I’ve read a lot of “meh” books lately and this one broke me out of my reading slump! Julie Clark is a masterful storyteller and had just enough twists and turns in this family drama.

The Ghostwriter is a quiet, absorbing mystery that digs into the tangled history of a family marked by silence, suspicion, and long-buried truths. The Ghostwriter is a steady,yet deep story about memory, identity, and the stories we choose to tell ourselves.

Olivia Dumont, once a sought-after ghostwriter, is out of options. Her reputation is shot, her finances are in free fall, and she’s desperate for a way out. So when she’s asked to write her estranged father’s final book, she reluctantly agrees despite the fact that her father is Vincent Taylor, a horror novelist forever linked to the unsolved murders of his younger siblings.

As Olivia starts piecing together the fragments of her father’s life, she’s pulled into the past through old journals, fading memories, and questions that have gone unanswered for fifty years. The plot moves between her present-day search and the voice of Poppy, the sister who didn’t survive. Together, the two timelines reveal a portrait of a family shaped by grief, distance, and things left unsaid.

Every detail feels intentional. The pacing is slow in the best way and allows the weight of each discovery to really settle in. The ending lands with quiet force, tying the threads together without needing to shout.

The Ghostwriter is thoughtful, tightly written, full of atmosphere, and a strong addition to Clark’s body of work. It's a story that asks what we owe to the truth, and whether facing it is ever as simple as we think. I highly recommend!

I really enjoyed The Last Flight and this was another fun book from Julie Clark. Her latest is no exception and will keep you guessing until the end.

Special thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks, and Author Julie Clark for advanced copy for honest review.

After standing up for herself and her rights, Nicole has had very few job offers come through as a ghost writer. She gets a call to do a memoir for her estranged father Vincent, but no one knows that yet. She takes the job as to also find out what happened to Poppy and Danny all those years ago. Her father's health is failing and she too wants to learn the truth about her aunt and uncle? Will this book end up being a tell-all? 4 stars, recommend

"The Ghostwriter" by Julie Clark was one rollercoaster ride of a book. Just when you get to know and like Olivia, she’s thrown into a no-win situation with her father. Her strong sense of right-and-wrong have put her back against a financial wall and at the risk of losing the love of her life and her house, Olivia is forced to ghostwrite her father’s last book to salvage her own life. From there, she sees a father she never knew. She works to piece together the events leading up to the murder of his brother and sister, so she can write a truthful book. But as she discovers more and more information, she’s forced to confront her own past at the same time. Olivia will discover as much as herself as she does about her father and mother. "The Ghostwriter’s" tight tension and family dynamics kept me reading to the end. A Mysterious 5 Stars!

Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

A fun thriller to read. Great pace. I always enjoy flipping chapters between different character perspectives and points in time while I try to piece together the ending. As with most fictional thrillers, many parts of the plot were improbable and had me scratching my head - but in all, a good read.

4.5 stars
Another banger from Julie Clark! I loved both of her previous works, and this was no exception. It took me a little bit to put the pieces together but once I did I could see how cleverly it was constructed. I enjoyed this immensely and will definitely recommend it to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC!

This book grabbed onto me and didn't let go! There was so much mystery that I had to keep reading, hoping I'd find out just one more bit to the puzzle.

The story is about Olivia, she's a ghostwriter, has written many books with high profile people. But then she snapped at another writer, a man who didn't like being snapped at by a woman 🙄 and sued her. Now she owes him money and nobody seems to want to work with her anymore. Until she gets an offer from a well known fiction author that wants her help with a new book, insisting that it has to be her. What nobody else knows is that author is her estranged father. Oh and he maybe murdered his siblings when he was a teenager and now he wants to tell what really happened that night

I wouldn't say this book has twists and turns, but it has secrets. When I finished it, I rated it 3 stars right away because it's really good, but the more I thought about it, I had to up it to 4. Honestly maybe it should be 5. I'm so impressed with how the author couple keep everything straight. There's one ending and then there's a little bit more to a "real" ending. Just secrets on top of secrets that Olivia has to uncover and hunt for. She kept finding stuff and it just kept going deeper. Her dad tells her stories about the time around the murders but then she finds evidence that maybe he's not telling the truth...or is he and the evidence isn't quite right?

I would recommend this book to anyone that likes a good mystery or thriller kind of story, or even a classic whodunnit. It was fast paced, timelines and POV changing back and forth but very easy to follow. Just overall a very good and well written book.

'There's a reason historians rely so heavily on primary sources. Because human memory is flawed."

After reading Julie Clark's previous books, I knew she would always be a favorite. They way she weaves her characters' stories with the plot is darn near perfection. The twists. The storytelling. The puzzles pieces and the way they are all laid out. The unique voices. They just all stand out and The Ghostwriter was no different.

Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has found herself in a financial and career predicament. When she is approached to help write the story of infamous horror novelist Vincent Taylor, she wants to say no but financially and personally she HAS to say yes. Because Vincent is her father that she long ago distanced herself from. But now Vincent has Lewy body dementia and he wants to tell his story that only his daughter could figure out how to tell. He holds some truths and secrets and hopefully Olivia will get the answers she's always been looking for while writing the tell all memoir of her father.

Two stories. Past and present. Told from multiple POVs from some unreliable narrators. What happened in 1975 and who killed the Taylor siblings? Who is remembering the events correctly and what really happened THAT night?

I loved the slow unveiling of events that played out in 1975 leading up to the death of both Poppy and Danny Taylor. With each new piece, it became so obvious what really happened. Or did it? Because this story is a game. It's multiple puzzle pieces. And it's so much bigger and convoluted than you could imagine. I liked how Clark took the past and combined it with the present and how Olivia had to find the truths within the story of what her father was giving her and what she found in diaries, videos, and interviews from people connected to the past. And then adding in Olivia's present relationship with her father and how they grew apart. It all flowed well and seemed to connect with the past storyline in a very cohesive manner.

