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The House On Utopia Way
“Crackling with energy, wit and pathos, The House on Utopia Way is a wildly imaginative ride and one of the best cyberpunk books I've read in years” - Stark Holborn, author of Nunslinger and The Factus Sequence
~
A dame walks into a detective’s office and asks him to find a missing girl. A familiar setup. You might have seen it before.Or maybe not. Because this detective is woken every morning by a talking magpie, and the reflection he sees in the mirror doesn’t belong to him. And before he can start looking for this girl, he needs to find out if she ever existed in the first place.
Welcome to the nameless city, a fractured metropolis where geography is malleable and reality is relative. Where consensus is a memory, and memory is the least reliable currency around.
And wandering these shifting streets, Johnny Orange. A ‘sort-of detective’, trying to uncover the truth in a world where the concept no longer applies…
"Noir is a genre where people often find their reality coming apart at the seams, but Stefan Mohamed takes that conceit to dizzyingly literal levels" - Chris Farnell
"An elegantly written and thought provoking read that mixes the fantastically absurd with the sharply observational" - The Fantasy Hive
"A weird cabinet of wonders ... readers who appreciate stellar writing and inventive world-building won’t want to miss this book" - Books, Bones & Buffy
"A subversive take on the noir genre that will delight any reader that wants a novel that will stay with you even after the ending" - JamReads
~
A dame walks into a detective’s office and asks him to find a missing girl. A familiar setup. You might have seen it before.Or maybe not. Because this detective is woken every morning by a talking magpie, and the reflection he sees in the mirror doesn’t belong to him. And before he can start looking for this girl, he needs to find out if she ever existed in the first place.
Welcome to the nameless city, a fractured metropolis where geography is malleable and reality is relative. Where consensus is a memory, and memory is the least reliable currency around.
And wandering these shifting streets, Johnny Orange. A ‘sort-of detective’, trying to uncover the truth in a world where the concept no longer applies…
"Noir is a genre where people often find their reality coming apart at the seams, but Stefan Mohamed takes that conceit to dizzyingly literal levels" - Chris Farnell
"An elegantly written and thought provoking read that mixes the fantastically absurd with the sharply observational" - The Fantasy Hive
"A weird cabinet of wonders ... readers who appreciate stellar writing and inventive world-building won’t want to miss this book" - Books, Bones & Buffy
"A subversive take on the noir genre that will delight any reader that wants a novel that will stay with you even after the ending" - JamReads
381 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 25, 2025
About the author
Stefan Mohamed
13 books20 followersStefan Mohamed graduated from Kingston University’s creative writing programme with a first class degree and the creative writing prize for his year.
He went on to win the unpublished writer’s category of the Dylan Thomas Prize for his coming of age superhero crossover novel, Bitter Sixteen, which feature probably the world's coolest superhero sidekick – a talking beagle (and die-hard Bogart fan) called Daryl.
Stefan’s debut novella Stuff was published on the Modern Dreams e-book list by Salt Publishing in November 2014. His debut full length novel Bitter Sixteen will be published by Salt in the Spring of 2015, with sequels Ace of Spiders and Stanly’s Ghost following at yearly intervals.
Bristol-based Stefan is a self-confessed SF/F junkie and festival-head and writes on geekery and music for various websites including Den of Geek. He is on Twitter - @stefmowords - and also performs poetry, which you can catch on his Youtube channel, Stefmotube, as well as on his Facebook page.
He went on to win the unpublished writer’s category of the Dylan Thomas Prize for his coming of age superhero crossover novel, Bitter Sixteen, which feature probably the world's coolest superhero sidekick – a talking beagle (and die-hard Bogart fan) called Daryl.
Stefan’s debut novella Stuff was published on the Modern Dreams e-book list by Salt Publishing in November 2014. His debut full length novel Bitter Sixteen will be published by Salt in the Spring of 2015, with sequels Ace of Spiders and Stanly’s Ghost following at yearly intervals.
Bristol-based Stefan is a self-confessed SF/F junkie and festival-head and writes on geekery and music for various websites including Den of Geek. He is on Twitter - @stefmowords - and also performs poetry, which you can catch on his Youtube channel, Stefmotube, as well as on his Facebook page.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 23, 2025
Review originally on JamReads
The House on Utopia Way is a novel written by Stefan Mohamed, blending together surrealism and neo-noir, enveloped in a case of urban fantasy. A setting where buildings shift and memories fade, a city whose quarters are more like independent patches just put together, and in the middle, a detective, Johnny Orange, that is different, as he seems to be one of the few people that can deal with truths and certainty, in a plot that plays to its strengths to take the reader into a memorable journey.
