This is my third book by Julie Clark, and once again, she absolutely knocked it out of the park. Her storytelling is so unique, and the way she slowly unravels the secrets of the plot is brilliant. It's rare to find an author who consistently delivers high-quality novels like this. The pacing was spot-on, the atmosphere completely immersive, and nothing about the story felt implausible, which is something I really appreciate in today’s fiction.

I was captivated from start to finish. The alternating narration between Olivia, Poppy, and Vince was done perfectly. I could feel Olivia’s raw emotion toward her father, and I could almost hear the leaves crackling under Poppy’s feet as she ran through the woods. It was just so well-written that I can’t say enough good things about it. Julie Clark has officially become an auto-buy author for me.

This book turned out to be quite different than what I went in expecting it to be - but I loved it! The only other book I have read by Julie Clark so far has been The Last Flight, and while this had a different feeling and narrative style, I found myself truly loving some of the characters.

The Ghostwriter gives, thriller, murder-whodunnit, and family trauma - all while diving into what the life of a teenager in the 70s was like. I changed my mind many times on who the murderer had to have been, and did end up picking up on a few of the clues laid along the way... but the ending truly took me by surprise. I may have cried a few times, as we get to know one of the murder victims through a POV and during the telling of the current day story.

This book was a wonderful, relatively quick read! It is definitely not a light read in any sense of the word, so be prepared for som heavy topics (other than the murder mystery part.)

Thank you to Julie Clark and SourceBooks for the ARC of this books!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of The Ghosstwrite by Julie Clark. I enjoyed Clark’s previous novel, The Last Flight, so I was interested when I saw this one become available.

The Ghostwriter follows the family of a novelist. In the mid-70s, two children were found dead in their home. The only surviving child, Vincent, grows up to become a popular horror writer. This story takes a turn of sorts when Vincent’s daughter is asked to ghostwrite his last book—except this book is not what she thinks it’s going to be. Vincent plans to talk about that fateful night and what really happened.

This story is written well and I think fans of Clark’s other books will enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebook Landmarks for the ARC!

A compulsively readable thriller that I stayed up too late trying to finish but had to finish the next day. Giving only three stars because I wish it had a few more jaw dropping moments.

Can’t wait to read her next thriller. She keeps getting better and better!

This was a real page turner! I enjoyed the premise - a ghostwriter is hired by her estranged father to help write his memoir, which will focus on the unanswered questions surrounding the murders of his brother and sister in 1975 (of which many people believe he is the culprit). This book deals with a lot of heavy subjects, including family issues, relationship struggles, losing a parent to memory loss, and the tragic loss of loved ones to homocide. Some of the choices the main character made had me rolling my eyes, but overall I really enjoyed the interpersonal issues discussed in the book, along with the twists and turns of the mystery.

Probably my fave so far by this author. I really have no notes. I was entertained. I did feel as if the pacing in the 40-60% range was slow but maybe it’s just bc I was binging severance and preferred to watch that over reading. I loved the concept of her being a ghost writer for her mysterious dad AND him having the Lewy body dementia was super interesting

This is the story of a daughter who’s been estranged from both of her parents for years. Her mother left her when she was a small child, and when she was fourteen year old, her father Vincent shunted Olivia off to boarding school because he was too busy writing novels and making money. After many decades apart, she and her ailing father are reunited when she’s hired to ghostwrite his memoir. There have always been rumors that when a teenager, Vincent killed his brother, Danny, and his sister, Poppy. Olivia was now hoping to solve that mystery. Was her father a murderer? Or had she misjudged him all these years later?

Mysteries are always fun to dissect, and admittedly it’s one of my favorite genres. However, this was a slow paced read for me until the last several pages when things were finally resolved. My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

The idea behind this book is one that I typically enjoy. A murder in the past and someone in the present trying to find out what happened. Our story is set in present day and also flashes back to 1975 when two children of the same family were brutally murdered.
This story lost me about 50% into it. I did finish it but I felt that the story was too all over the place.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a copy of this book for an honest review.

Thank you for this ARC! I have enjoyed Clark's previous novels, but could not get into this one. It was a DNF for me. I don't think the premise was grabbing me and with all the distractions in the world right now, I just needed something that would suck me right in. Maybe I will return to this in the future.

This was pretty good! Not my favorite Julie Clark but I still enjoyed it.

The pacing on this was pretty slow and at times I found myself bored and wanting to skim through it. I was never bored enough to DNF it, but anytime I put the book down, I was never racing to run back to it.

I did call about 75% of the ending about halfway through. Julie did a great job giving us little nuggets of information so we readers didn't feel totally blind sighted by the ending.

If you're looking for a slow burn mystery, I think you'll enjoy this! However, if you go into this thinking it's a fast paced thriller like the author's previous books, you'll be disappointed.

