"everyone is an unreliable narrator."

Ooooh this one was SO GOOD. It had me hooked from the start. Olivia is in a really tough spot. She's burned some bridges recently in her ghost writing career and the industry has canceled her for it. She's in a bit of a bind, financially, and is wondering if she'll work again.

When a surprise offers is extended. After leaving her father's house years ago, she's never been back, never spoke to him again. As a famous horror author, she felt he'd neglected her and she'd rather having nothing than forgive him for his mistakes. But now he's asking her to ghostwrite a story with him - one that comes with a large advance and additional pages as they work well and turn pages in. She doesn't want to but agrees. She needs the money.

From there, this story is completely addicting. I've spent the whole day relating the whole story to the family in my house. We were all waiting on cliffhangers as the mystery unfolded and each twist turned tighter. I had no guesses and enjoyed kicking around the ideas with my husband and adult child. Can you believe it, we ran out of ideas and I just had to keep reading because I truly didn't know what was coming next. This is a heartbreaking story about 2 siblings, murdered and taken horribly from their family, their friends, and the lives they should have been allowed to lead. It hooked me from the start and was such a great thriller! I loved it!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

This is a complex family drama/murder mystery/thriller that really hits the mark for entertainment value. Olivia is a ghostwriter who returns to her childhood home in Ojai at the request of her estranged and strange father who is suffering from Lewy Body dementia. The request is for Olivia to write his memoir in which he plans to tell the real story behind the murders of his 2 siblings when they were all teens. As Olivia tries to deal with her father’s memory loss and mood swings, she begins her own investigation in spite of her father’s directions not to talk to anyone who might provide her with needed information.
I really enjoyed how this mystery slowly unfolded as Olivia methodically found clues and talked with people who knew her father. The family drama added a lot of interest and intrigue and I thoroughly enjoyed another great story by this author. My only criticism is my usual pet peeve of basing some of the turmoil on lack of communication between the characters. Of course, communication with Vincent, Olivia’s father would be strained due to his dementia but speaking with other characters, especially being truthful with her partner, Tom and contacting her mother early on would have been more realistic in my opinion. But I guess this is a good way to add to the suspense.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own.

This was my first book by Julie Clark and now I want to read everything else she’s written! I was thoroughly engaged and sucked in for the entire duration of this book!

I really loved the aspect of having Olivia our protagonist, figure out the truths of what happened to her dad and her aunt/uncle through the stories and videos of Poppy.

It felt as though we were deciphering the clues and figuring out along with the main character.

I want to say thank you to Net galley and Sourcebooks Landmark for my ARC copy in exchange for my honest feedback.

Typically, I'm not a fan of unreliable narrator-type thrillers. But I was intrigued by this one and I'm glad I gave it a chance!

The Ghostwriter centers on writer Olivia Dumont, who's hired by her father, a famous writer who needs assistance writing his memoir. For decades, he's lived in the shadows of his sibling's gruesome deaths in the 70s and finally wants to set the record straight. But with his own challenges and their strained history, this is a bit more challenging of an assignment than Olivia bargained for.

It's a bit of a slow burn, but I liked the flashback chapters from Vincent and Poppy, they really added intrigue to the story. I had my theories throughout but really wasn't expecting the way this would all play out!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read a copy of this. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

So good. I love how it sucked me in right away. It was a fast paced book. I liked the sibling dynamic and i figured one of them must be the murderer. There were a few twists in the book and I didn’t have any of them right.

Writing your estranged father’s memoir is one thing. Writing it knowing he might’ve murdered his own siblings? That’s a whole other level of emotional damage.

In The Ghostwriter, Julie Clark delivers a tense, emotionally layered thriller that’s as much about the ghosts within a family as it is about the literal ones no one talks about.

The premise is instantly gripping: a woman agrees to ghostwrite the memoir of her father—whom she hasn’t seen in decades—knowing full well that he may have killed his sister and brother fifty years ago. Why she agrees is complicated. Why she stays? Even more so. But that’s the beauty of this book—it doesn’t settle for easy answers or black-and-white morality. It digs into the gray.

This is a story about what happens when the past won’t stay buried and forgiveness is more dangerous than resentment. It’s about the stories we’re told, the ones we tell ourselves, and the ones we’re asked to write… even when we don’t believe them.

As the daughter navigates her father’s carefully crafted “truth,” the question becomes not just Did he do it? but What happens if I put his version into the world? The emotional stakes are high, the secrets are layered, and the characters are beautifully, painfully human.

And the ending? Let’s just say it’s deeply satisfying for a story about a woman trying to make peace with a man who may have destroyed everything.

If you like thrillers with family dysfunction, buried trauma, and just enough moral ambiguity to make your stomach churn (in a good way), The Ghostwriter delivers in spades.

Olivia has spent her whole adult life hiding the fact that she is the daughter of Vincent Taylor, famous horror author and suspected murderer. But with his health deteriorating and with one more story to tell, Vincent requests that Olivia ghostwrite his next book. With few prospects on the horizon Olivia feels she must accept and is swept up in the whirlwind story of what happened to her aunt and uncle 50 years ago on the night they were murdered.

Wow. Just wow.
This one was so good! I was swept up into the story from page one and could not put this down! I loved the way it was told, a jumble of broken memories and flashbacks to the past. Everything kept you guessing at what really happened as the story went on, allowing you to formulate theories and then unraveling them as you go. Some parts I started to guess at while other parts came as a total surprise.
This story was just so well told that I couldn’t help but get wrapped up in it pages!

Shoutout to Sourcebooks for the gifted copy!

This is a terrific book that will place Tracy Clark firmly in the top tier of mystery/suspense authors. The premise is instantly intriguing, and the execution is superb. I hesitate to say any book is perfect, but I can't find a single thing in The Ghostwriter to criticize.
I appreciate the opportunity to read an advance copy.

Olivia Dumont has written several memoirs, but her career is currently stalled. She made some comments about a famous male author; he sued her and won. So now, not only does she owe him money, but no one wants to hire her. Until her agent calls her about a new job, one where she was requested. Olivia comes to find out her estranged father, Vincent, wants to hire her as his ghostwriter. Vincent is a famous horror writer, but he’s more famous for his family history. When he was a teenager, his brother and sister were murdered in their home. The public has always viewed him as the potential killer, but he has always denied it. Now, he wants to write a tell-all about what actually happened. Sadly, Vincent was recently diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, which means Olivia can’t tell if the stories her father tells her are actual memories or stories distorted by the dementia. It’s making it really hard for Olivia to tell his story, especially when she’s trying to write a memoir that is as factual as possible. The chapters are told in Olivia’s POV, but it also jumps back in time right before the murders to Vincent’s POV and his sister, Poppy’s, POV. I found the first half of this book extremely slow, but I felt like things picked up in the middle of the book. Towards the end, I felt the pacing slow again. It’s an interesting story, but I wouldn’t consider this a thriller. Some twists were great and others were predictable. All in all, an okay thriller, but definitely not the fast paced book that we are used to from this author. However, I’ll still be looking forward to her next book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have never read any of Julie Clark’s books before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. This book was really good. A lot of things going on, dysfunctional families, biased friends, lots of secrets. Who should we believe? It’s a little slow going at first but slowly picks up speed the closer we get to the truth. Not a predictable mystery at all! If you like murder mysteries this an excellent one.

Julie Clark’s latest, The Ghostwriter, delivers on all fronts: tension, unsolved mysteries, family drama, unexpected twists, and deeply complex characters. I read it in two days because I needed to know the ending. It was THAT good.

I loved this book, especially the second half. Clark did a great job of creating complex characters and interesting storylines. As a reader, I kept second-guessing myself of who killed the two siblings. The different subplots added to the suspense, and I enjoyed the different points of view.

The author in the book, Vincent, has Lewy Body Dementia, which is similar to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. It is a form of dementia where a person has hallucinations, and memory and movement loss. It was interesting to do a little research about it on my own, and I loved learning something new. It also made me question Vince’s side of the story.

The storyline is a slow burn as Clark throws little tidbits of information to the reader, and makes you second guess your previous thinking. I love when authors do this in a book. My favorite point of view was that of Poppy, Vince’s sister. You knew you were going to learn important information each time her chapter popped up.

Once you reach the second half of the book, I suggest you carve out some hours to just sit and read. You are going to want to find out what happens at the end.

Would you be able to be a ghostwriter for your estranged father? What if it meant you could help solve the mystery of who killed two of these teenagers – your aunt and uncle?

Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and Julie Clark for my free copy of this book. This is my honest review.

Told in multiple timeframes with multiple POV, we switch from the present to flashbacks in time as the narrator chooses to tell her version of why she chose to be a ghostwriter on a memoir by her father. Having grown up in a small town and hearing all the rumors and suspicions about her father and his connection to the murders of his siblings, Olivia always dismissed it until one day she could not. Having separated herself from him for over twenty years, and changing her name, she has now been asked to ghostwrite his memoir and is conflicted. Is what her father, a famous horror novelist, telling her the truth or is it just another of his lies that she had to escape from years ago. The more she hears, the more she remembers, the more the story takes on a life of its own. Twists and turns, it keeps you on the edge of your seat. I would have liked more surprises though, as some twists was predictable. Many thanks to #netgalley #julieclark #theghostwriter #sourcebooks for the chance to read and review this book.

I came across this book after reading a preview of the first few chapters and immediately knew I had to keep going. It did not disappoint. Julie Clark delivers a layered, emotionally resonant story with a compelling murder mystery at its core.

The main characters are complex and well-drawn, and the relationship dynamics add real depth to the suspense. I especially enjoyed the multiple POVs—Poppy’s voice stood out the most for me. The flashbacks to 1975 were seamlessly woven into the present-day storyline, enhancing both timelines in meaningful ways.

This is exactly the kind of suspense I love: gripping but grounded in emotion. A thoughtful and engaging read from start to finish.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark is a compelling mystery intertwined with a tragic family melodrama. Told in alternating timelines and from multiple POVs, the premise of the story is immediately thought-provoking: Olivia, a professional writer, is hired to ghostwrite a memoir for Vincent Taylor, a famous horror writer. The catch: Vincent is her estranged father whom she has not seen for 30 years, and who still lives under a shadow of suspicion that he murdered his siblings in 1975. Uneasy and reluctant to re-connect with her dysfunctional parent, Olivia only agrees to the job because she really needs the money.
The angst Olivia feels is palpable and reinforced throughout the narrative. She dislikes and distrusts her father, and must deal with all the conflicting feelings her memories bring her as she returns to her hometown. Vincent’s ongoing dementia and gamesmanship raise the tension.
No spoilers here: there is a lot going on during both timelines (1975 and 2024), and the suspense builds nicely as Olivia must find the truth for the memoir amongst all the fabrications of her father and the long-held beliefs of the local residents. Her character shows vulnerability and appropriate anger at her life circumstances, but grows into a new maturity as she handles her feelings and her father’s legacy.
Among the other prominent characters, Vincent is complicated and basically unreliable, while his deceased sister Poppy is a stand-out, and ends up being inspirational for Olivia.
The author nicely conveys the sense of ‘70s culture in Southern California, and has a wise touch in scenes of sibling rivalry and family dynamics.
This is another well-written novel by Julie Clark. I recommend it to readers who enjoy a good mystery laced with impactful scenes of family drama and strong women.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC. This is my honest review.

Thank you Net Galley and SourceBooks for an ARC of this book for an honest review. I just got this review out 2 weeks before the release. I’m so glad I got to give my thoughts on this book. I absolutely loved it. I read it every chance I could get and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.
This was so well written and I was drawn into the characters like they were real. There were twists that I didn’t figure out even though I thought I had. There are two brothers and a sister growing up in a house where the brothers were always fighting and a lot was going on in their lives.
I highly recommend this book. I have already looked for her other books,

This book had me hooked from the very beginning. The setting was so atmospheric and jumped between the present day and the 1970s, and those flashback scenes were incredibly immersive. I felt like I was walking through that time period right alongside the characters, complete with all the vintage vibes and eerie undertones.

The main storyline followed a woman working as a ghostwriter for her father’s memoir, only the memoir was about his two siblings who were murdered when he was young. That concept alone intrigued me, but the way the story unfolded really kept me on my toes. I spent most of the book wondering if her dad might’ve actually committed the murders. The author did such a great job weaving in twists and subtle clues that I kept changing my mind about what really happened. I love a mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end, and this one definitely delivered.

One of my favorite aspects was the smaller mysteries layered throughout the story. There were treasure-hunt moments, hidden journals, secret compartments, items tucked away from the past and it made me feel like a kid again, discovering secret hiding places. It added such a fun, adventurous layer to an otherwise dark and emotional story.

The complicated relationship between the main character and her father, who’s a famous horror author, added a lot of emotional depth. They didn’t have a close bond, and her struggle to trust him, especially while helping him write a story that might expose dark truths, really pulled me in. On top of that, her father was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, which added a whole new level of complexity. Was he remembering the truth? Or was he rewriting history? That question lingered throughout the book, and I appreciated how it blurred the lines between memory, guilt, and reality.

“The Ghostwriter” was a beautifully layered mystery with strong emotional undercurrents and just the right amount of intrigue. It had everything I love in a suspense novel: family secrets, unreliable narrators, buried clues, and a haunting past that refuses to stay hidden. Highly recommend!

A HUGE thank you to #Netgalley and #Sourcebooks Landmark for letting me read this early in exchange for an honest review!

The Ghostwriter is the new book from Julie Clark.

"In 1975, two teenagers are killed in their house. The only survivor is their brother, Vincent. He spends his life dodging accusations that he was the killer, especially after he becomes a prolific horror writer.

Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has spent her life hiding the fact that she is the daughter of Vincent Taylor - the horror author and man assumed to have killed his brother and sister. She has avoided her father but now she is desperate financially and agrees to work for him on a project. Because now - after fifty years of silence - he's ready to tell the truth about what happened that night."

There are multiple POVs and multiple timelines so you have to pay attention to the chapter heading. The author even talked about it in the author notes. Clark sets you up thinking you know where the story is going but there's a little curveball to take it a different way. If you pay close attention, you might pick up a hint. Vincent is the perfect unreliable narrator and because of his disease you never know what's real and what's only in his head. You will wonder if you're ever getting an answer to the big question. You do and then Clark hits you with a big twist and it's a "Wait - what?!?" moment.

I like the ending for Olivia. Look for this book on the beach this summer. Another good one from Clark.

Traditional format 📕 (digital). Release date June 3,2025

A ghostwriter author is down on her luck and estranged from her best selling author father. Her father, whom is suffering from a form of dementia, requests she be the ghostwriter of his memoir. Her father’s brother and sister were violently murdered in their childhood and the murder has never been solved.

I enjoyed the multiple points of view and shifting narration between current day and past events. I did find it a quick read but at the same time a slow burn as the plot slowly revealed itself. I also did put together the “who done it” about 60% of the way through but it didn’t take away from the story for me.

This was a solid thriller that I enjoyed overall. I give this one a 4/5!

Thank you to Net Galley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark | Sourcebooks Landmark for a digital ARC copy of this book. Opinions are my own.

Atmospheric and suspenseful--an incredible page turner with layers of mystery. Flawed, compelling characters and a series of plot twists kept me hooked.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eArc ... And to Julie Clark and Sourcebooks for an Advanced Physical Copy for Thrillers By The Book Club Milwaukee to read and review!

Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has spent her entire professional life hiding the fact that she is the only child of legendary horror author Vincent Taylor (I pictured Stephen King) famous not only for his novels but for being the prime suspect in the brutal slaying of his siblings. She is down on her luck financially and gets a call from her team that an amazing opportunity has opened that would allow her to pay her bills. Nobody knows it's coming from her father. She worked very hard to conceal her past, changed her name and would risk losing it all before the public found out. But dire times call for dire measures and she gets more than she expected with this gig. He's sick and needs to tell his side of the story about what actually happened in the 70's.

With a dual timeline, I really liked this mystery! There were so many nuggets sprinkled around each time we flash back and we watch Olivia try to piece it all together. There were enough flushed out characters that made it entertaining and wanting to just know, "who did it?!" -- a sign of a good book! 4.75 I had fun with this one!