The Spirit Phone
Description
Aleister Crowley and Nikola Tesla confront the enigma of Thomas Edison's new invention: a phone to communicate with the dead.
It is August 1899 and Aleister Crowley is psychically attacked while mountain climbing in Tibet. Attempting to teleport back to his base camp, he instead finds himself in the Manhattan home of inventor Nikola Tesla. Crowley is convinced he was attacked by a malevolent entity that is attempting to cross over into our world and implores Tesla to help him.
When Thomas Edison unveils his new spirit phone, an invention that he claims will allow people to speak with the dead, Crowley and Tesla are suspicious of the device. Teaming up, the unlikely duo combine their respective skills in magick and technology to investigate the device’s actual origin and ultimate purpose.
As insanity and suicide multiply among spirit phone users, newspaper articles begin hinting about the possibility of the increase being linked to the new gadget, and the race is on to solve the mystery of the strange device.
Crowley and Tesla soon find themselves embroiled in a desperate race to stop the spirit phone's use by an unknown adversary who is only interested in one thing—inaugurating hell on earth.
Author
Arthur Shattuck O'Keefe
Series
N/A
Pricing
Hardcover
Softcover
Ebook
Audiobook
ISBN Numbers:
Hardcover: 978-1-64397-322-7
Softcover: 978-1-64397-323-4
Ebook: 978-1-64397-324-1
LCCN: 2021944528
Page Count: 300
Release Date: 11/15/2022
$28.00
$16.95
$7.99
$24.95
Category
Fiction | Dark Fantasy | Historical
Book Information
Copyright © 2023 BHC Press. All Rights Reserved.
Arthur Shattuck O'Keefe
Meet the Author
TM
CONNECT WITH US
Hardcover, Softcover, Ebook, Audiobook
Hardcover, Softcover, Ebook
Hardcover, Softcover, Ebook
Hardcover, Softcover
Purchase Links
Formats Available: Hardcover, Softcover, Ebook, Audiobook
Ebook
Ebook, Audiobook
Hardcover, Softcover
Hardcover, Softcover, Ebook
Ebook
Praise
“The Spirit Phone is a surreal time-warp of a story involving historical personages like Nikola Tesla, Thomas A. Edison, and Aleister Crowley in an imaginative debut novel by Arthur Shattuck O'Keefe, who marionettes his dramatis personae of famous characters with page-turning ease. Startlingly original and strangely engrossing, I kept thinking this is E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime on psychedelics. We are no doubt witness to a new talent in the speculative fiction genre, a writer who has a deep understanding of historical figures and events and knows the true meaning of creative fiction.”
—Rex Pickett, author of Sideways
“This is a strong first novel and gripping read, with a neatly crafted plot that seamlessly blends weird technology and supernatural events. It’s well set up for both further adventures and a potential film adaptation. Watch this space!”
—Matthew Allen, screenwriter for the producers of such films as Terminator 2: Judgement Day, The Boondock Saints, and The Equalizer
“Thomas Edison once tried to invent an electrical device to communicate with the dead. In a freewheeling extrapolation from this fact, O’Keefe has conjured a fantastical and fascinating alternate history involving not only Edison, but Aleister Crowley, Nikola Tesla, Edgar Cayce, alchemist John Dee, architect Stanford White, and more. In this novel you will encounter mystery, suspense, adventure, whimsy, science, occultism, and teleportation through time and space, all in a very entertaining mix. I highly recommend The Spirit Phone for anyone who seeks a lively and intelligent read.”
—Bruce Boston, four-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of
Dark Matters and The Guardener’s Tale
“From the first page, O’Keefe hooks the reader with one hand and teleports them from Tibet to New York, to the astral plane and back, his speculative historical tale oscillating between turn of the century science and mysticism, all with the deft touch of a skilled alchemist.”
—Ben Adams, author of Relativity
“The Spirit Phone is an intellectual thrill ride. With relentless pacing and a once-in-a-generation premise, O'Keefe, through impeccable research, has brought Nikola Tesla and Aleister Crowley back to life just in time to battle a terrifying multi-dimensional entity. One read and you'll wonder, as Edison did: ‘Do we exist beyond the grave?’”
