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

One autumn day, the phones in Coldwater, Michigan, begin ringing. The people calling are all departed loved ones. They say they are calling from heaven. On that same day, Sully Harding is released from prison for a crime he may not have committed. During his incarceration, his wife passed away. He returns to Coldwater a brokenhearted man, hoping to quietly rebuild his life with his young son. Instead, he finds his hometown gripped by miracle fever. As the mysterious phone calls increase, outsiders flock from around the world in hopes of sharing the blessing. When his son begins to carry a toy phone awaiting a call from his mother, Sully has had enough. He sets out to prove that the Coldwater phenomenon is a hoax. But is it? Or could this be the world's greatest miracle? A heart-stopping mystery and a meditation on the power of connecting with a loved one you cannot see, this is Mitch Albom's most thrilling and magical novel yet.

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. An allegory about the power of belief�??and a page-turner that will touch your soul�??Albom's masterful storytelling has never been so moving and unexpected.

Readers of The Five People You Meet in Heaven will recognize the warmth and emotion so redolent of Albom's writing, and those who haven't yet enjoyed the power of his storytelling, will thrill at the discovery of one of the best-loved writers of our time

Starred review from September 9, 2013
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.�?� Agent: David Black, David Black Agency.1 Alternative | Englisch | score: 2