This is a historical horror that follows a writer who has been tapped to write the story of a famous horror writer, who was the sole surviving sibling who has had to move forward while being blamed for killing his siblings. He has never revealed what truly happened that night. This book has so many twists and turns as Olivia has to figure out what is theatrics, what is fact and what is fiction. This book has a lot of tension and suspense.

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark is a gripping read full of twists and turns. Olivia has no other choice but to ghostwrite her estranged father’s new novel, despite their nonexistent relationship and a dysfunctional family dynamic. As she tries to unravel the mystery of her father’s brother and sister’s murder, the story unfolds with multiple layers—her own struggles, her father’s declining health, and long-buried family secrets. With an engaging mix of suspense and emotion, this book kept me hooked until the end. I will recommend this to readers who enjoy thrillers and women's fiction with family dysfunction. It will also be one to recommend to book clubs. I look forward to what is next from Julie Clark.

Another great thriller from Julie Clark! I love when we get new authors that continue to put out great book after great book!

The Ghostwriter has one of the more unique plots I have read in a while: a woman ghostwriting her estranged father's memoir, despite him being accused of killing his siblings 30 years ago. What!!?? That plot alone made this one hard to put down!

The book sprinkles in snippets of content from the past in the form of journal entries, a diary written in code, and long thought lost home movies. Clark does a good job of allowing these anecdotes to add to the story without straying too far from the present day, which I really appreciate. It added depth to the plot rather than it feeling like a dual timeline novel, which it was not. However, there are great glimpses of the 1970's culture with all those movies and journal entries, which made the novel feel immersive and like an expertly woven narrative fabric.

While Clark does bring her signature feminist grit to The Ghostwriter, it wasn't as strong as in her previous novels. However, I though it was a perfect amount, I like that it was still present because that is actually something I have come to love about this author's novels, but the plot didn't make a lot of room for it, so I think it was well balanced.

Overall, a really well done thriller! This will make a great summer read!

I received a free digital copy of The Ghostwrite from the publisher and NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont returns to her father’s house to ghostwrite his last book. He is a well known horror author who is ready to tell the truth about his brother and sisters murders when they were just teenagers. I love Julie Clark, this book was twisty and dark, slow burn at the start which then turned into me staying up all night to know what happened next.

Told in tldual timeliness, present day and 1975, i fpund this boom to be a good mystery with some family dysfunction mixed in. A multi layered story that kept me guessing until the very end. Well done

Thabk you netgalley for the ARC!!!!!

Thank you Netgalley for the free ARC! I thought this was a great book. I enjoyed the plot and the suspenseful twists and turns. I also was very engaged with the before and after storyline. I would definitely recommend this bok and all of Julie Clark’s novels.

I had never read this author before but I must say I enjoyed this book. A lot of imagination went into this story. I liked all of the twists.

The Ghostwrite was an unusual story, but it drew me in quickly. It is assumed that Olivia's author father killed his siblings when they were only in their teens. They're estranged, but as she is also a writer she is asked to ghostwrite his memoir. Against her better judgment, she accepts, and begins digging for the truth. This was a fast and interesting book. I enjoyed the seventies references quite a bit. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

The Ghostwriter is everything I want in a thriller and I was blown away by how fantastic this one is! Twisty, past/present timelines, a book within a book, a smart and savvy protagonist who you can’t help but root for. There are so many interesting threads and it comes together in such a seamless, satisfying way. I actually grew up around where this story takes place and it was very well done. You’ll spend the majority of this book kind of feeling like you know what’s going on but you probably won’t. It was a big ah-ha moment once we finally realize what happened that fateful night her father was accused of murder.

Overall, this is going to be a huge, buzzy release this year and it deserves every ounce of recognition! Mystery thriller fans are going to eat this up.

Ghostwriter Olivia is hired to write for her estranged father (a successful horror writer). He wants to write about the unsolved murder of his two siblings before he can no longer remember due to Lewy body dementia. Olivia delves into what her father has hand written for her and tries to piece together what really happened.
This novel is a slow burn. It really took me a minute to be hooked but once we started getting more POVs and more details through her aunts home videos it pulled me in. I did like the multi POVs and different timelines I feel like everything really flowed well story wise. I did figure out the "killer" pretty early on in this book. I don't feel like there were "twists" but there were many turns. This was my first Julie Clark novel, I enjoyed it enough to read another.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

4.5 stars
This book pulled me in and I’m still thinking about it after I’ve finished. I loved the multiple points of view between characters and time. The plot line with pulling his daughter back to ghost write their story, with the hidden clues, and unreliable narration made this so I couldn’t put it down. Each chapter I’d tell myself I would read one more, until I’d devoured the whole book.

