their sanity.
Fighting back against a street gang with a vendetta, Mark begins to sense that death waits around every turn. Soon he and Angie come face-to-face with the true danger: hidden masters of other magical forces. The keepers of power want the secret of flying, and they'll destroy anyone who gets in their way.
The High Road is the first book in a trilogy of street-level urban fantasy adventures. If you like heart-pounding suspense, comic-book energy, and Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, then you'll love Ken Hughes's gritty, magical series.

270 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 12, 2016

41 people are currently reading
88 people want to read

About the author

Ken Hughes

48 books59 followers
Ken Hughes lives in Los Angeles and has worked as a technical writer for missions to Mars and the governing body of the Internet (ICANN). He writes paranormal thrillers and urban fantasy, and has been known to argue over the difference between the two in his blog, www.KenHughesAuthor.com.

His novel Shadowed was nominated for a Global Ebook Award. The series he’s launching with the upcoming The High Road is meant to prove one thing: how writing a thrilling cliff-hanger for heroes who can fly takes writing to a whole new level. (Don’t get him started on puns.)

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7 (25%)
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Profile Image for Aly.
1,902 reviews69 followers
November 5, 2017
This book was high action and lots of fun to read. I enjoyed the story of the kids and magic. A street-level urban fantasy is a book type I don't read much but it that I don't like them but I just don't pick them out often. This book was great. I think this book is a great start to a series. *I chose to leave a review after receiving a copy from the author*
Profile Image for G.G..
Author 4 books239 followers
March 14, 2018
Seeing some of the books I had read the other recommended me his book. It took me a bit to start reading it because I have 'special' tastes and I usually stay away from recommendations.

This story is about magic. I'm not quite sure how I would classify it. I'd say probably Urban Fantasy because it's not high fantasy and it occurs in a normal city, yet I wouldn't want people to think vampires. There are no vampires in this story. There are only magical objects that give special power to who wields them.

Overall the story is entertaining. But like all stories, it's not perfect. A few things bugged me. The never ending chases. I felt three quarters of the book was about chases: Being chased and doing the chases, chases on bike, on foot, flying, but chases nonetheless. The other problem I had was that it felt like there was a chapter missing between the last one and the one before it. I can't explain because it'd give spoilers but the last felt as if it could be an epilogue but there were facts missing, like what happened to get there? That had me lost a little. Of course, one can imagine what happened but it felt that too much was being left out.

The book has a sequel but good news, there is no cliffhanger. Because of the disjointed chapters and the length of them (they are the never ending chapters so it's hard on the mind) I'm having trouble rating this book. The chasing is a taste of mine so I can't fault the author. I'll go with a 3.5 (rounded up to 4).

I'd recommend to people who would like to read about magic in a contemporary world.
Profile Image for Robert.
91 reviews3 followers
August 2, 2017
A copy of this book was provided by the author for the purpose of obtaining a review.

I have to say that I had a rough time with this book and almost didn’t make it through. Even then I can’t say I was particularly focused through the latter two thirds of the book. After getting through the first third my brain had gone numb so most of my remarks are directed toward the beginning.

That all sounds super harsh sounding, but I had an extremely hard time with Mr. Hughes’ writing style and prose. I, personally, felt it was wordy and rough so my brain was working overtime just trying to read what’s on the page. This could just be an individual thing because even when I stopped and really tried to analyze the word choice and sentence structure there wasn’t anything glaringly wrong. I’ve read far, far worse but I still found every page to be a struggle.

Through all this I thought Mark, the main character, was pretty flat. Especially at the beginning. Again, in the first third of the book I didn’t really have a feel for his character. Much of the points that were intended to give him depth felt fake. Like his weird animosity toward himself because his dad was a criminal, or his desire to be an artist or become a cop. It was like reading his resume and then finding out it had little or no connection to him as a person. Later in the book he’s built up some history with the reader so it’s not so bad.

As for the plot it’s probably, at least, 80% action. Sounds good on paper right? Sadly it was one of those “running, bad guy, run from bad guy, run into bad guy, breath, run to save friend, run from bad guy, get cornered, run away, breath, run some more, discover more danger, run from danger, run, run from running…….RUN!” I was exhausted and I was sitting on my couch the whole time. On top of that much of the internal dialog of the main character was in the form of questions or restating what had just happened. I found that so long as I paid extra attention to Mark’s thoughts nothing ever surprised me because he always seemed to be a half-step ahead of everything. On the flip-side the plot is pretty much spoon-fed to the reader. Additionally, some of the premise was highly suspect.

As for the magic, it was probably the best part. It didn’t knock my socks off, but it was decent. I may have enjoyed it better if some of the above issues weren’t so taxing.

So, in summary, my experience combined issues reading words, a dull main characters, artificially suspenseful plot, iffy premise and a decent magic system. While I don’t intend to read more in this series, I do intend to check back on this author once he’s got some more experience.

For more reviews, check us out at ReadingOverTheShoulder.com
Profile Image for Cath.
950 reviews17 followers
April 10, 2019
Mark and Angie have been best friends from early childhood. Her father used to be a policeman until something happened and a massive gang war started some ten years before and somehow a lot of people believe her father had something to do with it. Her mother Kate left and had a son James, but has kept away from her father Dennard and her. She has worked hard and is about to leave town and study to be a pilot, her dream job. Her father now works for the parks department and tries to keep the local parks safe from gangs, for people.

Mark has gone through a lot of different jobs and his main aim is trying to avoid the local gangs, who tried to recruit him when he was younger and are always trying to go through him to reach Angies’s dad. One day he sees her dad trying to destroy something rather than running to the park to help Angie. Mark goes across once he has gone and checks what he was trying to burn and finds an old satchel with an old leather belt and a couple of scraps.

Angie’s mother turns up at the hospital and tries to take the bag from mark and a tussle occurs on the roof and she leaves it with him but with a cryptic warning. Mark uses the belt and finds that he can soar into the air! After more practice, he can go up and down as he wants, but it drains of energy quickly. It also seems to be very addictive and he can feel a pull to use it more and more. He and Angie find out there was a reason why her dad was trying to destroy it and why her mother wanted them to have nothing to do with it.

Bring in another couple of people with powers of a different kind and there is danger from one and possible help from another and the pressure of the gangs being manipulated by someone, danger is all around. These others with such different magical skills are called Spellkeepers and one of them wants the power of flying that Mark possesses. Angie’s family knew the secret, but hadn’t used it for over a decade, knowing what happened to her grandparents.

The story for me was a bit slow in getting going and while there is definitely lots of action spread throughout the story, it just didn’t keep my attention throughout. I read a wide variety of genres and this just had a little bit too much of all the sameness. Mark being chased on his bike, on foot, him trying to fly through the sky to chase an unknown foe, chases…chases… chases…. You don’t get to really find out where the belt and its power comes from and not much of a background on Angie’s family. It was ok, but not a really enthralling read, you definitely have to work on it, to get all the way through. I received an ARC copy of this book from Hidden Gems and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
Profile Image for Donadee's Corner.
2,649 reviews63 followers
July 4, 2017
The High Road by Ken Hughes Review 7/3/17
The sky was never the limit.

Enter a world of gangs, vigilantes, and magic that's powerful enough to kill. Mark has never been the survivor his friend Angie is, but when he rescues a mysterious belt from the flames, it's a decision that changes his life for good. As the two tap into the secret of gravity-controlling magic, they realize the reason Angie's family tried to destroy the belt. Flying comes at a cost, to their lives and their sanity. Fighting back against a street gang with a vendetta, Mark begins to sense that death waits around every turn. Soon he and Angie come face-to-face with the true danger: hidden masters of other magical forces. The keepers of power want the secret of flying, and they'll destroy anyone who gets in their way.

What did I like? I loved the friendship between Mark and Angie, it was so sweet and he was totally devoted to her. This was really a great take on the fantasy and I liked the way that it combined both the fantasy and science to work out how it could be tapped into and make it work for them. The action was on going and kept me reading till I would just have to put it down to get anything done. I loved the Dresden Files and this was a close second to them.

What will you like? Hair raising action, intrigue, mystery galore, poignant, a little romance, lots of humor and a touching devotion. Characters that are interesting, strong development in the storyline with riveting action, hair raising descriptions and not boring by any stretch of the imagination. Really what more could you ask for in a book, oh and it was really great! This is book one so there is more to come. I received this from the author for an honest review with no other compensation.

Profile Image for Karen Voitik.
3,219 reviews
November 7, 2017
>Book Review - The High Road

>This book is the 1st in the Spellkeeper Flight series and ends with a cliffhanger. Angie and Mark are friends hiding from rival gangs out to hurt them. The reasoning behind the gang's actions are unclear. In the past, Angie's dad did something to start a gang war and ever since the gangs are out for Angie, her dad and Mark. The plot really feels off. Add in a magic belt that causes flight, but will cause you to go crazy and the plot gets confusing.

>This book is a young adult book until Angie and Mark sleep together. That scene didn't fit in the style of the story. Angie and Mark could be attracted to each other, but the sex scene was barely described causing a poorly written adult scene or an accidental scene for a young adult book.

>There is tons of action and characters on the book, usually a good thing. In this case main characters are destroyed and too many secondary characters are added. The flight fights are exciting once, but appear way too often, causing them to be redundant.

>I am a reviewer for Romance Authors that Rock. This book is appropriate for a young adult audience, maybe. I am giving this book 3 stars. Too much of the same action made the story tiring.
357 reviews2 followers
September 20, 2017
This was not what I expected. The setting is almost a present day dystopia - it feels like it takes place in one of our inner cities, but maybe even worse, and with a vaguely futuristic feel. The magic starts on the edge of the story at first, and gets pulled in a little later.

Two dislikes; the magic is less of a system and more of a random ability. Most people don't know it exists; those who have it don't really understand it. Exposing us gradually to something that actually has logic behind it is one thing; I'm not sure what is behind this.