A novel that starts with a subversion of a classic noir trope with a pinch of humour, setting the surrealism we can expect on the novel: a dame entering in a detective office, asking him to investigate a disappearing; however, due to the changing nature of this city, Johnny will need to first discover if this person ever existed. This marks the start of an adventure that also includes several sub-quests across the city, that like in a RPG will bring valuable perks to Johnny; a plot that grows from a simple investigation over a disappearing to even try to defy the nature of the city, with several actors involved, taking us into a literal journey all narrated through the eyes of an unreliable main character such as Johnny.
I don't think there's another way to describe the characters as intriguing and picturesque in a certain way; from the own dame that hires Johnny, to the robot who has decided to pass the life with a human boyfriend, or even that own person that has disappeared. All of them constitute part of the rich and broken tapestry that the unnamed city represents, acting as pieces which help the narrative to pivot.
Mohamed takes a subversive approach to the narration, playing heavily with the figure of a reality whose limits are blurred, a fluid that adapts to the form it gets; all sprinkled with references and doses of humour that makes this a really enjoyable read. Don't get me wrong, it will feel confusing at moments, but that's part of why this novel is excellent; it's confusing by design, because that's the nature of the setting, adding an extra complexity layer to the labour of Johnny.
The pacing is well balanced, alternating slower parts with more action focused ones, following a scheme that allows you to recover the breath; the prose is tight, precise.
The House on Utopia Way is a difficult to define novel, but regardless of how you classify it, I can only say that is an excellent proposal, a subversive take on the noir genre that will delight any reader that wants a novel that will stay with you even after the ending. I'm really curious to see if we will return any time to the city, because I feel it is a setting that gives place to many stories, and Johnny's is just one of them!
The House on Utopia Way is a novel written by Stefan Mohamed, blending together surrealism and neo-noir, enveloped in a case of urban fantasy. A setting where buildings shift and memories fade, a city whose quarters are more like independent patches just put together, and in the middle, a detective, Johnny Orange, that is different, as he seems to be one of the few people that can deal with truths and certainty, in a plot that plays to its strengths to take the reader into a memorable journey.
A novel that starts with a subversion of a classic noir trope with a pinch of humour, setting the surrealism we can expect on the novel: a dame entering in a detective office, asking him to investigate a disappearing; however, due to the changing nature of this city, Johnny will need to first discover if this person ever existed. This marks the start of an adventure that also includes several sub-quests across the city, that like in a RPG will bring valuable perks to Johnny; a plot that grows from a simple investigation over a disappearing to even try to defy the nature of the city, with several actors involved, taking us into a literal journey all narrated through the eyes of an unreliable main character such as Johnny.
I don't think there's another way to describe the characters as intriguing and picturesque in a certain way; from the own dame that hires Johnny, to the robot who has decided to pass the life with a human boyfriend, or even that own person that has disappeared. All of them constitute part of the rich and broken tapestry that the unnamed city represents, acting as pieces which help the narrative to pivot.
Mohamed takes a subversive approach to the narration, playing heavily with the figure of a reality whose limits are blurred, a fluid that adapts to the form it gets; all sprinkled with references and doses of humour that makes this a really enjoyable read. Don't get me wrong, it will feel confusing at moments, but that's part of why this novel is excellent; it's confusing by design, because that's the nature of the setting, adding an extra complexity layer to the labour of Johnny.
The pacing is well balanced, alternating slower parts with more action focused ones, following a scheme that allows you to recover the breath; the prose is tight, precise.
The House on Utopia Way is a difficult to define novel, but regardless of how you classify it, I can only say that is an excellent proposal, a subversive take on the noir genre that will delight any reader that wants a novel that will stay with you even after the ending. I'm really curious to see if we will return any time to the city, because I feel it is a setting that gives place to many stories, and Johnny's is just one of them!
June 30, 2025
The nitty-gritty: The House on Utopia Way is a weird cabinet of wonders, set in a mind-bending, mystery-filled landscape.
“It was a drawn breath of a day, sky the colour of a computer error screen, low wind.”
The author told me this book was “too weird” for traditional publishing, but I read and review a lot of weird on this blog, so for me, it wasn’t too far out of the box. Stefan Mohamed is a very talented writer who deserves more attention, and I had a lot of fun with The House On Utopia Way. I did have a few issues, all of which could probably be cleared up with more editing, but overall this imaginative fantasy/sci-fi mash-up brings some unique elements to the table, along with a healthy dose of the aforementioned weird and the occasional WTF moment.
