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Finding Hope: The Highway of Tears
The Highway of Tears is real. Since 1969 there have been over 1,200 women reported missing in north-western Canada. 23 of those women disappeared along the stretch of Trans Canada Highway #16 that runs from Prince George to Prince Rupert, in British Columbia.
Finding Hope is the story of one woman who goes missing after leaving Jasper, on her way home to see her daughter in Stewart, B.C. She is well aware of the notorious Highway of Tears, and the serial killers who use the road as their hunting ground.
Retired Police Detective Norm Strom rides his motorcycle from Calgary to Hyder, Alaska, and meets Hope Lachance in Jasper before she is reported missing. For his own personal reasons, Strom reaches out to the RCMP, offering his help in Finding Hope.
Finding Hope is the story of one woman who goes missing after leaving Jasper, on her way home to see her daughter in Stewart, B.C. She is well aware of the notorious Highway of Tears, and the serial killers who use the road as their hunting ground.
Retired Police Detective Norm Strom rides his motorcycle from Calgary to Hyder, Alaska, and meets Hope Lachance in Jasper before she is reported missing. For his own personal reasons, Strom reaches out to the RCMP, offering his help in Finding Hope.
255 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 20, 2020
305 people want to read
About the author
Edmond Gagnon
18 books52 followersEdmond Gagnon is a retired Police Detective, having worked for the Windsor Police Service for over 31 years. Upon retiring he traveled the world compiling a fun collection of travel stories, then self-published his first book, "A Casual Traveler."
With a new passion for writing Ed created his Norm Strom Crime Fiction Series with with Rat, Bloody Friday, Torch, Finding Hope, Border City Chronicles, Trafficking Chen, Border City Chronicles - Four More, the Melaque Murder Club and Quicksand.
The sequel to Finding Hope, The Moon Mask, kicks off the new Abigail Brown Crime Series. It is followed by The Millionaire Murders.
Edmond Gagnon also wrote the paranormal thriller, Four.
All his stories are based on his own personal experiences..
Edmond Gagnon continues to write and travel, and resides in Windsor, Ontario with his wife, Cathryn.
With a new passion for writing Ed created his Norm Strom Crime Fiction Series with with Rat, Bloody Friday, Torch, Finding Hope, Border City Chronicles, Trafficking Chen, Border City Chronicles - Four More, the Melaque Murder Club and Quicksand.
The sequel to Finding Hope, The Moon Mask, kicks off the new Abigail Brown Crime Series. It is followed by The Millionaire Murders.
Edmond Gagnon also wrote the paranormal thriller, Four.
All his stories are based on his own personal experiences..
Edmond Gagnon continues to write and travel, and resides in Windsor, Ontario with his wife, Cathryn.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 27, 2016
Disclosure: I received an advance copy of “Finding Hope” by Edmond Gagnon. The comments that follow are my own personal opinion. I received NO compensation of any kind, or from any one, to provide this review.
Finding Hope, The Highway of Tears, is a fictional depiction of a true real-life horror story. Every year hundreds of young aboriginal girls go missing, never to be seen again. Highway #16 stretches through a remote area in northern BC, along the Alaska border. This isolated area swallows these young innocents. Their bodies turn up rarely, and the locals have given up hope of the police ever finding their children. This is a thought-provoking look at a major social crisis.
Ed Gagnon tells us the story of Hope, a young aboriginal mother, who fled an abusive husband, and landed in this remote country, hoping to protect herself and her daughter. On her way from her job in Jasper, to her home and daughter in Stewart BC, Hope goes missing. Her new friend, Norm, a retired detective, takes time from his planned motorcycle trip, to try to find her. Reaching out to the RCMP, he realizes for the first time, the enormous scope of the problem of missing women. Rather than becoming overwhelmed with the problem, he is determined to use his investigation experience to find his new friend.
Engrossing plot, engaging characters, and superb imagery make this a hard story to put down. This well-written and timely account of a truly heart-wrenching problem, is well worth the read.
