Thank you NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and Julie Clark for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of The Ghostwriter.
This is quite a roller coaster of a story, lots of twists and turns , dual timelines, and multiple narrators. Fasten your seatbelt-it’s a wild ride.
Olivia has hidden the fact she is the only child of a famous author who is also a prime suspect in the horrendous murder of his siblings. Olivia agrees to ghostwrite her father’s last book but this brings many ghosts from the past that fail to reveal the truth.
It’s amazing how the past consumes us and the choices we make reflect back to our dysfunctional upbringing.
The characters are well developed although not reliable so there is always a bit of doubt in your mind. This story kept me immersed from start to finish. I couldn’t wait to put all the puzzle pieces together along with that thorn of doubt. Great for discussion!
I have loved all of Julie Clark’s books and I look forward to many more.

So glad to have recieved an advanced copy of this book. Wasn't quite sure what to expect and this was a great read. Familybdrama, orphaned children, it was an all around good read.

Wow I really enjoyed this! It was a little slow for me at the beginning. I wasn't super intrigued by the concept, but as it went on I got super into it. I really liked the different perspectives and how the story came together. The super 8 camera footage was also a really great touch. I will say that I think a lot of Olivia's expository elements aren't super fleshed out. The stuff with her partner feels kinda surface level as well as all of her career stuff. All that being said I did end up really liking this!

Was this the perfect novel? I think so. Maybe not 100% perfect, but isn't 96% perfect the same with rounding? If nothing else, I had other things I needed to do and kept telling myself I would......after one more chapter. Yes, I read my way through the entire book this way. Someone else might have been able to figure out the twists and surprises, but I was stuck deep in the unreliable narrator that was the father. How are you supposed to ghostwrite a memoir when the subject themselves is leading you astray and telling you incorrect versions of stories? Trying to figure out which stories were the correct ones kept my brain in its own twists. I'll just add, this is not a beach read. Well, unless you are wearing some serious sunblock. Otherwise you might "one chapter" yourself to a nasty sunburn!

I enjoyed Julie Clark's prior fast-paced thrillers - The Last Flight and The Lies I Tell - and figured The Ghostwriter would be no exception. Aside from being a fan of Clark, the description piqued my interest. I thought it was an interesting spin on an otherwise fairly classic plot. Once again, Julie Clark knocked it out of the park! Told from multiple POVs and timelines, Clark did an exceptional job of seamlessly weaving together the past and present narratives into one cohesive plot. With a few twists and turns sprinkled in, The Ghostwriter had me captivated from the second I started reading until the very end!

A slow burn with a twisty ending. This book unfolds through multiple points of view and two different timelines, creating a layered and engaging narrative. I was drawn into the mystery surrounding the murder of the main character’s father’s siblings in the 1970s. The added element of the father suffering from a memory-loss disease heightened the suspense and deepened the emotional impact. While the plot may sound complex, it’s handled with skill and clarity. The author does a great job exploring the relationships between characters, both in the past and present, making the story feel rich and emotional. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this advanced reader’s copy.

The Ghostwriter is the newest release by mystery/thriller author Julie Clark. The story is told over two timelines, one set in 9175 and one in the present day. In 1975, we get the viewpoints of the Taylor siblings, who were the victims of a horrendous act of violence. The present-day setting is one survivor of the 1975 event replaying to his daughter what happened. The problem is that we don't know how reliable his retelling is. Plenty of secrets to unveil and drama to unfold as you tear through the pages in this new book. Read and enjoy!

.Olivia is a ghost writer and her estranged dad, Vincent is a famous horror writer. When he was a teen his brother and sister were murdered in their home and the rumor throughout town is that Vincent is the one who did it. Olivia is then asked to ghost write her estranged father’s new novel. Only it’s not a novel, it’s a memoir about the death of his sister and brother. However, Vincent has Lewy Body Dementia so is the story he tells accurate to what really happened or just the one he wants published. Page turning, twisty and creative. Great summer thriller ! I loved this one and flew through it in two days

Olivia has worked hard to to establish herself separately from her dysfunctional family, as she was raised by famous horror writer, Vincent, who will always carry a dark cloud over him since both his siblings were brutally murdered when he was a teen and the suspicion never really fell far away from him. Olivia is now mid-forties, working as a ghostwriter, albeit unsuccessful at the moment due to a political backlash. She gets an offer from her publisher to come ghostwrite for Vincent, unknown to be related. What follows is Olivia trying to help piece together her father's memories and finally learn the truth about that day 50 years ago.

