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    The First Phone Call From Heaven: A Novel
    The First Phone Call From Heaven: A Novel
    The First Phone Call From Heaven: A Novel
    Audiobook7 hours

    The First Phone Call From Heaven: A Novel

    Written by Mitch Albom

    Narrated by Mitch Albom

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    About this audiobook

    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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateNov 12, 2013
    ISBN9780062305787
    Author

    Mitch Albom

    Mitch Albom is the author of numerous books of fiction and nonfiction, which have collectively sold more than forty million copies in forty-seven languages worldwide. He has written seven number-one New York Times bestsellers – including Tuesdays with Morrie, the bestselling memoir of all time, which topped the list for four straight years – award-winning TV films, stage plays, screenplays, a nationally syndicated newspaper column, and a musical. Through his work at the Detroit Free Press, he was inducted into both the National Sports Media Association and Michigan Sports halls of fame and is the recipient of the 2010 Red Smith Award for lifetime achievement. After bestselling memoir Finding Chika and “Human Touch,” the weekly serial written and published online in real-time to raise funds for pandemic relief, his latest work is a return to fiction with The Stranger in the Lifeboat (Harper, November 2021). He founded and oversees SAY Detroit, a consortium of nine different charitable operations in his hometown, including a nonprofit dessert shop and food product line to fund programs for Detroit’s most underserved citizens. He also operates an orphanage in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, which he visits monthly. He lives with his wife, Janine, in Michigan. Learn more at www.mitchalbom.com, www.saydetroit.org, and www.havefaithaiti.org.

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    Reviews for The First Phone Call From Heaven

    4/5

    466 ratings61 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Such a beautifully written book, with a very unexpected pleasant twist, worth listening while reading as well.
    • 5/5
      The plot was interesting with out being a bite your nails sort of story. I wanted something I could listen to while falling asleep. This was a perfect fit. Not boring and not over stimulating. I really enjoyed this book and the narration!
    • 4/5
      . I wasn't going to listen to this, I thought it would be silly. But its not. Its interesting, thought provoking, and nice. Just plain nice.
    • 4/5
      Unfortunately this audiobook file has a tilt... It goes from chapter 23 straight ahead to chapter 26... Over and over!! :(
    • 3/5
      I finished the book, easy to listen to but honestly there are better books out there. Can give it a miss unless you are a die hard Mitch fan.
    • 5/5
      A quick but interesting read. Makes one hopeful for the afterlife.
    • 5/5
      Everything couldn’t stop listening. It a beautiful story♥️ Thank You
    • 4/5
      The storyline for this book is one of wonder, beauty, and love. I have not experienced the pain of losing a closed loved one yet, but I know that I will. And to have the ability to be able to communicate with them would probably be similar if not exact to the characters in this book. To know at the end the twist of the book and how it can be looked at as villainous or even triumphant. I love this author and will continue to read anything he writes because every type of book he has written so far that I have read has been moving and inspiring.
    • 4/5
      I liked the idea behind and the story was quite nice.
    • 4/5
      I am enjoying this book, but it is rather slow, and redundant. The characters are interesting, as is the subject matter of phone calls from Heaven. It's a good read, but not as good as Mitch Albom's early books. I would recommend it though.
    • 4/5
      Great read, but if you're expecting it to be as good as "The 5 People You Meet in Heaven" or "For One More Day" then your going to be disappointed. I m not sure if he's ever going to be able to top those 2 books.
    • 4/5
      In small town Michigan, a woman receives a phone call from a dead relative. She isn’t the only one. Soon, we learn that about half a dozen Coldwater residents have gotten calls from heaven. The calls are short and the callers want people to know that death is nothing to fear, that the afterlife is wonderful, and that everyone needs to know about it. Some embrace this knowledge whole-heartedly, some are doubtful, some just want to get a good story out of it. Everyone in Coldwater has their life changed by these phone calls from heaven.Like most of Mitch Albom’s books, this is a short read, but it packs a whole lot in. We see just how quickly a media circus can grow out of this sort of thing, and how easily people are willing to take such reassuring knowledge at face value. Overall I enjoyed the book.
    • 4/5
      The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom
      383 pages

      ★★★ ½

      Description via Amazon: The First Phone Call from Heaven tells the story of a small town on Lake Michigan that gets worldwide attention when its citizens start receiving phone calls from the afterlife. Is it the greatest miracle ever or a massive hoax? Sully Harding, a grief-stricken single father, is determined to find out.

