Book Review for Lincoln's Ghost: Houdini's War on Spiritualism and the Dark Conspiracy Against the American Presidency by Brad Ricca

 

Lincoln's Ghost: Houdini's War on Spiritualism and the Dark Conspiracy Against the American Presidency by Brad Ricca

Published:  October 28, 2025 by St. Martin's Press

Genre:  Non-Fiction, History, Memoir

Taken from Goodreads:  The incredible untold story of how the world's greatest magician, Harry Houdini, waged war upon Spiritualism, uncovering unknown magic, political conspiracies, and surprising secrets along the way.

You won’t live forever, Houdini. You’ve got to DIE. I put a curse on you . . .

During a séance in 1924, Houdini—the greatest entertainer in the world—was cursed by a vengeful spirit, who said his days were numbered. Houdini laughed. He believed talking to the dead was impossible.

By 1926, Houdini was dead.

This is the untold story of the last performance of Harry Houdini, who after becoming inspired by his hero Abraham Lincoln, devotes himself full-time to a personal crusade against Spiritualism, the practice of speaking to the dead. In a spellbinding journey across Jazz Age America, haunted by the aftermath of the Great War and a deadly pandemic, Houdini encounters all the modern forms of haunted houses, warlocks, and monsters, and uncovers a shocking conspiracy that stretches all the way back to Lincoln himself.

In a compelling dual-timeline narrative alternating between Houdini’s 1926 dramatic courtroom testimony before Congress and the last otherworldly cases he takes on that lead him there, Lincoln's Ghost is a powerful examination of deception, love, politics, the afterlife, and the very nature of magic itself.

My Thoughts:  Everyone has heard of Houdini, I was intrigued by his story.   He lived a life that I knew very little, other than the magic, about.  This book is interesting, intriguing, and in-depth.   The story talks of his magic, but more about his fight against Spiritualism.   His fight with the government and with the public. 

There were a few times I had to re-read a sentence or paragraph to get the idea.  Some of the text was very flat and I skimmed over it picking back up when the action picked up.  The book is non-fiction and there were times that it read as such and times that it read as a story.  

I enjoyed learning about Houdini  and recommend picking up your own copy to learn about one of the best known magicians in history.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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Meet the Author(taken from his website):  Brad is the award-winning author of seven books. His work has also appeared in The Washington Post, The Beat, LitHub, Belt, Book Riot, and on the official Star Wars website. He has appeared in documentaries on the History Channel, AMC, and has been a guest on many podcasts and radio shows, including Criminal, All Things Considered, Tenfold More Wicked, BBC Radio, and others. His independent film Last Son won a Silver Ace Award at the Las Vegas Film Festival. On the big screen, he can be seen in X-men and Dogma (in roles of under ten seconds each). He has a Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University, where he sometimes teaches, and was awarded the Richard A. Bloom, M.D. Award for Distinguished Teaching. 

 He lives in Cleveland with Caroline and their three boys.​​​