The Ghostwriter ~ Julie Clark

June, 1975.

The Taylor family shatters in a single night when two teenage siblings are found dead in their own home. The only surviving sibling, Vincent, never shakes the whispers and accusations that he was the one who killed them. Decades later, the legend only grows as his career as a horror writer skyrockets.

Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has spent her entire professional life hiding the fact that she is the only child of Vincent Taylor. Now on the brink of financial ruin, she's offered a job to ghostwrite her father's last book. What she doesn't know, though, is that this project is another one of his lies. Because it's not another horror novel he wants her to write.

After fifty years of silence, Vincent Taylor is finally ready to talk about what really happened that night in 1975.

This book was an absolute barnburner. It’s told in a non-linear format between excerpts of memories, diary entries and other means. Olivia has to come to terms with her father’s past while trying to determine fact from fiction.

The author takes you to the brink with every chapter literally keeping you on the edge. Honestly this is her best work yet! All the stars 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Julie Clark for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Ghostwriter coming out June 3, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. It wasn’t quite was I was expecting. I thought there would be a little more suspense than everything happening in the past. I think family secrets can be an interesting plot, but I felt like the story was a bit dry for me. I’d check out other books by this author.

This book was a slow-burn suspense thriller with a complex family mystery and an unreliable narrator. Julie Clark weaves an intriguing story about the murder of teenagers Danny and Poppy in 1975 and the writing of the surviving sibling Vincent's memoir being ghostwritten by his daughter Olivia in 2025. Told from multiple POVs and alternating timelines this mystery unravels in a way that will keep you guessing until the very end.

I enjoyed the parallels between Olivia and her aunt Poppy and how it highlighted how little women's rights have advanced in the last 50 years. It was also poignant and a little heartbreaking seeing the father and daughter reconnecting after a long estrangement while the father was battling dementia.

The overlapping storylines help build tension as Olivia delves into the past and finds answers to the decades old murder. The mystery is well crafted, emotional, and intricate. The pieces falling into place felt wholly satisfying and the ending was both surprising and cleverly written although I did have a small inkling of where it was headed.

The Ghostwriter was a wonderful thriller and a perfect summer read!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A Beautifully Crafted Story of Tragedy and Redemption

The unsolved murder of two teenaged siblings profoundly affected the lives of their surviving sibling, Vincent, his high school sweetheart (and future wife), and ultimately their daughter. Vincent was widely believed to have killed his siblings but was never charged because of the alibi provided by his girlfriend and one of their high school teachers.

After a successful career as a horror writer, Vincent is finally ready to tell what really happened on that fateful night. He is adamant that he will only work with one ghostwriter, Olivia DuMont, who is also his estranged daughter. Olivia has taken great pains to hide her relationship with Vincent, but her precarious financial situation has her reluctantly agreeing to work with him. The situation is further complicated by the neurological condition that is robbing Vincent of his ability to write and his memory. As Olivia delves into the horrific tragedy that has overshadowed her life, she uncovers secrets about her family and the shocking truth about the murders of her aunt and uncle.

The Ghostwriter moves between the past and present bringing a heightened poignancy to the murder of two young people and the devastation it caused to the lives not only of those who loved them, but extending to the next generation. Julie Clark has created an emotional, complex, and highly satisfying story. The resolution of the mystery is surprising and vexing but the conclusion of the book is ultimately satisfying.

Olivia grew up in a volatile home with a famous father who was an author. He was an angry drunk and her mother left them early on, leaving Olivia to leave home early going to a boarding school in France. Olivia becomes a successful ghostwriter on her own. But when the jobs dry up, her agent calls with one job that is too good to turn down - ghostwriting for her father.

Her father is suspected as having killed his siblings , but never convicted. The money is too good to turn down, but she really doesn't want to ghostwrite his memoir. However, knowing the truth would be important to her.

I am a Julie Clark fan but this book felt different, slower than her others - a slow-burn mystery that is well-told.

My thanks to Net Galley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advanced copy of this e-book.

This book had a really interesting concept. Any mystery that is able to incorporate and unravel family drama and secrets is immediately a book I know I will enjoy. This is my first Julie Clark read and I will definitely be reading future books from her.

I think that this book is perfect for fans of Liv Constantine, Stacey Willingham, and Peter Swanson,

I was excited to read a new thriller by Julie Clark since I loved her debut THE LAST FLIGHT, and this cold case/'true crime'/family drama did not disappoint. Clark does a great job of juggling two different time periods and multiple POV's. THE GHOSTWRITER is actually sadder than most thrillers because of Clark's ability to humanize her characters' trauma, tragedies, and isolation.

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the digital review copy.

Forty-four-year-old Olivia Taylor Dumont is weighed down by a great deal of emotional baggage. When she was five, her mother left her and her father, Vincent Taylor, who achieved fame when he became a best-selling author. Olivia's dad traveled a great deal, drank and took drugs, and sent his daughter to boarding school. In "The Ghostwriter," by Julie Clark, Olivia is in serious financial trouble after losing a court case brought by a fellow writer whom she maligned verbally and on social media. Formerly, Olivia was a successful ghostwriter, but no one is interested in hiring her now. One day, Olivia's agent calls with a surprising offer. Vincent, from whom Olivia is estranged, insists that he wants her to help him write his memoir. It is only because she is in danger of losing her home that she agrees to collaborate with him. Time is of the essence, since Vincent is seriously ill and his memory is failing.