      I have never particularly seen myself as a religious or even spiritual person, yet I cannot help but to delve into a Mitch Albom book (author of other books such as Tuesdays with Morrie and Five People You Mean in Heaven), they just inspire and give hope. I could not wait to get his newest book, The First Phone Call From Heaven, and I gobbled up this 300 page book in just over 24 hours. Is it as good as some of his earlier books? No. I think Albom is great as his ability to say so much without saying so much, if that makes sense. He uses his ability of subtlety to let the reading infer the message and I’ve always appreciated that. This book is a bit more in your face, more action packed than any of his previous books. However, it’s still well written and as always, the ending brought a tear to my eye. I think it’s worth the read if you are Mitch Albom fan who has read his other stuff. If you are a first-time Mitch Albom reader, I’d start elsewhere.
    • 3/5
      A bit disappointed. It wasn't one of Albom's better novels.
    • 3/5
      Residents of Coldwater, a town on Lake Michigan, start receiving phone calls from deceased loved ones. Is this proof of the afterlife or an elaborate hoax? It is part spiritual musing, part history of the telephone (Alexander Graham Bell appears regularly), and part mystery.

      The setup and the first half of the book are well-structured. Albom highlights the main characters, those who have received calls, and their back stories. He brings his background as a journalist to bear in creating realistic media interviews and reactions. The second half is rather scattered and, to me, not as effective. There are a few surprises toward the end. It is intended, I think, to provide opportunities to contemplate faith, miracles, and life after death.
    • 4/5
      The people of Coldwater, Michigan are receiving phone calls from those who have passed on. Sully Harding, who lost his own wife in a terrible accident, is out to prove that this an elaborate hoax.
    • 5/5
      Great book for those who believe and who don't believe in Heaven.

      I was telling my husband the concept was a lot like the book I wrote while on vacation in San Diego a few years ago. He said it's okay that this one was published first because it will open doors for lesser known writers to follow on the same trend.

      I guess I need to think more marketing and sales and less concept and originality.

