Raw and twisty, The Road to Heaven takes you through hell to get to the promised land. Painfully human, we bear witness to what happens when people's longings crash into bright lights and dark alleys. Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson's prose reads like poetry, spare, yet laden with symbolism and meaning. A bright new star is shining among us . . . a brilliant debut.
Jane K. Cleland, author of Jane Austen's Lost Letters
A taut noir that introduces Patrick Bird, a rookie PI who is as self-destructive as he is effective. This edge-of-the-chair page-turner is full of suspense, evocative settings, and unforgettable characters trapped in a web full of secrets and lies.
Liv Spector, author of The Rich and the Dead
Witty and whip-smart, Stefanovich-Thomson dazzles his readers with fresh twists on every page. He dares you to keep up.
Nina Dunic, author of The Clarion
Having published Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson’s Black Orchid Novella Award–winning story, it’s a special delight to welcome his first novel. From the setting — a richly evoked Toronto in the sixties — to the cynical but committed narrative voice, to the dark family dynamics that complicate the search for a missing teen, The Road to Heaven will bring this terrific new talent to broader audiences. P.I. Patrick Bird is a character I hope to encounter again, and again.
Linda Landrigan, Editor, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine
The Road to Heaven is a compelling debut and a must read for fans of the hard-boiled genre. Stefanovich-Thomson masterfully recreates the seedier side of ’60s Toronto with pitch-perfect description in this intriguing mystery of a family in crisis. Conflicted PI Patrick Bird proves a sardonic narrator with anger issues and his own dark secrets, making him the unlikely hero tasked with finding the family's missing teenager. A beguiling and well-crafted mystery.
Brenda Chapman, author of the Stonechild and Rouleau and the Hunter and Tate mysteries
In this taut and stylish debut, Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson plunges the reader headlong into a Toronto period piece affectionately stage lit by noir. The opening scene’s flashbulb pop exposes the loneliness and corrosive underbelly of a thickly peopled mystery. PI Patrick Bird’s dogged pursuit of a missing persons case is captured with a wry awareness of a gaping postwar generational divide and a pitiless eye for intimate affairs.
Andrew Steinmetz, author of Because
A riveting, fast-paced mystery, with aspects of noir and historical fiction thrown in for good measure. Patrick Bird is a young, cynical detective hired by a secretive rich man to track down his missing teenage daughter, Abbie. This seemingly simple plot takes place in a fascinating setting (Toronto, Ontario, mid-1965). At the time, Toronto was rapidly expanding, and youth culture was starting to challenge pious norms in a notoriously uptight city. Did Abbie run away to join the counterculture or is something more sinister afoot? Detective Bird keeps on the case, in a well-written book with multiple plot pivots that keeps everyone guessing until the end. I hope to read more books featuring Detective Bird’s adventures in Toronto-the-not-so-Good.
Nate Hendley, author of Atrocity on the Atlantic and The Beatle Bandit
Raw and twisty, The Road to Heaven takes you through hell to get to the promised land. Painfully human, we bear witness to what happens when people's longings crash into bright lights and dark alleys. Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson's prose reads like poetry, spare, yet laden with symbolism and meaning. A bright new star is shining among us . . . a brilliant debut.
Jane K. Cleland, author of the Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries
The compressed time frame adds a propulsive element to the narrative and the author is adept at deploying plot turns at appropriate and surprising intervals, lending the story a vibrancy that keeps the reader plowing forward relentlessly.
Toronto Star
Patrick Bird has had a difficult life, made more difficult by the massive chip on his shoulder and the way he upsets people with his impudence and smart mouth. But things start looking up when he lands a gig as a PI. He's pleased when his boss presents him with a challenging case: to find Abbie, the missing teenage daughter of wealthy local businessman Trent Linklater. But it’s not just that Abbie is missing; it’s the reason she’s missing that makes the case so difficult. Abbie was looking into her mom's fatal shooting during a bank robbery 14 years ago, which left Abbie and her twin, Nelson, orphaned. Her dad then married the kids’ nanny, and the relationship between Abbie, Nelson, and their stepmom has been rocky, to say the least. But the more Patrick investigates, the more baffling the case becomes. The truth he eventually discovers is a shocking tale of family tensions, promiscuity, callous ambition, greed, and deadly revenge that leaves Patrick unsettled and dissatisfied. Set in Toronto in the 1960s, this twisty noir thriller will appeal to fans of Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy.
Booklist
The Road to Heaven is a compelling debut and a must read for fans of the hard-boiled genre. Stefanovich-Thomson masterfully recreates the seedier side of ’60s Toronto with pitch-perfect description in this intriguing mystery of a family in crisis. Conflicted PI Patrick Bird proves a sardonic narrator with anger issues and his own dark secrets, making him the unlikely hero tasked with finding the family's missing teenager. A beguiling and well-crafted mystery.
Brenda Chapman, author of the Stonechild and Rouleau and the Hunter and Tate mysteries