E616 - Michael Conte - Route 80 is an honest journey through family, identity, and the cost of loyalty

EPISODE 616 - Michael Conte - Route 80 is an honest journey through family, identity, and the cost of loyalty

Michael was raised in Queens, caught between the disciplined life his mother offered and the legacy of his father—a man whose world revolved around loyalty, respect, and danger. From lavish weddings that erupt into brawls to road trips that end behind prison walls, Michael’s story unfolds in sharp, cinematic flashes—equal parts grit, glamour, humor, and heartbreak.

When his father is found dead in a prison cell, a final road trip to claim the body becomes more than a farewell—it’s a reckoning. Memories flood in, forcing Michael to confront the pull of the past and the choices that shaped him.

​Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by.
And that has made all the difference

Raw, fast-paced, and laced with dark humor, Route 80 is an honest journey through family, identity, and the cost of loyalty. It's a story about breaking cycles, choosing your own path and realizing that some roads, once taken, change you forever.

Buckle up. This ride doesn't come with brakes.
Book: Route 80 by Michael Conte is an action-packed ride that takes readers on a journey through the high-stakes, adrenaline-fueled world of a young man torn between two destinies—one of honor and stability, the other of power and peril.

Raised in Queens, Michael straddles two vastly different paths: his mother’s unwavering moral compass and his father’s intoxicating life, where loyalty is everything and danger lurks behind every handshake. From a picture-perfect Italian wedding that spirals into a parking lot brawl to familiar road trips to prison, the story unravels in a series of cinematic moments—glamour, violence, humor, and heartbreak.

The real turning point comes when a single phone call shatters his world. His father, imprisoned for years, is found dead in his cell. As Michael embarks on one final journey to claim his body, memories of a life spent teetering between two worlds come rushing back. Through razor-sharp storytelling, raw emotion, and true Italian flair, Route 80 explores the cost of loyalty, the weight of legacy, and the road not taken.

This is a story of survival, of choosing one's own fate, and of breaking free from the gravitational pull of the past. But in the end, can you ever truly escape where you came from?

https://www.michaelconteauthor.com/