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...

I really enjoyed the overall premise and storyline of this book and felt that A.J. West brought to life in believable ways the seance/spiritual scene of the 1900s in Northern Ireland. His dive into the class structure of the time was intriguing and his overarching aim to depict the lengths one will go to find answers and soothe the pain of loss was a tense and heartbreaking journey to go on.

However, for me the story lacked something! I just couldn’t connect with William, the novel’s protagonist and found him irksome and lacking depth at times. If it wasn’t for the explosive ending of the novel which I thoroughly enjoyed - giving me Stevenson Jekyll and Hyde vibes - I probably would have rated the book a lot lower than I did. Glad I stuck with it though.

3.5 stars


I almost had a reading slump reading this book. The story is quite promising at first and I believed it.It is also based on a true story.

For me, it took so long to finally introduce the Spirit Engineer. It took me half of the book. I almost DNF-ing this book due to a very slow pace. Probably, it might because the book was not for me also a possible.

It is a nice story for Halloween to come but it is more to a dark story. I think the story becomes more interesting as soon as it reached climax and the beginning of Spirit Engineer's work. The ghosting part is nice and I love it but the beginning before the work of Spirit Engineer, I feel it's a bit draggy i think which lead me to boredom.

I love the cameos from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle & Harry Houdini. Together they were breaking the lies behind the seances and I hella love that. The dialogues for these guys are so good.

I love the revealing and last part. Really shocking and nobody would ever thought this would come. If only the author lessen the draggy part at the beginning, it would be a great book.

Overall, it is still a good debut. Gothic Horror readers would love this book.

I got almost halfway through the book but could not bring myself to finish. I really like the author's style of writing but the MC felt one-dimensional and uninteresting. The premise sounded interesting, so that's what drew me to the book.

I had to give up on this book, sadly. I can see that the author was trying to write in the style that people would have spoken and written at that time, but unfortunately it just fell flat. The style came across as exaggerated and almost pantomime-y, and it was just too distracting. I couldn't get into the story because of it, and decided not to continue reading.

Such a good book! Character development was brilliant I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the way it was written was brilliant

This book is giving me creep in a good and exciting way. It's a gothic book and full of emotions here and there. I enjoy it more than I thought I would be. That's a good sign!
Thanks Netgalley, publisher, and the author for a copy of this book!

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Belfast, 1914. Two years after the sinking of the Titanic, high society has become obsessed with spiritualism. In their collective grief they are attempting to reach their departed through séances.

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 William Jackson Crawford and famed medium Kathleen Goligher, and with a cast of characters that includes Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini, West conjures a haunting tale that will keep you guessing until the end.

Nothing we haven’t seen before, but still a solidly entertaining Spiritualist Age, Gothic horror novel.

The best of this book is probably the engineering angle, which isn’t something that would typically pique my interest, but here where our protagonist is a (sort of) converted skeptic and man of science, it works.

It’s unfortunate that the protagonist is so unlikable (the best I could muster for him at any point in the novel was indifference). This makes it difficult to emotionally invest in a story that requires emotional charge to buy in, and it also makes the twist at the end both less surprising and not particularly evocative. That said, it is a good enough twist and provides a satisfactory conclusion to the mystery. As is the case with many ghost stories, it’s usually better if the ghosts aren’t real. I won’t spoil the ending here by telling you how that turned out here.

Since this is technically gothic horror, I could have done with a little more creepiness and sense of menace and a little less gross bodily function stuff (never a win in my book), but mostly this fits the bill if this is a genre of interest for you.

I was intrigued by the premise of this one, and is the kind of fiction I enjoy reading.

But, I just couldn't get engaged by the book. The narrative was glacially slow in places (I got over halfway through the book, with the plot barely advanced, before deciding to stop), the characterisation was sketchy, and the language imprecise ("gotten" and "Bullshit!", for example, just didn't ring true for Edwardian Britain).

DNF.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After seeing the reviews I was not sure this book could live up to all the hype ...... BUT WOW it was a masterpiece, It captivated me in every word that I read.

