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!

Kids. They only come home when they need money or to do laundry. That’s what my mom has always said. Olivia Dumont shows up at her estranged father’s house nominally for the money, but she ends up staying for answers about the family that was gone before she was even born and whose tragedy overshadowed her entire life.

I’m a huge fan of books about writers or other books, and The Ghostwriter is no exception. Ghostwriting is a fascinating profession, one that takes a certain type of writing talent that can often be maligned. When this book begins we meet Olivia in the aftermath of the most dreaded thing a woman can do when in the company of a huge panel of other authors: tell off a white male writer. Cue lack of work. Cue basically being blackballed. It’s this financial despondency that leads her to accept a job ghostwriting what will likely be her dad’s last novel, no matter how much she doesn’t want to lower herself to work with him.

Clark makes no pretense of comparing Olivia to her deceased aunt, Poppy, and even though it’s a rather trite thing I also loved the parallel because of how it showed how little women’s rights have progressed since 1975 (when about half of the book takes place). The Equal Rights Amendment had been proposed in 1972 and by 1975 had several states signed onto it, but momentum was beginning to slow. Maybe it’s just me, but I see a certain corresponding sadness that connects Poppy’s tragic death with the coming downfall of the ERA and it makes later revelations in the novel even more poignant.

There’s also a sad connection between Olivia’s dad in the present and his older brother, Danny, who was the other murder victim in the past. Painful memories and things that have happened to them that were out of their control result in explosive tempers and unreliable behavior.

It was a great thriller all around and a terrific summer read. 4⭐️


I was provided a copy of this title by the author and publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Disability Rep/Murder Thriller/Suspense Thriller/Thriller

Julie Clark never disappoints! I’ve really enjoyed all 3 books I’ve read from this author.

In this one, we follow Olivia, a ghostwriter who is tasked with helping to write her estranged father’s memoir.Her father who is widely believed to have killed his siblings in the 70s. There a multiple POVs in both the present day and in 1975. It was really fun to slowly put the pieces together of the days and weeks leading up to the murder as well as seeing the relationship between Olivia and her father develop.

It’s a thriller so I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say this kept my attention and I would have read this in one sitting if life would have allowed.

I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this twisty mystery! Olivia Dumont is a ghostwriter who's tried to separate herself from her unstable father, a famous author. She starts a new project ghostwriting for her father, who's also notorious for being a suspect in the decades-old stabbing murder of his siblings. The story moves at just the right pace, unfolding in a way that lets the reader put the pieces together as Olivia does. Every character, every story, has many layers and I was guessing whodunit right up until the end.

I've read a lot of "buzz" about this book, and it's all true. The plotline features a ghostwriter, Olivia Dumont, who is offered a contract to write the memoir of a famous horror author, Vincent Taylor. This author has Lewy body syndrome, which affects his abilities to read and write, along with instances of dementia that can turn violent. Did I mention that this horror author is her father, with whom she has spent more than half of her life trying to put distance between them? No one outside her hometown of Ojai, California, knows their connection, and Olivia wants to keep it that way. If she were not in such financial straits, she would not accept the job.
The publishing industry is interested and excited about this book because when Taylor was a teenager, his brother and sister were murdered. The case has never been solved, but most people believe Vincent killed them both to hide secrets. Olivia is determined to discover the truth and solve the cold case. This is the central thread of the book, with many lesser story threads weaving in and out to build tension and keep readers guessing. Julie Clark has several thrillers in her back library, but this one is her best yet. She pulls readers along as Olivia finds clues to the killer's identity, only to have them play out differently. There are chapters written in the voice of young Vincent and his murdered sister, Poppy, that show the buildup to the murders. The reveal and the "after" are perfect. Only one question.....Will we meet Olivia in another book? A ghostwriter could land anywhere.

Wow! This book hooked me from the get go. I was completely invested in this story and couldn't want to find out what had happened. This story was twisty and suspenseful with juicy family drama that I was eating up. I love a good dual timeline, especially when it is masterfully crafted to bring you to the edge of your seat. I went back and forth multiple times who I thought was did it and I never guessed right. If it weren't for everyday life, I would have binged this book in one day. I was engrossed in this story from start to finish. This was a bit of a slow burn, but it really paid off in the end.

If you are in the mood for a fun mystery and have time to kill on the weekend, please pick this one up. It was so good!

This was a fantastic thriller. !
So many twists and turns !
Characters are well developed and fleshed out.

This is a novel where a contemporary writing project reveals secrets from decades ago. I have read police procedural novels investigating cold cases. This novel has a unique way of revealing truth from long ago, such as finding long lost movie film. The narrative jumps from contemporary events to those in the past as secrets come to light. The point of view changes at times as well. It is a complex way to write the resolution of a cold case but it did read well.

This is a novel for readers who like reviewing personal experiences in solving a murder from decades ago.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent review.

Julie Clark is a new author for me, and after reading this I just want to see what else she's written. I love this book and was impressed at the depth and intelligence of the story.

Description:
Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has spent her entire professional life hiding the fact that she is the only child of legendary horror author Vincent Taylor, famous not only for his novels but for being the prime suspect in the brutal slaying of his siblings. On the brink of financial ruin, Olivia reluctantly agrees to ghostwrite her father's last book, not realising she will be forced to reckon with the ghosts that live at the centre of her family.

My Thoughts:
The characters are fully fleshed out and relatable. The story is told in two timelines - what happened while Poppy was living at home and growing up, and the present. This is not a fast-paced book, but yet I was fully captivated and loved the story. I didn't want to put it down. Poppy made a lot of discoveries about her family and about herself. There's a mystery here as well as relationship drama. Secrets come to light and they are not what is expected. I found the book very thoughtful and I loved the time I spent with it. I think any mystery lover will enjoy this one.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark through Netgalley for an advance copy.

Another ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read from Julie Clark.

This multi-perspective novel jumps between the 1970s when the murders occurred and today as Olivia tries to unravel the truth.

This was a page-turner for me, as each detail revealed made me want to read faster.

So many hard topics were broached and the author did a great job of handling the nuance of how we’d view them today vs how they might have been handled in the 1970s.

I really enjoyed Poppy’s character and I wasn’t surprised that Julie mentioned Poppy being her favorite to write.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.