—Patrick Parr, author of The Seminarian: Martin Luther King Jr. Comes of Age
“Thomas Alva Edison creates a phone to communicate with the dead. Someone answers, but who or what is it? Meanwhile, the earth is under attack: Inventor Nikola Tesla and occultist Aleister Crowley join forces to confront demons, time-travel, and mysterious adversaries with identical esoteric tattoos on their arses, all to save the world from a supernatural assault spearheaded by a megalomaniac utopian. This is a meeting of steampunk with 19th century esoterica, science with the occult. Prepare to be unsettled, challenged, and entertained.”
—P.C. Hodgell, author of The God Stalker Chronicles
and The Chronicles of Kencyrath
“For fans of alternative historical fiction, The Spirit Phone delivers. What a wild, entertaining romp, following Tesla, Edison, and Crowley through space and time. This tale unfolds with demonic glee.”
—Richard Thomas, author of Spontaneous Human Combustion,
and Bram Stoker / Shirley Jackson nominee
“The Spirit Phone succeeds page by page, especially in the compelling interactions of two Victorian era geniuses, one of science and one of the occult. With relentlessly engaging dialogue and fantastic, gripping scenes, this book is a multifarious pleasure not to be missed.”
—Ryan Blacketter, author of Down in the River
“A twisted, twisty and novel take on science, the supernatural and modern history. Surprising, engaging, thought-provoking and fun.”
—Ian R. MacLeod, author of Red Snow and winner of the World Fantasy, Sidewise, Locus, John W. Campbell, and Arthur C. Clarke Awards
“A very cerebral historical scifi mystery that stylistically reminds me of Arthur Conan Doyle and should be interesting for fans of historical fiction, science fiction, and mystery…a fun adventure…”
—Kat O. NetGalley Reviewer
“an interesting take on the crime thriller genre with two very famous real life people heading the investigation…an intelligent whodunnit”
—Tanja F. NetGalley Reviewer
Hardcover, Softcover
“I liked The Spirit Phone a lot. It’s thrilling, engaging, entertaining, and a lot of fun to read…”
—LibraryThing Early Reviewers
“I absolutely love this book… It is witty and clever and original.”
—Janalyn P. NetGalley Reviewer
“O'Keefe’s debut novel certainly serves up a unique blend of elements…and the action is well paced. Perhaps most rewarding is his evocation of this time and place: new innovations were radically altering the fabric of everyday life, with modern technology like cars and electric lights commingled with horse-drawn carriages and gas lamps. It was a world made magical and strange, an ideal setting for such a strange tale.”
—Booklist
“A pretty fun tale of historical speculative fiction.”
—Mia D., NetGalley Reviewer
“The plot was exciting, the action almost nonstop…”
—Linda M., NetGalley Reviewer
“With his gripping, dreamlike debut novel The Spirit Phone, Arthur Shattuck O’Keefe establishes himself as an imaginative author of uncanny ability. Literary speculative fiction has long been overdue for a new writer to take a hammer to the form and make it better than it was. In creating a work that is part supernatural steampunk, part spellbinding alternate history, O’Keefe has done that and more.”
—David W. Brown, author of The Mission
“filled with twists that are impossible to predict…there is nothing to do but enjoy the ride. The Spirit Phone is an inventive novel that's moved by mysteries and magic.”
“The Spirit Phone is an enjoyable occult mystery with one foot in historic reality and the other in a preternatural apocalyptic whirlpool that keeps you spinning from one shocking revelation to the next at breakneck speed.”
“I love a good historical fantasy, and it hit all the marks.”
—Ed O., NetGalley Reviewer
“well-written and easy to read. The plot moves at a steady, even pace, offering a fabulous blend of historical fiction, intertwined with real-life personalities and locations…a great mix of supernatural, mystery and suspense.”
—Sarah Jackson, author of Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
“Such an innovative concept for historical fiction to be merged with sci-fi!, I don’t think I have ever read anything like it. Truly original.”
—The Lioness of Literacy
“I loved this book! It was such an interesting concept and plot.”
—Shania B., NetGalley Reviewer
“The unlikely but exciting investigative duo [of Tesla and Crowley] are the perfect pair to involve in this who-done-it horror. O’Keefe’s novel is a historical look at the invention of the time. Filled with twists and turns, this thriller finds itself at the intersection of the scientific and the arcane.”
“a fascinating horror novel, with magic and mystery included.”
—Susan M., NetGalley Reviewer
“surrender to the weirdness… There is fun to be had…”
—The Japan News
Audiobook
Book Information, Awards & Press
Awards
Nominee: 2023 Pushcart Prize