It's based on a true story set just after the sinking of the titanic, with mediums and mystery this book has it all, and with the unexpected end it was mesmerising and I would highly recommend this book and already buying it for a friend. This is the sort of book you will be proud to have on your bookcase.

If you buy one book this year please let it be this book you won't regret it.

2.5 stars. I really wanted to like this novel more than I did. The premise is fantastic and I was intrigued by the fact that the novel is based on real people and events: the investigation by 'Spirit Engineer' William Jackson Crawford into the spirit medium Kathleen Goligher. Unfortunately, I just couldn't warm to any of the characters. Indeed, I actively despised the main character and his narration of events, which made finishing the book very difficult.

It is clear that the author, A J West, has done detailed research into the life of William Jackson Crawford and his association with Kathleen Goligher and her Goligher spiritualist circle. Indeed, he has put together some fascinating videos and pages on his website detailing the history - and the real people - behind the book. And I have no doubt that the 'real' Crawford was, as West describes in his research notes, an odd and even slightly unpleasant man who held views that, although detestable now, would have been common for a man of his class and background in the early 1900s. Realistic though this might be, however, it just didn't make for a very nice character to spend nearly 300 pages in the head of! Personally I found Crawford deeply unpleasant: misogynistic to the verge of hatred, patronising, ableist, xenophobic, snobbish, and with an over-developed sense of his own self-worth and ability. That his personality - and many of his actions - are explained at the end of the novel didn't, for me, serve as any justification or as a particularly satisfying 'twist' in his tale.

I suspect much of my reaction to this book is personal - as a reader, I really struggle to engage with books with wholly unlikeable characters and I suspect that A J West has made Crawford deliberately unlikeable to better serve the novel's plot. As such, I can definitely see why so many readers have thoroughly enjoyed this book - it is clearly well researched, very well written, and has a compulsive gothic melodrama at its heart. For me, this couldn't counteract the revulsion I felt for the central character - although all of those other aspects did stop me DNF'ing this as I wanted to find out what happened - but for readers who don't mind unlikeable characters, I can imagine The Spirit Engineer making for a compelling Gothic read.

God this was dull. I had high hopes for it - especially seeing the glowing reviews but I just couldn't connect with it. I had to resort to the audiobook but even that was a slog. I got the gist of the story but I just didn't really get the point - nor did I care. know it's based on a real person but when Conan-Doyle and Houdini showed up I was just done and the reveal at the end just didn't shock me and was more like "oh well OF COURSE" and I'm disappointed. I really wanted to love it

I think that gothic thrillers might not be for me. The characters were terrible and boring. The plot seemed interesting, but it was too slow and I didn't care about anything.

I loved this book. It’s dark and creepy gothic atmosphere is well written. Its full of emotions, one minute you’ll be laughing and the next will give you chills. I loved the main character William from the beginning. I love the tie to the titanic and the references mentioned. The book is split into 4 parts and the illustrations that break up the parts are stunning and add to the creepiness. I definitely want more from this author.

Thank you to Duckworth Books for this advanced copy.

I am so ashamed that this book sat on my NetGalley shelf for so long! I was missing an absolute treat - and I'm not alone in my opinion as this was recently voted as Bert's Books' Book of the Year by readers on Twitter.

The story opens in Belfast in 1914, a city still grieving the loss of the Titanic two years before. A scientist, William Crawford Jackson, is working at the Institute and living in the city with his wife, Elizabeth, and three children. Having suffered a personal loss in the Titanic sinking, Elizabeth is reeling with grief and, like many of the city's residents, open to the new ideas of spiritualism that oppose everything her sceptical husband stands for. When he hears mysterious voices at one of Kathleen Goligher's seances, he starts on a quest to discover the truth...