Johnny Orange is a detective, and his specialty is finding lost people. His cigarettes are delivered by a talking magpie named Sorrow. He lives in a broken city where goods can be purchased with joy or favors, and moving around the city can be dangerous and even deadly. When he looks in the mirror, he never sees his own face, but often he sees the face of a woman named Lucy, who he swears used to be his wife (even when his friends tell him she never existed). Life is…pretty normal, until a woman named Penelope Page walks into his office, asking him to find her missing friend Carly Rain. The problem is, no one has ever heard of Carly Rain, as Johnny is about to discover.
Johnny is also experiencing weird flashes and dreams of a life that may or may not be real. And when a robot couple ask him to find their missing son Arthur, the mystery deepens. What is the old country? How are Arthur’s and Carly’s disappearances linked? There’s a woman named Bloody Mary who might have all the answers, but it’s a dangerous journey to find her. And really, does Johnny even want to know the truth, which might change everything?
The House on Utopia Way has a sort of Alice in Wonderland vibe, with all sorts of wacky world-building elements, including a city that is constantly changing. A street that leads you to a certain building one day might change direction the next. And sometimes houses and buildings disappear altogether. Even Johnny, who is very familiar with the city streets and the “patches” (the various suburbs in the city) gets lost occasionally. On the first page we meet a talking magpie named Sorrow who not only brings Johnny his “strawberry” fix (cigarettes or flavored vape pens), but in exchange for food will deliver something even more valuable: information. The world is so weird and crazy that the reader starts to wonder whether the whole thing is real or not, and that’s exactly what Johnny sets out to prove, one way or the other.
There is a learning curve, though, since Mohamed dumps the reader head first into his story with no explanations at all. And while I was confused at first, I much prefer this style of storytelling to the dreaded info dump. And for a tale heavy on “weird,” I was surprised how grounded it felt, which is mostly due to Johnny. Johnny is relatable and smart, and while not your cliched world weary gumshoe type, his overall upbeat personality and curiosity made for an even more interesting main character. Despite the upheaval of the city and his unreliable memories, Johnny’s life is fairly normal: he has a job he’s good at, friends he can count on, and a mission. We also meet a handful of quirky side characters, including the aforementioned Carly; Arthur, a young robot who ran away from home and is in love with a boy named Toby; Octavia, a non binary bookshop employee who joins Johnny on his quest; and Misty, who is almost more driven than Johnny to uncover the truth. And Sorrow the magpie was one of my favorite characters, a smart-mouthed bird who seems to turn up just when Johnny needs him most. And speaking of Sorrow—whose lines I loved—the dialog is hysterically funny at times. Mohamed has a perfect sense of comedic timing, which made many of the interactions between the characters laugh-out-loud funny.
Lots of the tension comes from the unpredictability of the city and the people that Johnny meets along the way. Several shady groups are after him and trying to prevent him from uncovering too much, and these roadblocks added some excitement to the story.
Mohamed’s imagination is off the charts, and I loved all the descriptions of the different patches that make up the city. However, he does use the “kitchen sink” approach to world-building, meaning the story is stuffed full of quirky people and locations, making it almost too much to process. Nazis, robots, evil corporations and more populate the story at various times, and I have to admit it teetered on the brink of “goofy” at times.
I also thought the story was a bit long and could have used more editing. I wouldn’t call this a fast-paced story at all, which may be one reason it dragged in places. Still, I did love following Johnny’s journey and his drive to discover the truth, even if the ending was a bit vague and open ended.
Readers who appreciate stellar writing and inventive world-building won’t want to miss this book.
Big thanks to the author for providing a review copy.
“It was a drawn breath of a day, sky the colour of a computer error screen, low wind.”
The author told me this book was “too weird” for traditional publishing, but I read and review a lot of weird on this blog, so for me, it wasn’t too far out of the box. Stefan Mohamed is a very talented writer who deserves more attention, and I had a lot of fun with The House On Utopia Way. I did have a few issues, all of which could probably be cleared up with more editing, but overall this imaginative fantasy/sci-fi mash-up brings some unique elements to the table, along with a healthy dose of the aforementioned weird and the occasional WTF moment.
