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Karl Cordes

Goodreads Author

Born

in Hinsdale, Illinois, The United States

Website

https://www.theroadtoathens.com

Genre

Fiction, Humor and Comedy, Romance

Member Since

January 2014

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Karl Cordes is an American author, former radio broadcaster, and business executive whose writing explores coming of age, first love, friendship, faith, forgiveness, and the choices that shape the people we become.

Raised in Western Springs, Illinois, Cordes graduated from Lyons Township High School in 1988. He attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale before transferring to Ohio University, where he earned a degree in communications in 1992. Those places—and the friendships, music, uncertainty, and freedom of college life in the late 1980s—would eventually help inspire the world of his debut novel, *The Road to Athens*.

Cordes began his professional career in radio, working as an on-air personality, sales professional, and manager Karl Cordes is an American author, former radio broadcaster, and business executive whose writing explores coming of age, first love, friendship, faith, forgiveness, and the choices that shape the people we become.

Raised in Western Springs, Illinois, Cordes graduated from Lyons Township High School in 1988. He attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale before transferring to Ohio University, where he earned a degree in communications in 1992. Those places—and the friendships, music, uncertainty, and freedom of college life in the late 1980s—would eventually help inspire the world of his debut novel, *The Road to Athens*.

Cordes began his professional career in radio, working as an on-air personality, sales professional, and manager at stations across Illinois, Ohio, Arkansas, and North Carolina\. Radio taught him how to listen to people, understand the power of a well\-told story, and find the emotion hidden inside everyday moments. He later built a successful career spanning more than two decades in digital marketing, enterprise technology, software sales, customer success, and business leadership\.

Published in 2026, *The Road to Athens* follows eighteen-year-old Ethan Brooks as he leaves suburban Chicago for college expecting freedom and adventure, only to discover how quickly one reckless decision can alter the course of a life\. Through Ethan’s journey, Cordes examines responsibility, heartbreak, family, privilege, redemption, and the difficult truth that forgiveness does not erase the past—but can make a different future possible.

Cordes writes with a deep affection for the world before cell phones and social media, when friendships developed face-to-face, long-distance telephone calls carried emotional weight, and a favorite song could become permanently connected to a person or place. His stories combine romance and nostalgia with an honest examination of human mistakes and second chances.

He lives in Naperville, Illinois, and is continuing the story of Ethan, Jessica, and their friends in *The Bricks of Athens*, the next novel in the series.

**Some roads take you away. Some roads bring you home.** ...more

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Karl Cordes's Blog

Welcome to The Road to Athens: A Story About Mistakes, Love, and Finding the Way Home

Welcome to The Road to Athens: A Story About Mistakes, Love, and Finding the Way Home

Every journey begins with a choice. Some choices lead us exactly where we hoped to go. Others send us down roads we never intended to travel.

I’m Karl Cordes, author of The Road to Athens, and I’m delighted to welcome you to my Goodreads blog.

The Road to Athens is a coming-of-age romantic drama set in 1988, when fr Read more of this blog post »

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Published on August 29, 2026 16:21 • Tags: 1980s, coming-of-age, fiction, friendship, romance-and-fait

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Karl Cordes’s books

Average rating: 4.50 · 25 ratings · 20 reviews · 3 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Road to Athens (The Road to Athens Series Book 1) 4.61 avg rating — 22 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Road to Athens (The Road to Athens Series) liked it 3.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Road to Athens (The Road to Athens Series) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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The Exchange (The Firm, #2)

by John Grisham (Goodreads Author)

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Karl Cordes rated a book it was amazing The Road to Athens (The Road to Athens Series Book 1) by Karl Cordes (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A journey through the realities of the first year of college. Bad choices, broken hearts, new friends, impossible timelines, and new love. Wrapped in second chances and God’s grace. Set in the fall of 1988 before cellphones and social media. If you k ...more
Nov 04, 2026 08:13PM · like · see review
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