The Taylor family had deep secrets to be sure, far deeper than most families, and the reveal of these secrets was definitely unexpected and surprising. Slow to develop it soon had me engaged trying to anticipate the next delightful twist and turn. What started out as an estranged daughter asked by her father to ghostwrite his story, it quickly turns into a dangerous mystery where the characters cannot be sure who they can trust. I found the premise of this book very unique and frightening. The author provided enough details to make the story flow without spoon feeding the reader with all the answers and information.

“The Ghostwriter” is a dark, twisted, disturbing and riveting psychological thriller told through creative language and descriptive settings. Clark does a fantastic job of building suspense and growing an inkling of dread into full blown terror. I will definitely read her other works!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark who provided me with a copy of this book. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Wow! This book is so freaking twisty it kept me guessing until the absolute end. If you are looking for a great book with lots of family drama, secrets upon secrets, and a twisty story then this is the book for you! I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

This is probably one of my favorite books by Julie Clark, and her others were all excellent as well. Olivia is a ghost writer who is struggling to find work when she is approached to write a memoir for her estranged father. Having no other source of income she agrees, only to learn that he’s sick and wants her to write about what really happened to his siblings the summer they were killed. Olivia starts to dive into her father’s past and starts down a road that leads her on a journey to discover the truth.
This book was so easy to read, with it being very atmospheric and engaging. I loved the characters and how perfectly flawed they were as well as how the end tied everything together.
Thank you to Netgalley and to the publishers for allowing me to read this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

<i>Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.</i>

4.5 stars rounded down

I really enjoyed The Last Flight by this author so I went in really excited! This story is the best pieces of a typical murder mystery with so many woven layers to make it spooky and honestly kind of emotional! I will absolutely put Julie Clark’s books in my rotation going forward.

Wow. Incredible. I loved the attention to detail in all aspects, without giving anything away. The twists just kept coming and my jaw dropped a little more every chapter. This is my favorite book of 2025 so far.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy of The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark. This is a brilliantly crafted psychological thriller with historical elements and an intricately woven plot that will have you on the edge of your seat. The premise is unique and intriguing, and it will have you turning page after page.

The story begins with the unsolved double-homicide of two young teens during the summer of 1975 in Ojai, California. Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont is requested by her father, Vincent, to help him write a memoir where he tells the truth about what really happened to his brother and sister that summer. Desperate to redeem her plummeting writing career, Olivia accepts this offer, despite the estranged relationship with her father, and the fact that no one knows she is his daughter. Decade-long rumors about the murders left Vince as one of the prime suspects, and as a world-renowned author himself, he decides he is ready to tell his story. Vincent suffers from Lewy-body dementia and Olivia has to help him navigate his fading memory and hallucinations. She must help decipher cryptic notes and decade old clues that feel unnerving and out-of-context. Olivia is now burdened with the task of uncovering what actually happened 50 years prior, while trying to understand who her father truly is, as well as the mysterious past of her slain aunt and uncle.

Clark provides us with multiple points-of-view and takes the reader on a journey from the 1970s to present day. The mystery unfolds like a true work of art, and you are thirsting to understand how all of the pieces of the puzzle will connect in the end. The protagonist discovers diary entries, old film reels, news articles, and eye witness accounts that assist her in determining the truth behind the great mystery of Ojai. There is a historical fiction element well-incorporated into the story that transports you back to 1970s America. There are themes of feminism, abortion rights, misogyny, revenge, jealousy, teacher-student relationships, toxic family dynamics, and the grief of losing loved ones. There are romantic sub-plots that enhance the overall dynamic of the book.

Just in time for summer, this book is a must read for thriller readers and I highly recommend picking it up on June 3rd!

“My father used to always say, ‘No regrets, no looking back.’”

Themes/Trigger Warnings:
*Abortion
*Murder
*Animal death
*Lewy Body Dementia
*Alcohol/drug addiction
*Feminism/misogyny
*Inappropriate teacher-student relationship
*Estranged family

3.5 stars
After seeing such high praise for early reviews maybe my expectations were just too high for this. It was a unique spin on this trope but i kept getting annoyed by the ‘ill tell you everything…BUT JUST NOT RIGHT NOW’ type of writing. I get that it’s used to create suspense but this happened so many times in this book im like why can’t these people just TELL each other already? It made it feel like it was going around in circles. The ultimate reveal was good and i really enjoyed the final 25% or so of the book, but yeah it just wasn’t my favorite writing style and took overly long to get to the point.

