There's a lot of historical detail in The Spirit Phone, but it does little to advance the story or develop the characters and seems there mostly to show off O'Keefe's research. And all of the characters sound the same: a Serbian inventor, a British occultist, and a New York City cop should not have the same speech patterns.

So, an interesting premise but not a well written book.

Aleister Crowley, is mysteriously transported to Nikola Tesla's hotel room. Together, they try to figure out Crowley's unexpected visit's purpose, which leads to a crazy journey. The unusual duo, with the help of two detectives, must solve a murder, look into Thomas Edison's claims to have created a "spirit phone," and stop the invasion of the world by extraterrestrial life. This is a true, traditional lads' adventure story. The narrative is clear and well-written. The plot advances at a smooth, equal pace while combining historical fiction with real-life characters and settings. It is a fantastic blending of the paranormal, mystery, and suspense. I had a great time reading this book and found it to be both amusing and interesting. I anticipate reading more from this author in the future

This book feels like it could be a movie or Netflix show. It was full of really well-developed characterizations of historical figures... from Tesla, John Dee, Aleister Crowley, Bell. All innovators and imaginative thinkers from one of our golden ages of invention and exploration. I thought it was super fun and it does this thing that so many authors try and fail at, which is to bring together real facts and rearrange them into a fantasy history that still makes sense. It was excellent work and I look forward to more from O'Keefe.

Well this was a quick DNF for me. I could not get into this or even bother trying to read it. I know this book was not for me. ( )

I received a free copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“The Spirit Phone” by Arther Shattuck O’Keefe is a great Autumn read. I am so happy that I could sit down and enjoy it around Halloween.

I love a good historical fantasy, and it hit all the marks. The story involves some more obscure aspects of history that make you have to go online to see if it actually happened. I found that O’Keefe’s use of real historical characters was how well handled and true to the spirit of the actual person even if they were in fictional situations.

Definitely worth a read, especially if you like history and want to dive into the occult. ( )