Early Review – The Spirit Engineer by A.J. West (4.5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Duckworth
Release Date: October 7, 2021
ASIN : B08T867812
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: From Book Sirens for Review
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
“Belfast, 1914. Two years after the sinking of the Titanic, high society has become obsessed with spiritualism, attending séances in the hope they might reach their departed loved ones.
William Jackson Crawford is a man of science and a sceptic, but one night with everyone sitting around the circle, voices come to him – seemingly from beyond the veil – placing doubt in his heart and a seed of obsession in his mind. Could the spirits truly be communicating with him or is this one of Kathleen’s parlour tricks gone too far?
Based on the true story of Professor William Jackson Crawford and famed medium Kathleen Goligher, and with a cast of characters including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini, The Spirit Engineer conjures a haunted, twisted tale of power, paranoia, and one ultimate, inescapable truth…”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got a copy of this through Book Siren to review.
Thoughts: This book started a bit shaky for me but ended up very well done. I ultimately enjoyed this historical look at spiritualism and the colorful characters that haunt these pages. This book keeps you guessing right up until the end and it was very well done. It is spooky and creepy and gives an intriguing look into this era and these odd beliefs. It’s well written and I love the way the story and mysteries unravel.
Oddly one of the things that really put me off initially was that the wife kept calling her husband “Father”, I guess she meant as the father of their children but it was confusing and weird sounding. For a bit there I thought he was married to his daughter or something, which would just be extra wrong. I guess it’s like if you call your husband “dad” in front of your kids, but you do it even when you are alone with your husband too?
Aside from that there is a whole plethora of unique and crazy characters in this novel; all of them are pretty grey morally and I enjoyed watching them try to manipulate each other. Parts of this book are fairly creepy. However, most of the story focuses on William and his struggle for notoriety as he first tries to debunk spiritualism but then ends up as one of spiritualism’s top proponents and experts. It was a crazy ride for sure, with lots of little mysteries woven throughout.
My Summary (4.5/5): Overall I really enjoyed this book. It’s fairly different from anything I have read before. I liked diving into the history of spiritualism in 1914 and learning some of the tricks of the trade. The psychology here is intriguing too. I would recommend it if you are looking for a creepy read about ghosts, spiritualism and someone who tries to apply engineering principles to spiritualism. It’s a great story and very engaging.