      Either way, it's definitely a book that will make you laugh and cry!
    • 5/5
      Again Albom reminds me why he's one of my favorite authors. Believers and non-believers and anyone in between, especially if you've lost a loved one and experienced a "sign," won't be able to put this story down. Cleverly interwoven with the historical invention of the telephone and today's mind-blowing technology, the story covers all angles of thought and deepest feeling. A fun read that gets my top hanky rating.
    • 4/5
      Another good story from Mitch. The story weaves a few threads together with a twist at the end. With our pre-occupation with our phones this story seem even more relevant. Worth a read.
    • 4/5
      Sully missed his wife’s funeral. He was imprisoned for crashing a Navy plane with a small amount of alcohol in his blood. The plane crash wasn’t his fault; neither was his wife’s death – she was killed in a car crash rushing to the site of the crashed plane. Oddly enough, the air traffic controller was also killed in the same car crash and the control tower recordings were destroyed.On the day Sully was released from prison, people in his small hometown started receiving telephone calls from heaven. They were definitely the voices of the departed. How could it be anything but a hoax? Yet, the departed answered questions and even let their voices be recorded.Sully is skeptical and vows to get to the bottom of the mystery.It’s a complicated plot with a surprise ending. Sentimental, impossible but oh if only!
    • 4/5
      I've read a lot of books over the years, but this one will always have a special place in my heart. My dad passed away when I was 19, and I've always regretted the fact that I didn't get the chance to tell him how much I love him before he died. This book explores the question - what would you say/do if you were given a chance to speak to a deceased loved one? The ending will surprise you, and perhaps, even give you goosebumps.
    • 5/5
      Another great book by Mitch Albom. I loved the whole story. I thought several times throughout it about my own life and if I would want a call from Heaven. I thought the ending was nicely done. It was a very good twist to me.
    • 4/5
      The day that Sullivan “Sully” Harding is released from prison, some people in Coldwater, Michigan began to get phone calls from heaven. The news reported that Sully had been responsible for the death of his wife, Giselle. She was the love of his life and mother to their young son. It was a last minute decision to cover for a sick co-worker and a chance to see his wife that made Sully agree to fly that day. Unfortunately, he knew the rules against drinking before flying a plane when he risked everything that day. He didn’t realize that his mistake would cause his wife’s death. There were a lot of rumors when Sully went to prison for causing the accident which killed his wife. When he is released from prison he returns to his hometown, Coldwater, where his parents have been caring for his son, Jules. That very day people start getting phone calls from heaven. Once word about the phone calls from heaven get around, Coldwater is never the same again.It doesn’t take long for the small town of Coldwater to become crowded with visitors who want to be apart of the miracle. The quiet town changes as the many guests and residents divide into groups who believe and those who feel the whole story is a scam. Sully was determined to uncover the mystery of the phone calls. “He would attack this phony heaven thing. Expose it as the fraud it had to be. He may have been imprisoned, he may have been disgraced, he may have been scraping by in a new lousy life, but he still had his brain. He still knew the difference between the truth and a lie. He would do for his son-and for others dealing with real loss-what had never been done for him. Get to the bottom of the story.”“It was the day the world received its first phone call from heaven. What happened next depends on how much you believe.”
    • 4/5
      Mitch Albom writes thought provoking books about life, death, faith and sprituality. This one did not disappoint. It will have you thinking about life after death and heaven. What do you believe?
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed this book. Give this book a try!
    • 4/5
      Everything you could hope it would be. Well done, again, Mr. Albom. Another tale that will stay with me for a long, long time.
    • 5/5
      Some days you simply need a feel good story. A story that will restore your faith in the universe. And that is the key to The First Phone Call From Heaven – Faith. An unexpected phone call is received by Tess Rafferty who happens to live in the small town of Coldwater, Michigan. It is from her deceased mother; and the call’s message brings much comfort to Tess. Shortly thereafter, a select few other residents of the town receive calls of their own from a deceased relative, friend, or business associate. Are these calls real? Can they be real? Is there truly a hot-line to heaven? As news of the calls spreads, the local police as well as all denominations of the local clergy find themselves thrust into the center of world-wide attention. On the other side of this miracle is Sullivan Harding. His story is one of despair and he tries to shield his young son from believing that his deceased mother will call him on a toy phone. Sullivan sets out to prove that this entire scenario is a hoax. But with the town becoming overrun with believers, news reporters, and protesters he has a tough time.This story is enchanting, humorous, serious, and believable. The characters are finely drawn and soon become old friends. Overall an easy read and an uplifting one. The story itself will have you second guessing the verity of the phone calls but the ending will have you believing that those on the ‘other side’ are listening, if not communicating. Mitch Albom fans are sure to love this story as will readers of Nicholas Sparks. I finished it in two days.
    • 4/5
      The first book I read from Mitch Albom had been For One More Day, and since then, I have been a fan. The only reason why I took this long to finish it was because as it so happens, I had been a bit occupied. I had also been meaning to get this book when it launched, but unfortunately My purse was tight. So at the given opportunity (a book fair), I jumped in and immediately bought it.

      I think that anyone who reads this will no doubt think of a deceased that they'd have liked to receive a call from. It was very interesting, the way he put the two perspectives together (the believers & non-believers) and make them go well with the story without making one sound more 'worthy' than the other. I dunno. There's just a way that Mitch writes to make things work.

      I understand Sully's take on the fiasco, yet I sympathized and understood the 'chosen ones' position as well.

      As it is with Mitch's books, it either teaches you a lesson or leaves you feeling all warm and fuzzy with renewed resolution.
      I really liked how this story closed, as it gave room for contemplation. Also, I thought that the last line of the book was a brilliant closure.
    • 3/5
      This was my third Mitch Albom book. I enjoy his writing. This is a small town in Michigan where 8 people are receiving phone calls from people who have passed away. Is it real or a hoax? I believe your loved ones are looking down on you and approach you sometimes in your dreams. But calling you on the phone...not so much. It's interesting to see who people react. I liked the little Alexander Graham Bell information thrown in. It's an enjoyable book and is a pretty fast read. I recommend it.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed it like his other books and can see it being a movie, I would watch.