"The Ghostwriter" is a work of psychological suspense that has a more leisurely pace than Clark's previous efforts. One of its central themes is the elusive nature of truth. Fifty years earlier, in 1975, someone murdered Vincent's two siblings, fourteen-year-old Poppy and seventeen-year-old Danny. There are those who believe that Vincent—who had anger management issues—was guilty of the crimes, but he had an alibi and was never charged. Olivia, who is trying to set the record straight, scans old newspaper articles, discovers hidden films that Poppy had shot with her Super 8 camera, and interviews people who knew her family. She comes to the conclusion that each of us lives in his or her own reality, and the assumptions that we make are often flawed.

We care about Olivia's plight, especially since she has suffered so much. She struggles to come up with a marketable and accurate manuscript, especially since she finds evidence that contradicts Vincent's account of what happened during his childhood and adolescence. Alas, the many flashbacks, changing viewpoints, abundant red herrings, and numerous twists and turns are a bit much, and the finale is neither plausible nor particularly satisfying. The one saving grace is that Olivia comes to realize that, in order to move on with her life, she must come terms with her painful past.

A very slow burn mystery. I really liked Vince as a character. Brash, selfish, unreliable, but still calculating when he can keep his wits about him. I kind of wished we'd gotten more of him. The story itself is intriguing. The presentation of alternating past/present narration and the inclusion of some chapters from Poppy was a great plan, the set up just never seemed like it was presented in the most exciting way. The past chapters could have been more in the moment instead of seeming like a slight retelling of stuff we already knew most of.
I did not particularly like the main character. She's broken and just trying to keep it together, but still manages to come off as whiny and unlikeable.
I frequently found myself waiting on the story to pick up. It's not boring, you just keep thinking it's bound to pick up at some point. The last time I thought 'any minute now we'll get some more excitement' I checked my progress and realized I was over 65% of the way done with the book. It just never got past a slow but inevitable burning down.
I still enjoyed the story it just wasn't written with as much suspense and excitement as I feel like it had the potential for.

The Ghostwriter pulled me in immediately. The first sentence alone is powerful and paints a clear picture of what to expect. By the 10% mark, I was hooked.

The narrative shifts between the past and the present, often changing mid-paragraph, yet it never feels confusing. Instead, these time jumps add layers to the story, allowing you to piece together the characters’ histories in an organic way, as if you were viewing a retrospective at just the right time. And the little breaks in format - transcripts, Wikipedia bits - kept things dynamic without being distracting.

The first half is a slow burn. Not in a "When will this get good?" way, but in a "I’m soaking in every detail" way. Then, around the 60% mark, the tension tightens as Olivia, our main character, edges closer to the truth. It's as if the book lulls you into floating on calm water before pulling you under. And that ending... All the feelings!

From a character perspective, the father is one of the most frustrating yet well-written characters I’ve encountered. I felt the daughter’s anger viscerally: her resentment over his abandonment and her exhaustion from trying to pry the truth from him. The book delves into family secrets and their impact on those around you. Not just immediate relatives, but also friends and the entire town. We also hear from characters from the past. There's always just enough information to fill in some gaps from Olivia’s discoveries.

The Ghostwriter is the kind of book that makes you forget about real life, no matter what. I highly recommend it if you like slow-burning, medium-paced mysteries with lots of twists and turns that reveal the truth.

The Ghostwriter was honestly such a great book. Julie Clark did an amazing job at building characters, weaving in plot points, and making you question even yourself. I’ll be honest, I did have an inkling of what the ending would look like and my suspicions were correct. My favorite part about this novel, though? The deep emotions wound into it. Let me tell you, the way everything ties together is completely devastating, even though having two siblings murdered with only one survivor is devastating enough as it is.

As far as characters go, I really didn’t like Olivia that much. I feel like she complained a lot and acted entitled… but that’s just me. I also hate that she told everyone her parents were great but died young. Lying is not my thing, though. I liked her father, Vincent, more and empathized with him on a deeper level. What a life to lead is all I have to say about him. I also really really loved Poppy (bonus points for the narrator who also narrated another Poppy in A Thousand Boy Kisses 🥹). So many lives cut short in more ways than one.

With the plot, I really enjoyed having the two timelines here. Usually it’s not my thing, but you get Olivia’s timeline, and then Poppy’s right before she dies along with a few chapters from Vincent in the same timeline. I loved how Olivia would only get snippets of information while we got the whole chapter and learned things that she didn’t know. It was almost like an open-ended book, but… not haha. Every detail mattered and it was all so thrilling to read.

Overall, this was a thrilling murder mystery with a lot of family secrets, and if I’m being honest, a ton of heartbreaking situations. Hurt people hurt people. This book does a great job at showing that sentiment. 5/5 well deserved stars.

**will be posted at www.heididischler.com on June 5th at 12pm CST.

“Your dad killed his brother and sister. Murdered them in their own home.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5/5)

Olivia Dumont has spent her life trying to hide the fact that she’s Vincent Taylor’s daughter. A famed horror writer, Vincent has a past as dark as his books: in 1975, his siblings were found dead in the family's home, and Vincent has long been accused of being the person who killed them.

Now a ghostwriter who is struggling financially in adulthood, Olivia becomes desperate enough to take on a harrowing assignment: ghostwriting her father’s final book. But what she gets is more than she bargained for.

First off, I love the dual timelines, present day and the months leading up to the murders in 1975. I also enjoyed the multiple POVs, Olivia and Vincent’s sister Poppy. With that being said, it was not a fast paced book for me, but one where details slowly revealed themselves. I found myself questioning what is real and what was imagined.

The slowness of the book did force me to attempt to piece everything together, but even with the twists, it wasn’t as shocking as I expected. Overall it was a good read, the story painted the timeframe very well, but I guess I expected a more shocking twist.

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark is a masterful psychological thriller that weaves a chilling tale of family secrets, trauma, and buried truths. Olivia Dumont, a ghostwriter facing financial ruin, reluctantly agrees to write her estranged father Vincent Taylor’s final book—a memoir revealing what happened the night his siblings were murdered in 1975, a crime for which he remains the prime suspect. Clark’s skillful use of dual timelines and unreliable narrators keeps readers on edge, unraveling a haunting mystery with emotional depth. The slow-burn pacing builds to a heart-wrenching, twist-filled climax that lingers long after the final page. This evocative, layered story is a must-read for fans of suspense and complex family dramas. Julie absolutely knocked this one out of the park. Her writing style, descriptions and details made me feel like I was inside the novel. I loved this book, and I did not want it to end. Go get this one, you will not be disappointed!

Julie Clark could write a grocery list and I'd be captivated. Another HUGE hit. She's forever an auto-buy author for me.

This was my first Julie Clark book and it did not disappoint! The Ghost writer is a haunting and emotionally charged mystery that explores the dark secrets of a long fractured family. In the story we follow Olivia Dumont, a disgraced ghostwriter who is desperately in need of a cash influx to pay off her lawyers and a fellow ghostwriter who she owes a settlement to. As a result, she has no choice but to return home and help her estranged father Vincent, a famous horror writer, write his memoir. Vincent is suffering from Lewy body dementia and wants to finally tell his side of the story about the night his two teenage siblings were murdered. We have multiple timelines and multiple POVs. Great character development and pacing. I couldn't put this down!

Thank you to NetGalley and Source Books for the advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

This booknwas absolutely perfect! The story, the writing, the pacing. Everything was just spot on.

I liked how this book went from present day with our main character, Olivia, ghostwriting the book for her father and interspersed between those chapters are chapters from Vincent, Danny, and Poppy. This kept the book interesting and let me know these characters better.

I wasn't sure who the murderer of Danny and Poppy was until it was revealed. I enjoyed all of the twists and turns and that kept me wondering what exactly happened that night and leading up to it.

This was my first book by this author but it definitely won't be the last. I loved her writing style and the way she pulled me into the story and kept me hooked.

This was a book I enjoyed immensely and will absolutely be recommending it!!

crying screaming throwing up. HOLY SMOKES. Was I prepared for this? Nope. I was not. I thought I had it figured out, but I didn't. I love books that have that nostalgic feel of the time period in which it was written, and Clark incorporated SO many of those things into this novel. It made for such a compelling tale that I was staying up late just to see what would happen next. SO GOOD. Thank you SOURCEBOOKS Landmark | Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the ARC!!! AHHHH!!!

This book took me for a trip and I loved every twisty minute of it. This is one of the most complex and dynamic thrillers I’ve read in a long time, and everything about how it was constructed worked for me.

While it unfolds slowly at first, I flew through the last 50% and stayed up way past my bed time needing to finish “just one more chapter.” The pacing was perfect, and the dual timeline and different POVs added so much depth to the story.

Every time I thought I knew where the story was going, I was wrong. I also really enjoyed the deeper themes, including family/sibling relationships, trauma, and the power that secrets can have over us.

Definitely check triggers for this one, but will absolutely be recommending to everyone!

I really love thrillers set in the 70s and all but this one was just okay for me. I've been reading a lot of thrillers lately so maybe it was my mood at the time. Overall I would recommend it because I did enjoy it and it's perfect for summer reading

Thanks to NetGallery and Sourcebook Landmarks for an ARC of this book!

I love everything Julie Clark has written, and this book did not disappoint!

The dual timelines and multiple POVs fit perfectly with the storyline by uncovering information as the main character, Olivia, learned the truth of her father’s past. There were lots of twists with unreliable narrators, which is something I love in a book. While it was a slow burn, pieces of the story were revealed throughout the book which kept me hooked to find out what would happen next. The story was also emotional at times with experiences the characters went through, which added depth to the book.

Overall, it was a well-plotted mystery with twists and drama!