The Spirit Box [Hardcover]

Stephen Gallagher (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Gallagher's white-knuckle thriller, his first full-length novel since Red, Red Robin (1995), several experimental drugs have been pilfered from a North Carolina research lab and suspicion points to employee Rachel Young. Manager John Bishop investigates the theft to preserve the facility's reputation for security, but he has another motive: the day before, his troubled teenage daughter committed suicide, and some inexplicable experiences since hint that her influence is compelling his involvement. Whether John's experiences are truly supernatural or merely guilt-fueled fantasies is never clear, and Gallagher uses the tension this creates to masterfully propel his story forward to a harrowing finale. Gallagher's hard-boiled style is pitch perfect for the tale's grim events, but he leavens it with dislocating moments of powerful emotion that draw the reader irresistibly to the characters. The novel packs a wallop that should make an impact on fans of both suspense and horror fiction.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 276 pages
• Publisher: Subterranean Press; Sgd Ltd edition (December 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596060174
• ISBN-13: 978-1596060173
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,384,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Novelist, screenwriter and director, born in Salford, Lancashire and specialising in contemporary suspense.

STEPHEN GALLAGHER was described by The Independent as "the finest British writer of bestselling popular fiction since le Carré ... Gallagher, like le Carré, is a novelist whose themes seem to reflect something of the essence of our times, and a novelist whose skill lies in embedding those themes in accessible plots." According to Arena magazine, "Gallagher has quietly become Britain's finest popular novelist, working a dark seam between horror and the psychological thriller."

The Daily Telegraph wrote, "Since Valley of Lights, he has been refining his own brand of psycho-thriller, with a discomforting knack of charting mental disintegration and a razor-sharp sense of place." Charles de Lint wrote in Mystery Scene magazine, "Gallagher is a master of abnormal psychology and he just gets better and better." Also in Mystery Scene David Mathew added, "never a writer to rest on his laurels, he has written good hard thrillers, some horror genre work (such as Valley of Lights), and a novel (Oktober) that might even qualify as a vague distortion of contemporary world fantasy... in places. You might go as far as to employ that overused phrase sui generis. He is, at any rate, one of the best writers of his generation."

Winner of British Fantasy and International Horror Guild awards, Stephen Gallagher's screen work began with Doctor Who and includes miniseries adaptations of his novels Chimera and Oktober, which he also directed. He created and wrote for both the British and American versions of Eleventh Hour, which starred Patrick Stewart in the UK and Rufus Sewell in Jerry Bruckheimer's CBS remake. His most recent novel is The Kingdom of Bones and his next will be The Suicide Hour, both from Random House.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gallagher is back with a belter of a book, April 18, 2006

By 

Graeme Hurry - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Spirit Box (Hardcover)

I must admit to being a fan of Gallagher's work since Valley of Lights came out. It has been a long time since his last novel, but I think it was well worth the wait. Although slimmer than many of his later books, this serves to focus the intense emotions invoked in the reader. Certainly there is suspense, as in all of his books, but in this volume, more than some others there is the panic of being up against the clock.

This book is well worth seeking out for its adrenalin fuelled chills.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3 1/2 stars, January 3, 2006

By 

Konrad Kern (OFallon, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Spirit Box (Hardcover)

This isn't what I would call a white knuckle thriller as mentioned by PW, though it was a solid effort. It seemed to drag on at times and was a little wordy, and it just didn't have that 'ooomph' I'm used to in a good thriller. I thought the cover to be very misleading too. I would have never looked at this book in the book store (I read the review in PW and got it from the library.) because the cover--which looks like it might be a spiritual story of a modern day tribe--doesn't give a hint that this might be a thriller at all. Well it's an average thriller at best so your better off getting it at your local library.