I enjoyed this, the premise was interesting and it was a good mystery about a family with many tragedies. Good comments on the pain we carry from our families

This is family psychological thriller done so well. Past and present converge when our protagonist agrees to ghostwrite her father’s story… the truth about the deaths of his brother and sister when he was a teenager. There are many reasons she wants to refuse, but more reasons for her to say yes. She is eager to know the truth, too.

I enjoyed the dual timeline and the various perspectives. This was full of twists and intrigue. I had a great time reading The Ghostwriter.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced e-book.

This book was full of drama and suspense. This is my second book. I have read from Julie Clark and this was my favorite. She is definitely an author. I will read from in the future.

Olivia is hired to be the ghostwriter for her ailing father’s memoir.- her father that she has not seen in more spoken to in years. She unveils clues to a the mysterious death of his siblings. But first she has to decide- did her father kill them like the rumors suggest?
This book is suspenseful and kept me guessing until the end. The relationship between Olivia and her father starts very tense but develops into a deeper understanding. Five Stars!!

Clark did such a great job of capturing the atmosphere of the 70s. I was immediately pulled into this different time and really enjoyed the multiple POVS that slowly unraveled the story. The unreliability of Vince's stories had me questioning everything and I couldn't put it down. The twists were great and I was honestly shocked by how everything transpired in the end. I will definitely be recommending this one. The Ghostwriter was my first Julie Clark book but, immediately after finishing it, I downloaded her others.

Julie Clark's newest novel, The Ghostwriter, is a slow burn mystery with a shocking twist at the end. This is the third book I've read by this author. At this point her books have become must-reads for me.

Olivia Dumont has spent most of her adult life hiding the fact that her father is Vincent Taylor. Although a successful author, Vincent has lived under a shadow of suspicion since the brutal 1975 murder of his two siblings. Now he is dying and is ready to tell the truth about what happened that day. The catch - he wants Olivia, also a writer, to ghostwrite his memoir.

This book is so much more than just a mystery. Alternating between present day and 1975, it mines the kind of family drama and secrets that culminate in the climactic ending I couldn't guess no matter how I tried. I loved every minute of it - highly recommend.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Because I love twisty mysteries about writers, I was eager to read this one and I was not disappointed.

Ghostwriter Olivia is in a deep economic downturn after speaking her mind publicly about a mysoginistic writer and the pitfalls of being a woman ghostwriter in a male-dominated genre. When she is contacted by her agent with a new gig, Olivia is excited until she learns who it's for: her estranged father. But desperate to save her house and career, Olivia agrees to spend a few weeks in Oaji, California, revising her famous wirter/infamous murder suspect father's already-drafted notes into his memoir. However, when she arrives, she discovers her father is ill and is losing his memory, plus his notes are full of just snippets, which she deems as lies. Deciding to look into the real story of why her father was accused of killing his sister and brother in 1975, Olivia begins piecing together information from newspapers, an old diary, interviews, talks with her father, and other found sources. As the story twists and turns, lending credence to one version, then another and another, it offers up a handful of suspects and explanations in a nice, smooth fashion, then pulls the rug out from under each one.; as soon as I was sure I knew who and why and what had really happened, I was proven wrong again and again. A couple of secondary stories also fill in some cracks to support themes of family, shame, trust, secrets, and more, helping to round out the story. This was a fun, well-written read that kept me guessing til the end.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read and review Ghostwriter by Julie Clark.

Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has been estranged from her famous father for most of her life. Her father was suspected of brutally killing his siblings, and Olivia has spent years distancing herself from him while building her own name in publishing. When she’s asked to ghostwrite his upcoming novel she reluctantly agrees, leading her to confront her father’s past and their complicated relationship.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book. I liked the subtle theme that permeated throughout the novel of the double standards between men and women, particularly in publishing. Clark captures what it’s like to be a woman in the industry, where so much more is required to earn the same respect as male colleagues. One misstep for a woman can destroy her career, while men seem to bounce back from even bigger mistakes. This theme added depth to the story and made it feel especially relevant.

The depiction of the estranged father-daughter relationship felt raw and authentic. The story does a good job of showing the lingering effects of generational trauma and how those dynamics shape identity. That said, I struggled with Olivia as a main character. She often got in her own way, wasn’t great at communicating, and came across as whiny at times about her childhood. While she clearly understood the challenges women face, she lacked self-awareness. She is a complicated, sympathetic and also somewhat frustrating character. However, a side character was a standout—empowering, fun, and someone I would’ve loved as a friend growing up.

The Lies I Tell is still my favorite Julie Clark book, but Ghostwriter is great and is worth a read.

Twisty and turny all the way up to the end. One of the most important characteristics of a thriller is that I can’t figure out or guess the e ending until it happens. While I had inklings, the plot kept twisting just enough to keep me guessing. I really liked the build up and couldn’t wait to figure out the big reveal.

Thank you to #netgalley and #JulieClark for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.