Johnny Orange is a detective, and his specialty is finding lost people. His cigarettes are delivered by a talking magpie named Sorrow. He lives in a broken city where goods can be purchased with joy or favors, and moving around the city can be dangerous and even deadly. When he looks in the mirror, he never sees his own face, but often he sees the face of a woman named Lucy, who he swears used to be his wife (even when his friends tell him she never existed). Life is…pretty normal, until a woman named Penelope Page walks into his office, asking him to find her missing friend Carly Rain. The problem is, no one has ever heard of Carly Rain, as Johnny is about to discover.
Johnny is also experiencing weird flashes and dreams of a life that may or may not be real. And when a robot couple ask him to find their missing son Arthur, the mystery deepens. What is the old country? How are Arthur’s and Carly’s disappearances linked? There’s a woman named Bloody Mary who might have all the answers, but it’s a dangerous journey to find her. And really, does Johnny even want to know the truth, which might change everything?
The House on Utopia Way has a sort of Alice in Wonderland vibe, with all sorts of wacky world-building elements, including a city that is constantly changing. A street that leads you to a certain building one day might change direction the next. And sometimes houses and buildings disappear altogether. Even Johnny, who is very familiar with the city streets and the “patches” (the various suburbs in the city) gets lost occasionally. On the first page we meet a talking magpie named Sorrow who not only brings Johnny his “strawberry” fix (cigarettes or flavored vape pens), but in exchange for food will deliver something even more valuable: information. The world is so weird and crazy that the reader starts to wonder whether the whole thing is real or not, and that’s exactly what Johnny sets out to prove, one way or the other.
There is a learning curve, though, since Mohamed dumps the reader head first into his story with no explanations at all. And while I was confused at first, I much prefer this style of storytelling to the dreaded info dump. And for a tale heavy on “weird,” I was surprised how grounded it felt, which is mostly due to Johnny. Johnny is relatable and smart, and while not your cliched world weary gumshoe type, his overall upbeat personality and curiosity made for an even more interesting main character. Despite the upheaval of the city and his unreliable memories, Johnny’s life is fairly normal: he has a job he’s good at, friends he can count on, and a mission. We also meet a handful of quirky side characters, including the aforementioned Carly; Arthur, a young robot who ran away from home and is in love with a boy named Toby; Octavia, a non binary bookshop employee who joins Johnny on his quest; and Misty, who is almost more driven than Johnny to uncover the truth. And Sorrow the magpie was one of my favorite characters, a smart-mouthed bird who seems to turn up just when Johnny needs him most. And speaking of Sorrow—whose lines I loved—the dialog is hysterically funny at times. Mohamed has a perfect sense of comedic timing, which made many of the interactions between the characters laugh-out-loud funny.
Lots of the tension comes from the unpredictability of the city and the people that Johnny meets along the way. Several shady groups are after him and trying to prevent him from uncovering too much, and these roadblocks added some excitement to the story.
Mohamed’s imagination is off the charts, and I loved all the descriptions of the different patches that make up the city. However, he does use the “kitchen sink” approach to world-building, meaning the story is stuffed full of quirky people and locations, making it almost too much to process. Nazis, robots, evil corporations and more populate the story at various times, and I have to admit it teetered on the brink of “goofy” at times.
I also thought the story was a bit long and could have used more editing. I wouldn’t call this a fast-paced story at all, which may be one reason it dragged in places. Still, I did love following Johnny’s journey and his drive to discover the truth, even if the ending was a bit vague and open ended.
Readers who appreciate stellar writing and inventive world-building won’t want to miss this book.
Big thanks to the author for providing a review copy.
September 13, 2025
If you can imagine a fun detective story set in the movie Dark City, you’re kind of 30% of the way there.
Very entertaining, great concept, but maybe a touch too long. I’d 100% be up for reading whatever comes next though!
Very entertaining, great concept, but maybe a touch too long. I’d 100% be up for reading whatever comes next though!
August 15, 2025
Wickedly inventive and entertaining. I have no doubt this novel was improved immensely by virtue of not being published via a 'traditional' publisher – the story veers and twists in wonderfully weird ways, indicating an author with a singular vision being allowed to have full control of the narrative. Highly recommended.
September 30, 2025
A smart, strange, uneasy detective thriller set in a fragmented and fragmenting world. For anyone who enjoys noir, science-fiction, and acerbic commentary on contemporary Britain. A tale full of well written characters and great storytelling.
July 21, 2025
Really impressive surreal and inventive bit the plot and world do have their own logic to discover and something to say about our own world
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
December 30, 2025
If you like 'sort of detectives', talking magpies and questioning reality itself, you'll love this.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews