Olivia has been estranged from her writer father, Vincent Taylor, for the last 20 years or so. When she was young, she found out that her father was suspected of murdering his siblings, Danny and Poppy, when he was around sixteen. Vincent was a big drinker, and after Olivia's mom left, it got worse. When he sent Olivia away to boarding school, she eventually cut him out of her life and she became a ghostwriter using a different last name. She never tells anyone that she's related to an alleged murderer, even her long-time boyfriend. When Vince hires her to write his last book, she doesn't want to do it but can't turn it down, so she heads home. It turns out that Vincent wants to come clean about what happened back then, and it's up to Olivia to make sense of his rambling notes.

We mostly get Olivia's point of view from the current time period, interspersed with chapters from Poppy and Vincent in 1975. The more Olivia digs, the more puzzle pieces start falling into place.

All in all, this is a good family mystery story. I had never read anything by Julie Clark before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. This was kind of a slow burn, more literary mystery than a suspense or thriller. If you enjoy a good puzzle, then you'll enjoy this one.

The Ghostwriter was such a twisted, slow burn of a thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. A woman gets asked to ghostwrite a book for a famous thriller author except, the catch is that it is her estranged father. Her father who was accused of killing his brother and sister when they were kids. No spoilers but let’s just say, this was so well done, with so many red herrings to throw me off course, so many subtle clues, so many unreliable narrators, and so deliberate in how the clues were dropped. It was heartbreaking and intense at the same time and really had me emotionally invested.

4.0 stars
The Ghostwriter
Julie Clark

I was at 3/3.5 stars for The Ghostwriter, but I was emotional at the end of the novel and quite swept up in the honesty of the writing so a 4 it is! I think the blurbs for this book were quite misleading. This was definitely not a thriller and not very suspenseful. It was a tragedy filled with family dysfunction and constant sibling unease. The author gave us and the Protagonist in the book many, many clues to solving the crime(s), but it really affected the pacing of the book. It took me way too long to finish this novel, which is never a good sign. I really enjoyed The Last Flight, but this story did not have me flying.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the eCopy for me to review. My reviews can be found on Barnes& Noble, Amazon, and Goodreads. My opinion is my own.

I was provided and ARC of this book via Sourcebooks and Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this suspenseful, family drama. This follows ghostwriter Olivia in the wake of her social ousting. She had the gall to speak her mind at a conference and now she has essentially been cancelled and what was once a successful career ghostwriting memoirs and nonfiction has completely dried up. No one wants to be associated with her after she angered one of publishing's most successful writers. When a new project crosses her desk she has to take it, it just so happens to be her estranged father's memoir and the story everyone has wanted him to tell about what happened to his family. The problem is Olivia isn't sure if this is another one of his horror novels, another way he is trying to manipulate her, or if he really is telling the truth about what happened.

I haven't read a good thriller in quite a while. This alternates between the present day from Olivia's perspective, her father Vincent's perspective in 1975, as well as her Aunt Poppy's perspective also in 1975. In the present, Vincent's health is failing and he wants to tell the truth about what happened to his brother and sister as he is the only one who knows the truth. In bringing Olivia on to tell his story, it was almost as if he was making amends in a way for many things. Olivia is given very specific stipulations on how she must write the book, but being a good writer and a prior journalist she is able to seek out the information she needs to make sense of what her father tells her and the notes and clues he's left her. As we travel back in time and hear from Vincent and Poppy we learn of the tension and dark emotions that were running among the 3 Taylor siblings. There were plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing as to what really happened and why Vincent was so secretive about it all of these years.

If you are looking for a book full of secrets and scavenger hunts, this is a great read.

4 out of 5 stars -Julie Clark has done it again!

Really enjoyed this book! Fast-paced suspense novel that I couldn't put down and kept me guessing! A perfect pool read for summer!

Thanks to Julie Clark, NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with an advanced copy of THE GHOSTWRITED in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley #TheGhostwriter

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark is a slow burn thriller that you'll be thinking about long after you finish it!. Olivia Dumont is a professional ghostwriter that helps people put their story into a book. Her latest project is to ghostwrite her estranged father's story. Olivia Dumont is really Olivia Taylor and her father is acclaimed horror author, Vincent Taylor. This isn't a horror novel that Vince wants her to write. It's his story about what happened one night in 1975 when his life was torn apart. In June of 1975 Vince's brother and sister were found murdered in their family home. Vince wasn't home and is the only surviving child of his parents. Rumors and talk around town had Vince as the bad guy who murdered his brother and sister, even though he had an alibi. He's had to live with this his entire life. He wants the real story to be told now while he can still remember it. Vince has been diagnosed with a disease that will soon take his mind and body.

Olivia isn't thrilled to be working with her father as he sent her away for school to get her out of his life. Olivia's mother left when she was in kindergarten and she was left alone with her father. She's still angry with him, but needs the money to avoid having to sell her house. Olivia's boyfriend, Tom, doesn't know that she's really Olivia Taylor as she's never shared anything about her family with him. She's told him that both of her parents are dead just to avoid the truth. When she leaves for this job, he has no idea what she's really doing. Will Olivia be able to get the real story out of Vince before he loses his memory for good? Will Olivia like what she finds out about her Dad or will she find that her Dad was indeed a monster who killed Danny and Poppy? Why did Olivia's mom leave and never come back? Was she afraid of Vince? Did she find out the truth and couldn't face it? The Ghostwriter is a gripping thriller that unfolds slowly through different timelines and perspectives. I rate the book 4 stars with a high recommendation. I'd like to thank NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advanced copy of The Ghostwriter in exchange for a fair review.
#TheGhostwriter

The Ghostwriter, by Julie Clarke, is a dark reflective novel of how the past is always with us. Olivia Dumont has reached a crisis in her career. She has lost a lawsuit to another ghostwriter, she is near to losing her home, and no one wants to hire her. Out of nowhere comes an offer to ghostwrite for the famous horror author, Vincent Taylor. The advance will save her home and help resurrect her career. There is one problem, Vincent Taylor is Olivia's father. Even worse, Vincent has decided to tell the story that he has buried for 50 years. He is finally going to tell the world, and Olivia, what he knows about the tragic murder of his older brother and younger sister when Vincent was 15. Will Olivia finally find out that her father is a murderer as everyone suspects? Olivia has spent her life trying to distance herself from him and his past. Now she will have to confront all of the ghosts from her family's past. The Ghostwriter is full of suspense, mystery and family drama. It will keep you guessing until the very end! #netgalley

Thank you so much for this ARC! I was so hyped to get started on this one. For me, it started so strong and then around 65% I really found myself losing interest and not wanting to pick the book up. It was such a slow burn, too slow for me that I was a goner. The concept was great and I did enjoy the different points of view but my interest was not sustained. Will continue to be excited about this author, even though this was a no from me this time.

Thank you to Netgalley & Sourcebooks for this advanced copy!

This is my second Julie Clark novel, and it has officially cemented her place on my auto-buy list for when I need a smart, slow-burn literary thriller. Her ability to blend emotional depth with page-turning suspense is truly something special.

The Ghostwriter is a perfect read for book lovers. At its heart, it offers a fascinating look into the world of ghostwriting—what it really means to help someone tell their story, and the delicate process of shaping a memoir from someone else's memories. That alone had me intrigued, but it’s the layered mystery at the center of the novel that made this such a compelling read.

The story weaves together the complexities of a father-daughter relationship, long-buried secrets, and the mystery surrounding a double murder from the past. It’s a “what happened and whodunnit” done in a way that’s both emotionally resonant and genuinely suspenseful. I found myself constantly drawn back to the book—telling myself I’d read just one more chapter… and then devouring five.

Now I’m kicking myself for not having picked up The Last Flight yet, which I’ve heard is one of Clark’s best—it’s been sitting on my shelf for far too long. If The Ghostwriter (and her previous novel, The Lies I Tell) is any indication, I’m in for another gripping, thoughtful, and incredibly satisfying read.

Highly recommend this one - I can’t wait to see what Julie Clark does next!

An intriguing mystery based on faltering memories, unreliable assumptions, and wasted opportunities.

It has long been assumed, though never proved, that Olivia Taylor’s father, Vince, murdered his older brother, Danny, and younger sister, Poppy, fifty years ago. Now that he is sinking into dementia he wants to correct the record and publish a memoir written by his daughter, a well-known ghostwriter. Olivia has had little contact with her father since her mother left them and Olivia left home to go to boarding school in France.

She is reluctant to take on this project but needs the money, so turns up at her fathers house in Ojai ready to get it over with. But his memories are shaky and sometimes demonstrably false and Olivia is not sure what she’s got herself into.

Over the course of the novel we get to see Ojai in 1975 from the perspective of Vince, through his notes and conversations with Olivia, and also through the diary and home movies of Poppy, an enthusiastic amateur film maker. Also, and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this, we have sections from an actual ghost writer - Poppy - and a young Vince, filling in the holes in the narratives and giving often alternative perspectives.

Poppy shines through as the bright spark finding her own path while her older brothers are at war with each other. Though there are conflicting views on Vince and Danny, everyone loved and admired Poppy and it is her early death and unfulfilled potential that is the most obvious tragedy. But hidden under there are tragedies for both Danny and Vince that are not the obvious ones they initially appear to be. Olivia herself, now in her 40’s has also been emotionally crippled by what happened to her father and his siblings and is looking for liberation from that.

The author does a fine job of juggling often conflicting narratives with some presented as “fact” and others as shaky memories. Recommended if you’re in the mood for a twisty but downbeat mystery.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Want to start off my saying thank you to the publishers and netgalley for the advanced copy! I was super excited to get an arc of a Julie Clark book as I have read her others if I tell and the first flight. The ghost writer unfortunately fell flat for me. It was extremely boring and took me way too long to finish. I also absolutely hated the "twist" so predictable.

I’m the type of reader who always tries to guess the killer within the first few chapters—most of the time, I’m right. But this book? It completely fooled me and kept me guessing until the very end. It twisted my mind in the best possible way.

From the very first page, I was hooked and read it all in one sitting. Julie’s writing is phenomenal. Even with shifts in timelines and multiple POVs, the story flows so seamlessly that you’re never confused. In fact, the different perspectives add so much depth, helping you understand each character better and how they perceive one another.

If you love thrillers that keep you on your toes and make you second-guess everything you thought you knew, this one is a must-read. Gripping, layered, and so well-written! I couldn’t put it down.

The Ghostwriter blends family secrets long ago hidden away, unreliable memories and suspense. The main character is Olivia, whose job is to ghostwrite memoirs of famous people. Her editor then tells her that her next job will be working with Vincent Taylor, a famed horror writer. One problem - Olivia is actually the estranged daughter of Vincent. She decides to take the job anyway (so she won't lose her house) and returns to her family home. Vincent is suffering from dementia so many of his memories are no longer intact. Olivia realizes, however, that this book that Vincent wants her to write about his life, is actually his confession about the double murder of his sister and brother back in 1975 that tore apart their small town.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Julie Clark never misses! I recommend her books to everyone and this is no exception. :) This one hooked me from the start and was super easy to follow!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review (sorry I read it after pub date sorry!!!)

I absolutely loved this book. It was such a journey from start to finish. In the second half things really picked up in pace with a lot of action and really short chapters which I love. It was also really interesting to watch the characters’ history come out one page at a time.

What a killer premise—literally and figuratively. In The Ghostwriter, an estranged daughter is asked to ghostwrite the autobiography of her once-absent father, now a bestselling author. But there's a dark twist: he may have been involved in the decades-old, still-unsolved murder of his own siblings.

Dark, emotional, and full of twists, this is a slow-burn thriller you won't be able to put down.

This was a super fun, fast read! A ghostwriter's estranged father hires her to write his memoir about the murder of his brother & sister in 1975... but did he kill them? I love how this book delves into complex family dynamics that impact the central character in the current day, while still landing all of the fun twists and whodunit fun. Definitely recommend!!

I’m very picky about which thrillers I pick up, but this one had me with the pitch!

Olivia Dumont is a ghostwriter and has found herself with a new potential client. His name is Vincent Taylor, a prolific fiction writer, but whispers still abound that he killed his brother and sister when they were all children. Oh and he’s Olivia’s estranged father… and he’s ready to write his memoir.

I mean c’mon! I was sold! And I’m so glad to say that I really enjoyed this story. This was a slower burn thriller which I much appreciated. Even though the plot and whodunit keeps the plot moving, I was still learning about the stories behind these characters and they weren’t just cardboard cutouts for the plot.

I had many theories but the author did a good job of making me question myself and I kept switching what I thought happened and never felt 100% sure that I had everything figured out. Definitely recommend!! (Trigger warnings do abound for this one so look those up if concerned!)

Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has spent her entire life trying to distance herself from her famous father who is suspected of killing his siblings. When she finds herself on the brink bankruptcy she is forced to accept an assignment to ghostwrite his last book. This was terrific. I was hooked from the beginning and it kept getting better. Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC.

This book will be the hit of the summer! The multiple POVs and timelines were clear to follow, but also left you guessing as the story slowly unfolded over the course of decades. This is one book I could not put down!