Wow, this is such a cleverly-plotted book! As I followed William on his lengthy journey to find answers, I found myself really unsure what to think about spiritualism - and this is an absolute strength of the novel. Are the practitioners genuine conduits between the living and the dead, or are they frauds looking to play on other's grief? Are those who attend the seances merely naive and silly, or pitiable figures whose emotions are being manipulated? West keeps his cards incredibly close to his chect until the end of the novel. As William vacillated in his own thoughts, I found myself being pulled along and as keen for answers as he was.

The setting of the book is also a triumph - a perfect historical moment for this story and some genuinely creepy settings, from the Goligher's seance room to the austere halls of the Institute with their sinister statues. There are some truly frightening elements in play here and West uses them well to create a sense of rising horror - the images of the Titanic victims that keep being recalled are horrific and vivid and the sensory description slightly stomach-churning at times.

William Crawford Jackson is a brilliant choice of narrator - he is both based on a real person (as is Kathleen Goligher) and wildly unreliable as he narrates his experiences. His voice is distinctive and strong - he starts out as a kind of mildly comic Edwardian man in the model of Charles Pooter from 'The Diary of a Nobody' and then expands into something much more multi-dimensional and complex. Lady Adelia Carter begins as a snobby Lady Bracknell character, yet also takes quite a journey over the course of the novel. The characterisation is pitch-perfect throughout, and there is the added bonus of cameos by Arthur Conan Doyle (himself an advocate of spiritualism) and Harry Houdini (for the history nerds like me!)

I can also imagine this is a gorgeous book to have a physical copy of as there are some beautiful illustrations that start each of the novel's main sections.

There is so much to love about this novel and I recommend it highly to all lovers of cleverly-plotted and immersive historical fiction. For me, this is up there with the best writing by authors like Sarah Waters, Laura Purcell and Andrew Taylor. I really wish I had read this sooner and it is one that will stay with me for some time to come. The end - when it comes - is surprising and eye-opening and entirely unforeseen. I defy anyone to predict it - although you will have fun trying.

First, thanks to NetGalley, publishers and the author for allowing me to read this ARC with honesty.

The story of a man obsessed with achieving greatness through his work is given an unusual chance at doing the one thing man hasn’t been able to achieve yet - to prove the afterlife exists.

After being passed over by his boss at the university, Professor Crawford feels wronged and a bit salty at the thought when he learns that his wife has secrets that she’s keeping. It’s bad enough that they’ve drawn apart lately and now this. Outraged, he sets about figuring things out but in doing so sets himself on a path that he’d never imagined.

His work soon becomes that of ‘The Spirit Engineer’ with using talents of a young medium, he Professor Crawford sets about proving all those his esteemed peers that he is just as good, if not better.

But playing with spirits - does have a cost after all.

After reading the synopsis, I definitely liked the premise of the story. This is set a little after the Titantic sank and everyone is still reeling from the devastating loss. The world is mesmerized and terrified by the idea of the afterlife. The writing style of the author made it easy to fall right into the world as well the way the main protagonist is not exactly a hero in his own right. He has faults just like anyone. The attitudes of that time period also seemed to bleed through perfectly.

As the story progresses, I will say the plot began to become muddy (not exactly a bad thing) and it made it unclear where the story was headed, causing some confusion.

Overall, I did like the story. The ending, well - it was not what I was expecting. Certain aspects, I had a suspicion and it turned out to be true but this story definitely took a left turn from where I thought it might head.

Also I would look into the trigger warnings as there are some mentions of power abuse to females that needs to be taken into consideration.

My Rating: 3.5 stars (rounded to 4)

I got an arc. First off it was so hard to get into for me. I felt like I never got what was happening. The ending was truly shocking to me. I did end up enjoying it more the last few chapters. This is definitely a different type of read.

Well, well, well……

I’m struggling with what to say about this book, without giving it all away. There were a couple of times when I wanted to put it down and honestly thought it was going to be a DNF. I cannot tell you how glad I am that I kept on reading; the ending is truly sublime and gives a completely different spin on the whole plot and the characters.

The main character is based on the true story of William Jackson Crawford. A down-to-earth academician and scientist, who is struggling to keep his family afloat. Life takes a strange turn for him, when he discovers his wife is seeing a medium. William makes it his life’s mission to prove or disprove the afterlife.