In 1975, Olivia Taylor Dumont's father Vincent murdered his sister Poppy and brother Danny but Vincent maintained his innocence, his alibi confirmed by both his girlfriend and his teacher. The case against Vincent was flimsy at best and, even though everyone knew he had done it, no one could prove it and Vincent went on to marry his high school sweetheart Lydia while building a wildly successful career as a writer. Now, decades later, Vincent's daughter Olivia is struggling to repair her reputation as a top knotch ghostwriter after an unfortunate social media gaffe that cost her more than just her next job. In order to pay some hefty legal bills and restore the world's confidence in her work, Olivia is willing to take on any job that comes her, even if that means reconnecting with her long-estranged father who, she learns, is dying of an aggressive type of dementia and wants to write his memoirs before he can no longer remember the pieces that might help Olivia solve the puzzle of who really killed her aunt and uncle. The only catch is, her father doesn't want her talking to anyone from his past, not even her mother who abandoned them when Olivia was young and Lydia is one of the few people who can truly fill in the blanks. As Olivia dives into her father's version of events she attempts to unravel not just her aunt and uncle's murders, but her own complicated family history, she begins to wonder if her feelings about her father and his guilt (or innocence) might be way off base. It'll take more than just digging through her father's belongings and old family movies to finally find the answers Olivia has wanted for so long and she will learn that sometimes the answers aren't always the ones you want.

This book was nearly impossible to put down. While the general story line might sound simple enough, the relationship between father and daughter is far from it. Vincent capitalizes on his daughter's vulnerabilities and uses them to provide himself with a stage from which to direct her to the conclusions he wants her to make about the part he played in the death of his siblings. The complicated relationship Olivia has with both her parents makes it difficult for her to distance herself from them in order to write her father's story but it also makes her the only person who can truly tell this story and close that chapter of her parents' lives. This book takes Olivia from the shadows of being the unnamed "ghostwriter" to being the hero of a story she thought she knew so well but discovered she didn't know at all.

The Ghostwriter
A Novel
by Julie Clark
I have never read Julie Clark before but I will definitely read her again. This book held me spellbound from the beginning. Drama, tragedy, mystery, family dynamics, Daddy issues.
You see Olivia's father was under suspicion for the brutal murder of his siblings when he was just a teenager and then went on to become a writer of horror. Needless to say, the relationship between father & daughter deteriorated and it has been many years since they have seen each other.
Olivia is a Ghostwriter.
When Olivia's father is diagnosed with dementia, he wants to get his story out and who better to tell than his estranged daughter.
I love a book with differing POV's, it allows you to see things through different perspectives.
Quite a few times I thought I had it all figured out but come to find out I didn't.
Highly recommended. Will be looking for more from this author.
I received a digital review copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark
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Olivia is a ghostwriter who has had some recent troubles. The only job offer she has had in sometime is to ghostwrite her dad’s memoir about the murders of his own brother and sister. And everything thinks he did it.
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What I liked:
-This book had such a great hook. I was sucked in fast and quickly became needy for every chapter.
-Everything about Olivia’s situation was fascinating. I wanted to know what she was thinking, what she would do next, and what new secrets she would unearth.
-The story was gloriously layered with mysteries.
-The ending was awesome.
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5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I think this is the best Julie Clark book yet, although there are two I haven’t read according to Goodreads. A must read for mystery fans.

Olivia is a ghostwriter for celebrities and needs a client as she is financially in debt and about to lose her home. Her father, who she has not seen or spoken to since she was in school, is suffering memory loss and wants her to ghostwrite his memoir. She’s desperate and taking this job would pay off her debts.

When Olivia was a child, her father would set up treasure hunts for her to figure out for a prize. He has written his memoir and as his health and memory are failing, he wants her to correct and organize his writings. Olivia believes his memoir isn’t factual in regards to a personal tragedy he experienced 50 years ago when he was a teenager. She discovers his story is another treasure hunt.

This is a suspenseful mystery told from various viewpoints.

I always like a good mystery thriller, and this book did not disappoint! Filled with secrets, lies, and trauma, this story has so many layers that will keep you entranced and guessing as to what really happened. It's told from multiple POVs, over a fifty year time span, that delves into one family's drama and the unsolved murders that haunt them. Julie Clark's exquisite storytelling will keep you hooked and invested until the very last line!

I read this book through NetGalley for a review. I enjoyed it! The intrigue of the main character’s and her father’s histories kept me interested the entire book. I hoped there were supernatural elements, but there weren’t. Even so, it was still a fascinating and thrilling read.

Olivia is struggling professionally after calling out a misogynistic colleague at a conference. No one wants to work with a ghost writer who speaks the truth. Just when she thinks she going to have to sell her house to pay her bills, she gets a call from her agent for a new book. The person whose story she’ll be telling is, unfortunately, her estranged father, a prolific horror writer. Desperate to get back to work, Olivia accepts the job and makes her way to her childhood home. She finds her father sick and unable to write, but finally wanting to tell his side of the story about his siblings’ violent deaths in the 1970s. As Olivia begins to unravel the story of that night, she finds more and more evidence pointing to her father as the killer.

I kept thinking I’d figured out who the killer was. The way the book puts suspicion on different characters was fun. Even though I figured out some aspects of the mystery, others were kept secret until the very end. I found the book compelling and entertaining. I enjoyed the way Olivia’s history is woven in through her father’s. She has such long held beliefs, it’s hard for her to see what’s different, and I appreciated how open she is to new discoveries.

Get your copy June 3

This was my first time reading a book by Julie Clark and I very much enjoyed it. The novel is a bit of a slow burn but at about a third way in I was invested. I needed to know how this book would end and how the lives of these characters would play out. I felt like this was a very unique thriller as well with the ghostwriter aspect. Well blended book that delves into family tragedies and the effects it plays many years later.

I was really excited to hear that Julie Clark was coming out with The Ghostwriter as I was a fan of her previous book The Last Flight. The Ghostwriter’s plot is about a family whose two siblings were mysteriously murdered 50 years ago, and the daughter of one of the surviving siblings has to figure out who killed her aunt and uncle. The plot sounded intriguing to me but as I started reading it became predictable who the killer was. Also, there are parts of this story that are similar to the book, Home is Where the Bodies Are where the clues about the murder are found on film.

Giving this book 3 stars as it was unoriginal and predictable. Thank you to NetGalley for giving me access to read this ARC copy.

If you enjoy an unreliable narrator story, this is a book for you. The Ghostwriter is a very well written, well plotted mystery/thriller, with layered and complex characters. The present day timeline, blended with alternate pov from the past, enriches the story and provides depth and context. Within the layers are many versions of the events, from multiple unreliable views. A lot of buried family dysfunction and generational trauma. Kept me guessing to the end, which provided (mostly) satisfying closure.

I've enjoyed prior books from this author, and I enjoyed this book. I will read her more in the future.

ARC received from Sourcebooks Landmark via Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own

If you’re looking for a story that will hook you from the very beginning, this is the one. I love when a thriller feels well written, beautifully plotted, and perfectly paced from start to finish. Julie Clark knocked this one out of the park for me.

At the beginning of the book, you’re introduced to Olivia Dumont- professional ghostwriter who stood up for what she believed in (eff the patriarchy, amirite?) and tanked her career. She’s in the process of attempting to dig herself out of her own grave when she’s offered a job by a prolific, famous, and very unliked author… who happens to be her estranged father. Her father is in slow decline, gradually losing his mental faculties and she has to determine what’s fact or fiction while navigating her past. Things get messy… and messier as the story progresses. It’s brilliant. 5 star read.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and while I enjoyed it, I didn’t love it. This book follows a woman who is assigned to ghostwrite a book for her father, who also happens to be a very famous horror author. This book never totally captured my attention, but I still recommend giving it a try if you’re a thriller lover! Thank you sourcebooks for my copy! This is out June 3rd.

I’ve loved Julie Clark’s writing since reading The Lies I Tell. In Clark’s newest book The Ghostwriter, I was hooked from the start. I loved the twisting of family drama and thriller in this novel and it really did have me speculating until the end.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an ARC of this book!

Julie Clark's Ghostwriter was an extremely well-paced mystery. As Olivia Dumont uncovers the layers of her father's past in order to complete her job as his ghostwriter she takes the reader down into the depths of a family tragedy and unsolved murder that rocked the idyllic town of Ojai. A very satisfying story within a story indeed!