The First Phone Call From Heaven
A Novel
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4.2 • 1.2K Ratings
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
From the beloved author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven comes his most thrilling and magical novel yet—a page-turning mystery and a meditation on the power of human connection.
One morning in the small town of Coldwater, Michigan, the phones start ringing. The voices say they are calling from heaven. Is it the greatest miracle ever? Or some cruel hoax? As news of these strange calls spreads, outsiders flock to Coldwater to be a part of it.
At the same time, a disgraced pilot named Sully Harding returns to Coldwater from prison to discover his hometown gripped by "miracle fever." Even his young son carries a toy phone, hoping to hear from his mother in heaven.
As the calls increase, and proof of an afterlife begins to surface, the town—and the world—transforms. Only Sully, convinced there is nothing beyond this sad life, digs into the phenomenon, determined to disprove it for his child and his own broken heart.
Moving seamlessly between the invention of the telephone in 1876 and a world obsessed with the next level of communication, Mitch Albom takes readers on a breathtaking ride of frenzied hope.
The First Phone Call from Heaven is Albom at his best—a virtuosic story of love, history, and belief.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
With his charming and spiritual novel The First Phone Call from Heaven, Mitch Albom combines inspirational writing with a touch of mystery. Residents of a small Michigan town start to receive phone calls from people in the afterlife. Single father Sully—who’s recently returned from prison and is mourning his wife’s passing while trying to raise his young son—tries to piece together exactly what’s going on. Albom’s emotionally resonant story focuses on Sully’s personal growth and also tells his friends’ and neighbors’ stories. It’s no wonder this compelling yarn about grief and hope became a massive bestseller—who wouldn’t want to hear from a lost loved one?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Albom (The Five People You Meet in Heaven) has a nose for "thin places": places where the boundary between secular and sacred is porous, and ultimate meaning is easier to encounter. In his new novel, Coldwater, Mich., is this thin place, a town where people who have lost loved ones begin receiving phone calls from the dead in heaven. Sully Harding's wife died while he was in prison, and their young son, Jules, hopes his mom will call, even while Sully smells a hoax. Albom weaves a thread of satire into a narrative braided from the lives of smalltown residents; Coldwater becomes a media hotspot as well as battleground for religious and antireligious zealots, all awaiting the revelation they expect. A historical thread popping into the narrative like a change-up in baseball deals with Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone and how the instrument came to be the premier human connector. This brisk, page-turner of a story climaxes at Christmas. Another winner from Albom; this book just about shouts "Give me for a holiday gift."
Customer Reviews
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It was ... Okay
I loved a couple of his books, his early stuff, but maybe the magic is gone? Timekeeper was too contrived, and sadly, so is this book. It was predictable and pedantic, while it had the capability to be so much more. I'll eagerly await his next book hoping the magic of Tuesdays and One Moe Day will return.
Hope and Grace
Another inspiring book by Mitch Albom. As it states in the beginning “if you believe….” This book is full of hope and grace. An easy enjoyable read!!