“This book, my work, will changes the very meaning of life and death. It will revolutionise the human existence for the rest of time.”

The entire book carries an air of mystery and at times the story is quite chilling, which gives it the air of a psychological thriller. It leaves the reader feeling unsure of what they should believe.

While the story occasionally suffered from issues with pacing, particularly in the middle, the end makes up for this tenfold. There’s a fabulous twist that I didn’t see coming, even though there are clues if you go back and look.

The Spirit Engineer is fabulously written. For me, the ending was so brilliantly & cleverly done, it had my mouth gaping open in wonder and disbelief. Absolutely outstanding!

Firstly, thank you to Duckworth Books and NetGalley for access to the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

To start, this book ticked so many of my personal boxes. Historical fiction, spooky/supernatural vibe, based on truth - all things I enjoy. West did a great job with making the story feel true to the time period. It was clearly well researched and, for lack of a better word, sympathetic to the time period. Things felt real and solidly rooted in the time period.

I will say, despite the premise ticking so many boxes, this one just wasn't for me. I struggled mightily to get through the book and it felt like it took me years to get to the 60% mark. But, I'm not one to give up on a book so I pushed on. The first 80% of the book, in addition to being rather slow, was pretty confusing. Characters jumped in and out without a lot of clarity as to who was who. This is usually not something I have a problem with, but because it was so slow (and if I'm being honest, dull as well) I had a hard time caring to keep track of them all. The other major thing that made this not a book for me was the sheer lack of likable characters. The main character, in particular, I found to be a pretty terrible person. From the very beginning, William spoke to literally everyone - from his wife and children to his supervisor - as if they were below him. He never had a kind word or thought for and of anyone. That made it really hard to connect with the novel.

Like I said, this wasn't for me. It was well written, and I'm sure others will connect with it, but I, unfortunately, did not.

This was a rather creepy read, made even more chilling after finding out that it's based on real history and events!! Is there something out there?!

The story starts with scenes of a chaotic household in 1914 and really sets a frantic tone of what is about to come. All seems normal on the surface but scratch a little deeper and there's more to the picture than meets the eye!

There's a real sense of history and atmosphere throughout this book. You sense William wonders what his wife is doing when she starts to visit seances but it's the only way she can deal with her grief. But when he goes along to see for himself - and to rubbish it all! - he hears voices that trouble him and sets him off on a path to discover just what those involved with seances are up to. Is it all theatre or is there a genuine connection to the spirit world.

I loved the drama of this story. You're as puzzled as William is as the strange goings on begin to occur and there's plenty of heartbreak too as they deal with the loss of their son, as well as facing up to past grief that comes back to haunt them... so to speak!

An intriguing and often chilling read!

The Spirit Engineer was a highly anticipated read for me. I had read many reviews saying how gothic, spooky and unsettling it was. All of those elements in a story are basically what I look for in my books. Also for it to be based on a true story made it even more intriguing. I am pleased to say it did not disappoint at all. In fact, I am going to say, this is probably one of my top reads of 2021.

It is based around the story of William Jackson Crawford, a professor of engineering who was involved in investigating the Goligher Circle which a well known medium at the time, Kathleen Goligher was part of. I was googling away for ages after reading the book to find out more about them all. I was totally fascinated!

The plot is eerie and gripping. But there are some amusing moments with the very witty one liners that William comes out with. They really did make me smile. Also, you know when you read a book and you just cannot stop thinking about it, thats what has happened to me.

I also have to mention the ending. . . I was completely and utterly shooketh! I did not see it coming at all! I have to applaud AJ West for writing such a clever, thrilling, page turning novel resulting in a masterpiece of gothic fiction. The research he has gone through to be able to write William’s story is evident and the haunting atmosphere he creates throughout the story is impeccable.

I urge you all to read this phenomenal debut and outstanding ghost story. The perfect book to read during the winter, though I advise reading it during daylight hours as it may make your nerves a bit jumpy!