I loved this book!!! Told in alternating timelines from several points of view, Olivia is now following all the loose threads to try to figure out what happened. She has always been suspicious of her own father and so now she believes she is going to be the one to finally hear him confess or find out what DID happen. What she follows though, are lots of tiny rabbit trails, seen through the lens of Vincent's faltering mind as he succumbs to illness. There are several twists and turns and when the whole story finally comes out, it is explosive.

June, 1975. The Taylor family shatters in a single night when two teenage siblings are found dead in their own home. The only surviving sibling, Vincent, never shakes the whispers and accusations that he was the one who killed them. Decades later, the legend only grows as his career as a horror writer skyrockets.

Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has spent her entire professional life hiding the fact that she is the only child of Vincent Taylor. Now on the brink of financial ruin, she's offered a job to ghostwrite her father's last book. What she doesn't know, though, is that this project is another one of his lies. Because it's not another horror novel he wants her to write.

From beginning to end, I couldn't put it down. I loved the father-daughter dynamics, the mystery, the suspense. Chef's kiss! I love everything Julie Clark writes, and this is one of the best! High praise! 5⭐

I received an advanced complimentary digital copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

The Ghostwriter is a novel with a unique premise. A woman tasked to ghostwrite her father's memoir about the murders of his siblings. While there were some aspects that didn't fully work for me, this story is overall very well written, perfectly paced and engaging. Clark has a talent to weave together the past and present timelines seamlessly, which makes for a very enjoyable reading experience.

"My father either killed them and wants to admit it, or he didn’t and he wants me to figure out who did."

My favourite part of The Ghostwriter is the relationship between our main character Oliva and her father Vincent. Clark manages to portray an immensely layered relationship that feels like a true reflection of complicated familial bonds and generational trauma. I did have some trouble relating to Olivia at times. While I understand her view is coloured by the relationship with her father I found it hard to suspend disbelief seeing how shocked she was at certain revelations while she already suspected Vincent wasn't telling her the whole truth. I also found Olivia somewhat unsympathetic at times and was baffled by her lack of integrity at other times.

While I enjoyed Clark's overall writing style and I would certainly pick up another one of her novels, the prose sometimes veered into the direction of being too on the nose. There were parts that felt like the author was too clearly pointing out what point was being made, where I prefer more subtlety. The ending pulled most of the story together, though I felt something was missing to bring it all together in a truly satisfying way. Having said this I do appreciate the accuracy of a semi open ending.

The Ghostwriter might be your next favourite read if you enjoy an engaging murder mystery story with multiple timelines and perspectives. With the parent-child relationship in this novel Clark gives this type of story a unique spin.

Julie Clark is no stranger to crafting twisty, emotionally charged thrillers, and The Ghostwriter is no exception. It’s a layered, slow-burn unraveling of memory, trauma, and the lengths we’ll go to protect our secrets.

Told through the memories of a father (Vince) and daughter (Olivia), one a bestselling horror author with an incriminating past, the other the ghostwriter hired to tell his story, this book examines the distortion of the truth over time. By piecing together narratives of other family members and friends, Olivia verifies and refutes her father’s 50-year-old haunting stories surrounding the murders of his siblings.

Clark does an excellent job exploring themes of control, guilt, and redemption while keeping the tension simmering throughout. I had a pretty good idea of where this one was headed fairly early on, which is why it’s a 4-star for me, but the emotional payoff is worth it.

If you love smart thrillers with heart, morally grey characters, and a satisfying slow-burn mystery, The Ghostwriter will absolutely deliver.

Can you ever really say you know your parents? Their hopes and dreams? Their past? Their memories? What if there was a defining moment, a trauma, that marked a before and after for not just them but a whole town? Would you be able to unwrap fact from fiction, especially when your own dad is at the center?

Olivia is a ghostwriter by trade. An unfortunate (and not untrue) soundbite and subsequent Twitter rant puts her on the wrong end of publicity and she’s forced to choose a job she wouldn’t want to touch with a 10-foot pole. Her estranged father requests her as a ghostwriter for his latest novel. Only it’s not a novel, it’s a memoir. It’s THE memoir. Where he tells the story of what happened the night his younger sister and older brother were murdered. Caught between doing her job and unraveling the lies of her father, Olivia has to decide if she is ready to expose her former life with her father and the possibility that he’s a murderer. What she uncovers is more than the story, it’s her history.

I can already tell this is going to be one of the ones that stay inside my head for a long time. The narratives and perspectives, all the way to the last pages weave the entire story together. I am left wondering how many times I couldn’t get out of my own head and believed a narrative that didn’t fit reality. How many times was I the villain in someone else’s story? And in my own? Despite not being entirely based on a real story, this has the element of reality in it. I thought I’d figured it out several times, and I’m happy to say I was complies wrong. It’s a complex ending for a complex story. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up June 3 when it hits bookshelves!

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark | Sourcebooks Landmark for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Dark and twisty. It was a great combo of mystery and family drama. I enjoyed the varying time lines and multiple POVs.
Thank you NetGalleyy and Sourcebooks Landmark for eARC in exchange for my honest review

Julie Clark's The Ghostwriter started out a little slow for me, with the first half taking me a couple of weeks to get through. The second half however flew, and I finished it within a day.

I enjoyed the twists, though I wish the characters could have been more likeable. I would however recommend it to anyone who enjoys a thriller!

The premise: Olivia is a ghostwriter whose career has gone off track until she gets an offer to write the memoir for best-selling horror novelist Vincent Taylor. Olivia is reluctant but with mounting debt and exile from the industry she loves, there is no other option than to take the job. However, Vincent Taylor isn’t just a best-selling horror novelist, he is Olivia’s estranged father who was suspected of murdering his teenage siblings in 1975 after they were found dead and the memoir, he wants to write is the truth about what happened.

The dual timeline and multiple POVs add layers to this slow-burn mystery. The pacing was a bit sluggish in the middle, but the secrets and twists had me guessing until the end. This was a solid 4.25 ⭐read! Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advance reader copy

Julie Clark’s newest novel "The Ghostwriter" is a dark, atmospheric psychological thriller that kept me engaged from start to finish. Highly recommended for fans of slow-burn mysteries and emotional, character-driven stories.

The story follows Olivia, a ghostwriter who has been running from her family legacy for many years until she receives an offer from her famous father to write his memoir. Due to her financial situation, she can't refuse it. Her father, Vincent Taylor, is a well known horror author, who also happens to be the prime suspect in the cold-case murder of his own siblings. Olivia grew up in the shadow of this tragedy, always feeling like her father was hiding the truth, coupled with a fraught relationship with him due to alcohol and drug abuse during her childhood.

Clark pulls you into Olivia’s journey of self-discovery and exposure of painful family truths, while also indulging in the opportunity to learn more about her aunt and uncle that she never got to meet. The characters development is really strong, and the plot unfolds like a complex puzzle, gradually revealing secrets and twists. The pacing is also excellent, with a series of POVs and flashbacks to tell the true story of what happened in 1975.

I will absolutely be reading more of the author’s work. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing an advance copy. It’s out June 3rd. Opinions are my own!

Olivia has gone out of her way to separate herself from her past. She took a different last name so that she would not be linked to her father who is a famous horror author. Her father was accused of a horrible crime in his youth that was never solved. He was accused of killing his brother and his sister. Olivia now works as a ghost writer and has been hired to write her father’s memoir. Her father needs her assistance because he has been diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia. This book had many twist and turns and made me come up with several theories that were ultimately wrong. I enjoyed the unraveling of the story and the way that Olivia comes to terms with her past. I really enjoyed the writing style and the way that most of the story was told from Olivia’s point of view with some chapters from Poppy. Thank you to Source Books for the ARC in exchanged for an honest review.

4.5 stars!. Olivia is a ghostwriter of memoirs. She grew up with an author where there were rumors that he killed his brother and sister. Her father sent her to boarding school and she has not seen him in years. He requests her to help write his current book. She is reluctant but needs the money. The murder case has never been solved. Could Olivia solve the murder while working on this book?
This is a book full of secrets and a family with volatile members. This was a book I could not put down. I wanted to know what was revealed next and I could not figure out exactly who was guilty until the end of the book. This book contains an unreliable character, family dynamics and a mystery that is 50 years old. I would highly recommend this book.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #JulieClark and #SourcebooksLandmark for a copy of this book.
#TheGhostwriter

Julie Clark has become one of my favorite mystery/thriller authors! Every book she writes is very unique, and this one is no exception! I absolutely loved the way the plot unfolded, and it was done in such a way to keep the reader constantly guessing. Clark set this one up to be unpredictable, and I felt she did a great job in achieving that goal. I loved the development of Olivia throughout the story, and I appreciated how her relationships with different people changed as she changed as a person. I think I would have liked a little more from the secondary characters (such as Tom and Jack), but overall this one was a solid win for me!