Finding Hope, The Highway of Tears, is a fictional depiction of a true real-life horror story. Every year hundreds of young aboriginal girls go missing, never to be seen again. Highway #16 stretches through a remote area in northern BC, along the Alaska border. This isolated area swallows these young innocents. Their bodies turn up rarely, and the locals have given up hope of the police ever finding their children. This is a thought-provoking look at a major social crisis.
Ed Gagnon tells us the story of Hope, a young aboriginal mother, who fled an abusive husband, and landed in this remote country, hoping to protect herself and her daughter. On her way from her job in Jasper, to her home and daughter in Stewart BC, Hope goes missing. Her new friend, Norm, a retired detective, takes time from his planned motorcycle trip, to try to find her. Reaching out to the RCMP, he realizes for the first time, the enormous scope of the problem of missing women. Rather than becoming overwhelmed with the problem, he is determined to use his investigation experience to find his new friend.
Engrossing plot, engaging characters, and superb imagery make this a hard story to put down. This well-written and timely account of a truly heart-wrenching problem, is well worth the read.
June 21, 2019
A captivating and emotional mystery that have me hooked from the very first page. The author's experience as a police officer has definitely paid off in his writing. The details are believable, the characters are well-developed and the plot had enough twists and turns to keep me guessing. I'm looking forward to my next read from Edmond Gagnon.
August 27, 2016
This novel is based on abused and murdered women in British Columbia. Precisely route #16. Is full of violence and sex trade. Held my interest in trying to figure out one of the killers which I was able to do early on. Is a Norm Strom book by Edmond Gagnon. Norm is a retired police officer who gets caught up in th crimes as he meets one young woman who disappears. He helps the RCMP to find her and to solve some of the murders. Is a hard book in some parts as the language is crude andsome violence graphic. If into crime and resolve you will enjoy this book of fiction based on fact. Thanks to Goodreads.
August 24, 2016
Captivating story based on the circumstances which unfortunately continue to occur on the infamous Highway of Tears in Northern British Columbia. While reading this book, I found myself re-processing the events well after I had put the book down, and then I couldn’t wait to get back into it! Compassion for the victims, as well as trying to analyze the thoughts of an isolated bushman, topped off with a touch of romance, Finding Hope will not disappoint.
February 12, 2024
4.5 - Windsor, ON author- local read.
January 24, 2019
I really enjoyed this! It was an easy and fun read; loved the POV switches. It was funny; the mention of Windsor gave me a little thrill and the mystery was interesting. I couldn’t put it down. Plus anyone with a cool name like Norm Storm, you know he’s going to be the guy you want in your corner.
February 19, 2020
Finding hope is an amazing book! It brings to light the issue of the missing and murdered aboriginal women of Canada! It is frightening in the sense that we don't realize how big Canada really is and with the truck routes along the highway, how easy it is for anyone who is hitchhiking to go missing and never be seen again (don't hitchhike)! Edmond is an amazing author and i found it impossible to put this book down! I 100% recommend this book and encourage people to read it and to research the highway of tears on there own time as well! Keep up the great work Edmond I can't wait to read what your write next!
March 23, 2024
Another great Norm Strom adventure. Having just experienced the beautiful West Coast myself, I could easily see why Mr. Gagnon chose to send Norm to this spectacular setting. In contrast, the story resolved around humanity at its worst. The Highway of Tears can use a spotlight on it.
While some of Edmond's writing is clichéd and a few lines were cringe worthy, I very much enjoyed the story. I would, and will recommend this book to as many people as will let me.
I'm looking forward to the next one.
While some of Edmond's writing is clichéd and a few lines were cringe worthy, I very much enjoyed the story. I would, and will recommend this book to as many people as will let me.
I'm looking forward to the next one.
March 10, 2022
Not my favourite read - the narrator sounded like a Windsor Police officer; sadly with a big ego, chauvinistic and disrespectful to women. I kept reading only because this was a gift from my husband. I so wanted to know more about the Highway of Tears, only to read just how "good" the retired police officer was.
Typos, misspelled words (eg. dryer vs drier), poor sentence structure throughout - none of this endeared me to the story or author.
I could not wait for it to be finished.
Typos, misspelled words (eg. dryer vs drier), poor sentence structure throughout - none of this endeared me to the story or author.
I could not wait for it to be finished.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews