Julie Clark’s latest novel The Ghostwriter is a haunting dive into family, secrets, and the things we carry across decades. The Ghostwriter weaves two timelines—1975 and the present day—into a gripping tale of tragedy, mystery, and the complicated bond between a father and daughter.

Julie Clark masterfully unravels the layers of the Taylor family’s past, pulling you into a summer that changed everything—and the chilling consequences that still echo today.

If you love dual timelines, messy family dynamics, and a slow-burning mystery with emotional depth, this one’s for you.

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I'll admit that I struggled through this, however, I loved it once I made it through. I don't know why it was hard for me to get pulled into it, but the story ended up growing strong midway, and I loved all of the twists and turns and felt drawn in.

This was magnificent. Twisty, gripping, and honestly heartbreaking. The best of Julie Clark’s catalog.

Be prepared for a slow burn on this one! As with most of Julie Clark books, there is "a ha" moment where you were always looking in the wrong place and this one got me! There seemed to be a multitude of things occurring in this book and I found all of them interesting. Too bad, the daughter/dad relationship was a bit frustrating; one of those "PLEASE TALK TO EACH OTHER" and a lot of this mystery can be solved pretty quickly but then I guess we wouldn't have a book then. I thought the payoff and the overall message was strong. The story within a story trend seems to be strong and the mystery kept me locked in.

Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has a secret she's determined to protect at all costs. When a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes knocking, she might have to confront her family's dark past to move forward. Olivia is a pretty complex character, but the story sometimes holds back her full potential because of all the different viewpoints and flashbacks, which can make things feel a bit scattered. Some plot threads are left hanging, and the overall pacing tends to be slow, especially during tense moments that don't quite pay off before switching to another story. The other characters can come off as a bit insufferable and don't really tug at your heartstrings, making it hard to connect with them. The relationship between the brothers is touched on quickly without feeling fully developed. Overall, it’s a fantastic premise, but the story moves at a snail’s pace.

This was a good book. Well written, good characters and good premise. Just nothing stood out to me and I knew the who dun it, but it didn't bother me that I did.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the ebook in exchange for my honest review.

The Ghostwriter is part family drama, part psychological thriller, and it manages to balance both genres really well. I enjoyed the dual timelines—present day Olivia, reluctantly ghostwriting her estranged father’s memoir, and the 1970s story of Vincent’s family that unravels piece by piece. The unreliable memories, old films, and fragmented accounts gave the whole book an eerie, almost cinematic feel.

At the center of the story was an emotional complicated father-daughter relationship layered into a murder mystery. The pacing was strong, with just enough twists to make it a page turner.

If I had one critique, it’s that the ending wrapped up a little too quickly—I wanted a touch more breathing room after such a rich, tense build-up.

Overall: moody, suspenseful, and surprisingly moving. Perfect if you enjoy thrillers with an emotional backbone and a narrator you’re not sure you can fully trust.

This one was part thriller part family saga. I enjoyed every last bit of this twisted tale. I couldn't put it down.

Julie Clark is one of my favorite thriller authors and her latest did not disappoint! Multi-POV and time jumping kept the pace up and the dynamic between father and daughter kept me guessing. One less star for a slightly predictable ending, but still enjoyed it nonetheless. Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for my ARC!

WOW! This was an absolutely fantastic story! The twisty turny story was so interesting and kept me engaged throughout the entire book.

I highly recommend this book and will now look for more books from this author.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read and review this story.

This book is the definition of morally grey & I'm 1000% here for it 💀
I regret not reading the ARC before it came out 🙊
Amazing & emotional rollercoaster of a novel
I went into this book completely blind & I don't want to give anything cause imo this book was amazing !! 🖤

i need to binge everything by this author now

Thanks #NetGalley for this Arc
Sorry I was late reading it ,

Olivia is a ghostwriter, writing other people’s stories. But now her father, Vincent, who she hasn’t acknowledged as her father for a long time, wants her to write his story. It’s an offer Olivia can’t refuse, because in 1975 a brother and sister were murdered-and her father was the only sibling who survived. No one has ever heard the story of what happened from Vincent’s mouth-until now.

This was a really good book. I love a mystery from the past story and this one delivered. The characters are very compelling, as are their relationships, including the ones from the past. The mystery was one I had to know the answer to, and I was more than satisfied with that resolution. I would definitely recommend this book.

Another solid mystery from Julie Clark! Main character, Olivia, is a ghostwriter and is surprised when her agent tells her that horror writer Vincent Taylor has specifically asked her to ghostwrite his memoir. What the agent doesn't know, though, is that he is Olivia's estranged father. His two siblings were stabbed to death in their home when they were teenagers, and he has always been suspected to be the killer. Olivia is in dire straights financially and feels she has little choice but to accept the job. Reuniting with her father is a daunting experience under any circumstances, but his health problems make it more so. As she begins to write the stories he relates to her, more and more questions arise. Olivia's attempts to get things right for the sake of the book lead her down many convoluted paths, and the story takes a number of twists and turns.

I enjoyed the overall arc of the story - especially the slow of drip of information that was revealed about Vincent's past and Olivia's relationship with her father. That incremental reveal might not suit every reader. Some of the twists were predictable but many were not. Treasure hunt games had been a favorite past-time of Olivia and her father when she was a child, and I loved how the author used that aspect to propel some of the plot points forward. It was fairly well paced and entertaining. Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for a digital copy to review.

I enjoyed Julie Clark's previous thrillers, so I was excited to check out The Ghostwriter. It definitely did not disappoint and she took the thriller level up a few notches. It had a true crime feel and made me think of the TV series Cold Case.

I was guessing the whole way through and completely in suspense. I thought I might be right about something but then got thrown for a loop. I liked the back-and-forth nature of the storytelling and how we learned stuff that Olivia needed to figure out. There were some unreliable narrator elements, as I wasn't sure if I could really trust what Vincent was saying. He was set up to be unreliable because he had Lewy Body Dementia though. Sometimes his leads would be confusing for Olivia to get answers from. He also made the job challenging for her in other ways.

I felt bad for Olivia considering her career situation and the other author who was making things difficult for her. I only wanted her to get all the answers so she could write the best book possible. I was also annoyed that Tom couldn't be more understanding about the position she was in.

Overall, this novel was really well done and kept me on the edge of my seat. There was also some emotional impact from the situation in the past. I look forward to reading more by Julie Clark!

(Trigger warnings below.)

Movie casting suggestions:
Olivia: Rose Byrne
Vincent (adult): Bradley Whitford
Vincent (teen): Billy Barratt
Danny: Jack Champion
Poppy: Evie Templeton
Mr. Stewart: Joseph Quinn
Lydia: Sadie Munroe
Tom: Brandon Routh
Alma: Rose Abdoo
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TW: Death of siblings, death of teenagers, pedophilia, abortion (off page), depiction of murder, parental abandonment

I loved this book. I wish the ending was more concrete but I was able to decipher what the author intended. It was a fast read and kept me entertained.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the advanced reader copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

I loved the "look" of this book: the cover and the sprayed edges, as well as the hype around this book being THE BOOK of the summer was incredible - it certainly got me hooked, along with the premise.

However, in the end, this book didn't cut it for me. Julie Clarke's writing was as sharp as ever, but the protagonist Olivia was a real contradiction for me--obviously a very smart researcher/writer but so dense personally at times. I found her behavior at times to not be true to who she seemed as a character. The story itself was exceedingly slow through half of the book and would not come close to qualifying as a "thriller" and the multiple narratives describing the same episodes just served up confusion for me.."who is telling the truth?" was a frequent thought that crossed my mind. At the end, I closed the book still unsure of "whodunnit" and reread it several times, still confused. I think in an effort to provide multiple twists and "gotcha" moments, this novel just took too many turns. I think the book could've benefited from stronger editing.

Sorry to say, I can't recommend this one.

I need to stop letting BookTok hype me up, I almost always end up disappointed. Which is not the authors fault by any means!
The Ghostwriter ranks at 3.5 🌟 IMO. It was exciting and thrilling, but I did end up feeling disappointed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

A twisty thriller with complicated family dynamics. The story bounces back and forth between present day when Olivia is asked to ghostwrite her father’s memoir, and 1975 when her father’s family experienced an unfathomable tragedy. Julie Clark writes thrilling novels that keep you guessing and turning the page to find out more!

The only reason this took me a while to read is because I had a couple other books going at the same time.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Julie Clark does not disappoint! I loved this book about a daughter being recruited to write her estranged father's biography. I loved the story of her relationship with her father, along with finding out what happened to his two murdered siblings. Excellent writing as always, and I look forward to Clark's next novel!

3 stars

This book was very different from my usual thrillers. It gave me that slow-burn mystery that I don't normally like but in this case I loved. I was so interested in seeing where the story was going. I loved the flashback chapters because it gave me that nostalgic feeling of the 70s and loved that it took me back. However towards the last third of the book, I felt like the story was losing steam a little bit so I have to settle with a three star rating. Also the audiobook narrator was very monotoned and it made the story a little less enjoyable.