This was an interesting one for me. Lots of family drama and suspicions and the past coming back to haunt you type vibes, and I loved it!

Thank you NetGalley for this opportunity!

This book earned the full 5 stars.. Olivia is broike so she agrees to ghost wite a book for her own father. It is the last book for the father who is a well renowed author. Olivia is forced to deal with both of their pasts and it gets messy. It is a great thriller for summer.

Well this was a fun mystery! Loved the premise, loved how the plot worked through the mystery, loved our main POV, overall it was pretty good. BUT, I found myself constantly wanting the speed of the story to pick up. It seemed to be going at a slow to medium pace where I could have handled a faster pace. I don't know if it was too wordy, or too much explaining. because I wouldn't say that exactly. All I knew was I wanted it to read faster.

I thought the mystery and how it was handled was great. Quite the family drama steeped in a double murder. I had compassion for our main character and so many times I was pretty sure I knew what happened and how, to only be shown how wrong I was. I love when a mystery can trick me repeatedly.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the gifted e-arc of this book.

I"d previously read "The Last Flight" and "The Lies I Tell" by Julie Clark and was really looking forward to reading The Ghostwriter. It did not disappoint! Olivia Dumont's successful career as a ghostwriter imploded when she very publicly called out a fellow author for bad behavior. She hasn't been able to get work and might need to sell her beloved Topanga Canyon house when she receives an offer to ghostwrite a book for famed horror author Vincent Taylor. The very big catch is that Vincent is Olivia's estranged father, who basically checked out completely after Olivia's mother left. And instead of writing a horror novel, Vincent wants to tell the story of his infamous childhood--his brother and sister were brutally murdered when Vincent was a teenager. Even though he had an alibi, many people in their small town believed he was the killer.

We quickly learn that Vincent is suffering from dementia, so Olivia needs to do a lot of investigating to determine whether she can believe what her father has told her about events leading up to that fateful night. Lots of twists and turns, especially because Vincent is the very definition of an unreliable narrator.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to seeing what Julie Clark comes up with next!

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

Olivia Dumont, a ghostwriter is desperately seeking a job due to her legal problems. About to lose her career and her house Olivia decides she can’t be too picky on her jobs. But ghostwriting for her estranged father whom she believed killed her aunt and uncle, is she that desperate?
I loved the storyline and raced through the book to see if Olivia could vindicate her father. This is a must read from one of my favorite go to authors.
Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for my ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early copy of this title, all opinions are my own!

Wow!!! I started this book and could not put it down! It kept me turning the pages into the night and reading every chance I got. This is my first book by this author but definitely not my last, 5 stars!!!!

THE GHOSTWRITER ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. Release date 6/3/25. Olivia Dumont is a ghostwriter for celebrity memoirs. When her estranged famous author father, hires her to ghostwrite his final novel about the murder of his siblings he’s been linked to for 50 years. She has to decipher what is the truth, what’s a lie, and what is left to be discovered. Unfortunately I was not a fan of the pace of this book or how it unwound. There’s a few twists, but I found myself reading quickly to get it over than the anticipation of figuring out the end. Thank you NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review!

I have been a fan of Julie Clark from her very first novel, The Last Flight. I like how she weaves a good thriller with twists and turns into a story with some heart. this one did take me a hot minutes to get into, unlike her other books, but once I was immersed in the story, I had to keep reading to find out if her father was a murder that wasn't charged or if he was falsely accused. The ending felt a bit rushed after all the lead up but I still enjoyed the book and look forward to more novels from julie clark.

First time reading a book by Julie Clark, and I enjoyed it. The beginning was interesting, however after a while I started to lose interest although that is due to Vance’s illness, confusing me here and there. Though, at the ending it explained the reason of his behavior.

Olivia was the first character that I’ve read that wasn’t a young adult so the transition was challenging. She is 44 years old and a ghostwriter, a writer hired to confidentially write about another person without being credited for it. In this case, her father whom was absent most of her life and wants to find out what really happened with her aunt and uncle… and other secrets as well.

The book is written in first POV with some POVs of the siblings in the 1970s! It felt as though I was the detective. Every single time I was trying to piece it together, but it is really at the end when it all comes together and makes sense.

Also, this books talks about women’s and equal rights. However, I felt that this was too much for a character because it was almost all she talked about and really had no connection at the end.

Now… the TWIST. I did not see that coming. Althing it now explains why this character tried to do certain things. With that being said, Clark did an amazing job writing different POVs and connecting them at the end.

* the ending 😭

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I went in with no expectations as I have not read any of the authors other works.

The dual time lines were easy to follow and I became totally invested in discovering the truth about Vincent's past and the death of his siblings.

It was a thrilling ride!

Highly recommend.