Review: The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom

Summary
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 Mitch Albom at his best—a virtuosic story of love, history, and belief.

Review
Whenever someone loses a loved one, there always is that moment that your heart yearns for one more time to talk to them. Depending on if you believe in heaven, than that affirmation of being reunited is long anticipated. What would you do if one day the phone rang and you had that chance? That chance to talk again. Would you believe it? Could you believe it? In a book that embraces everything we love about Mitch Albom as a storyteller, The First Phone Call From Heaven, grabs the heart of the reader and leads them down an inspiring journey challenging the human spirit and uplifting the soul. 

In the town of Coldwater, Michigan, for some of the residents, one day who knew answering their phone would change their lives forever. Whether it was a miracle or a hoax, answering the phone hearing their dead loved one on the other end, left them speechless and unable to comprehend what appeared to be a miracle. Once the news spread of this divine phenomenon, people from all over began to come to try and witness it or in hopes inspire the same for their own lives. 

Not everyone was a believer. Sully Harding, fresh out of prison, came back to Coldwater trying to start his life again. Having to adjust from dealing with his jail term and losing his wife, all he wanted to do was return to some sort of normalcy. After hearing about the phone calls, and seeing how the town was so swept up by it, he was determined to find out what was going on. After the calls became more frequent and witnessing one day his son holding a phone hoping his mother would call him, it ignited a quest to invalidate what everyone believed was a miracle.  

Whether you are a believer or not, this is one of those stories that touches something inside of you. His words were so beautiful and the story just captivates your interest where it is impossible to put down. Your emotions get swept away with the book and each page you turn you are led by their hope and inspired by their faith. Their journey becomes yours if just for a moment, the belief in being reunited becomes tangible. There is a lesson that is greater than what the book is about that will be revealed along the way. This is definitely one that you should add to your list. You will not be disappointed. 

Reviewed by Michelle Bowles