The other is that I felt vaguely disoriented through much of the book. Just a sense that things didn't quite add up, or there were discontinuities in people's timelines / locations that weren't quite right.

However, after a somewhat slow start, I got into it, read it cover to cover, and enjoyed it. The characters were good, the action was fast paced, and I wanted more. That comes to the biggest problem - the ending leaves a bit too much hanging, given that there are clearly sequels intended. But I suppose wanting more is a good sign at least.
Profile Image for Book Wyvern.
558 reviews7 followers
January 9, 2018
I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

Ok, this was a DNF for me. I was reading it, was determined to get through it even though I started to feel like I was forcing myself to continue and then Hurricane Harvey hit Houston.

Now, I don’t live in Houston but I live about half an hour to an hour from there so my town was affected by the worst flooding we’ve seen since 1994. So instead of reading, I was more focused on keeping the flood waters out of the house and trying to find ways to get back to work.

After all that, I just couldn’t find the energy to pick it back up. The writing just seemed a bit monotone and abrupt at the same time. I would have to backtrack a couple of times when the girl would just sort of show up of no where. That also showed me that I was skimming mostly.

I was under the impression that flying was a talent they had but then it took a while before the flying even came up. I’m sure it would have explained later on in the book about the flying and everything but it’s not really grabbing my interest anymore and I just don’t have the energy to go on with it.

Thank you for reading my review.

-Sam
Profile Image for Jennifer Norton.
15 reviews2 followers
July 20, 2018
This urban fantasy was high action and really interesting to read. The main characters are a couple of teenagers that have grown up together. They discover a mysterious, magical belt that enables the user to defy gravity. It also has a dangerous influence. They have to outrun street gangs out for revenge as well as fight those who will kill to obtain this magic. There are lots of chase scenes!

I liked the friendship and loyalty between the two teenagers. Mark loves Angie, and is willing to go to any lengths to protect her. Angie has a strong personality of her own, and I appreciate that.

I've read a lot of different kinds of fantasy, and yet there were plot twists that I did not see coming. Some really excellent writing, that was vivid and creative. I particularly enjoyed the magical scenes. I was impressed that the author was able to write about magic so well, even when there was nothing tangible to describe. I think this book is a great start to a series! I want to find out what happens next. I can imagine that fans of Stephen King and Jim Butcher would probably enjoy this novel.
Profile Image for Monica.
2,079 reviews
June 19, 2017
I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book.

This is a new author for me and its also a new side of UF than I am used to. Its different and very well written. The characters are very engaging and adds science to what we experience. This keeps you on your toes the whole journey. Touches on the misuse of magic and its ramifications.

I found Mark and Angie have been friends since kids. The streets are full of gangs and danger at every turn and they seem to have a vendetta against them. I'll not give much away but I recommend the read if you want a different take of UF that will keep you engaged all the way! This is the 1st book of 3 so its not over.
877 reviews25 followers
November 24, 2018
I received this book as an ARC from the author. I enjoyed the story sort of. The story line was interesting and the characters themselves were entriguing. However, this story is way too long and complicated. There are an unbelievable amount of typos as well. It took me longer than usual to read it simply because of the constant changes in the story. I would recommend this book to those of you who enjoy the more complicated story within the story. Also it will be a great read for any of those who enjoy paranormal activity. I appreciate the author for giving me the opportunity to read his book.
Profile Image for The Mysterious Reader.
3,589 reviews66 followers
April 12, 2019
The High Road (Spellkeeper Flight, #1) is a well written, fun, “street-level” urban fantasy. The young leads, Angie and Mark, are well crafted, the plot moves at a fast and exciting pace while still leaving room for a nicely complex story line. All in all lots of fun. But for the fact that I’m literally dictating this review to my husband from my hospital bed I could go on and on with praises. The book definitely deserves it. Since I can’t do that I will simply note that the book is most definitely one to read, and it is easy to highly recommend. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in this series.
Profile Image for Michael Mardel.
Author 16 books10 followers
August 27, 2017
The high road by Hughes. I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it. I found this story full of conflict with no let up. It's a magical story with good and bad warring away. I was left with no satisfactory interlude, just the magic.
678 reviews11 followers
December 2, 2020
This book encompasses Thriller Mystery and Fantasy. It is a very good read that keeps your attention. To get the best from this one you need to read it carefully as it is deserves.
Profile Image for Neely Powell.
Author 9 books38 followers
October 2, 2017
I love a person who can write with absolute abandon, letting his imagination take full reign in the story and do whatever he wants. That's exactly what Ken Hughes has done with "The High Road." Since we know it's the first in the Spellkeeper Flight series, that means there will be more magical, mystical stories with these wonderful characters. This book includes many things I love--lifelong friendships, urban settings, lots of magic, and villains that are truly evil. What's worse than running from a gang when you're only nine years old? That gang continuing their pursuit when you're a young adult. Urban gangs are frightening yet fascinating and Hughes has used this in a way that truly gives you shivers. Just remember, there's a promise of more to come, and you'll want to read these books took. I was offered a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews

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