This wasn't a fast-paced thriller that had you on the edge of your seat, rather it was a meticulous slow burn of a game that edged you to perfection and uncovered truths and secrets. It had you connecting emotionally with each character and really feeling for each one of them and what could've been if circumstances were different. Smart, engaging, suspenseful and utterly captivating. I couldn't look away and was almost as desperate as Olivia to find out what truly took place that fateful night in 1975. I only wish we got a little bit more to the ending as it felt slightly rushed with how everything came together. 4.5 stars (rounding up)

Another unputdownable Clark winner!

*Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark for my ARC!

I don’t know the last time a book had me so invested that I stayed up that late to finish it. I was hooked from start to finish, but especially near the end as the truth of what happened to Vincent’s siblings was starting to unravel. I really enjoyed the dual timeline/multi POVs and thought it really served the story well in terms of setting up for many shocking twists.

Beyond the actual plot, I think this was also a beautiful story of familial redemption. I’m limited in what I can say so I don’t spoil it, but I thought the ending was beautiful.

Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has spent her entire career avoiding the shadow of her infamous father, Vincent Taylor—a legendary horror author known for his chilling novels and his even darker past, being the prime suspect in the brutal murders of his own siblings. But when financial desperation forces Olivia to accept a job ghostwriting her father’s final book, she finds herself dragged back into a world she thought she had escaped. As she delves into her father’s twisted storytelling and the unsettling family secrets he’s hidden, Olivia is drawn into a haunting game of revelations—one that will force her to confront the ghosts of her own past.

I absolutely loved The Ghostwriter! It’s a perfect mix of mystery, suspense, and family drama that kept me hooked from start to finish. The “scavenger hunts” Olivia’s father set up for her as a child were such a clever and emotional touch, and I loved how they wove into the central mystery. The 70s flashbacks were atmospheric, and the multi-POV flashbacks gave the story incredible depth—I felt like I was right there, trying to piece together the truth alongside Olivia. I’ll admit, I guessed a few twists and “incidents,” but that didn’t take away from the experience at all. Instead, it made me even more invested, trying to see how it would all come together. This is one of those rare thrillers that’s not just twisty—it’s deeply heartfelt. I’m not even surprised it’s already one of my favorite reads of 2025. Julie Clark has officially become an auto-buy author for me.

The Ghostwriter comes out May 20, 2025. Huge thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.
Tiktok @speakingof.books
Website: SPEAKINGOF.ORG

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for giving me the opportunity to read this book. I had never read this author before and now, probably never will again. I found myself getting distracted a lot while reading it and many times wanted to DNF it. I did however finish it and it deserved 2 or maybe 3 stars. Probably won’t read this author again.

4.5-5⭐️

My second book by her and all I wanna do now is read her third one. I already love a good thriller but when it reads has a true-crime element and some mixed-media involved?! Chef’s kiss.

This one kept me on my toes from the very beginning and never let up. I was left wondering who really killed Poppy & Danny. Continuously attempting to unravel the mystery of Olivia & Vince’s strange relationship and the ones they formed with others involved in the mystery.

This book could have went on and on and I would have kept reading with no issue. I lovedddd it.

There are so many elements here that I love (a long-ago murder, the possible involvement of a loved one, untrustworthy/unreliable characters) that it felt like the book was written for me! There are plenty of twists on the way to the reveal, keeping me turning the pages and saying "just one more chapter" late into the night.

Thank you Net Galley and Macmillan for an ARC of this book.

This book had dramatically more of a slower burn than the author’s other thrillers which pulled me in straight away. The first half of the book took me awhile to get to, but gets more entertaining in the second half of the book. Overall, this was a solid thriller. Would recommend!

Genre: Family Thriller
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Pub. Date: June 3, 2025

“The Ghostwriter” is well-written and an interesting read. The novel is part crime mystery and part family drama. The timeline alternates between the 1970s and present day. The protagonist is Olivia Dumont. She is a ghostwriter. She is the only child of Vincent Taylor, the famous horror writer who is also known for being the prime suspect of murdering his two siblings when he was seventeen. Olivia has spent her entire life hiding that fact by changing her last name to Dumont. Her career was on the rise until she was blacklisted by a male author after having a beef with him. Requests to hire her have ceased to none. It is fair to say that misogyny derailed her career.

She is out of money and on the brink of financial ruin. This is the only reason she accepts the job when her estranged father hires her to ghostwrite his memoir. Throughout the story, the author does a good job of using many points of view that build up the tension until the tale’s end. The dynamics between father and daughter are fascinating to follow in the past and the present. Vincent was a single dad. Olivia’s mother, Lydia, leaves when Olivia is five years old. The book has no specific explanation for why she leaves, which I found disappointing. I wish Julie Clark had flushed out Lydia’s part of the story. Still, mystery, family secrets, and deep emotional themes are woven seamlessly throughout the book. I recommend “The Ghostwriter.”

This was a really great layered and emotionally charged thriller. Olivia, the main character, is a ghostwriter, but also the estranged daughter of an infamous horror writer (think Steven King) who also has a murder in his past that was never solved. People don't know she's his kid so no one understands why she is chosen to ghostwrite his memoir. Especially since she was recently "cancelled" after a scandal. As the book unfolds, Olivia must untangle the truth from her father's hazy and sometimes dishonest recollections of the events leading up to the murder.

Julie Clark is an excellent writer and her books have more depth and meaning than the usual popcorn thriller. Here, I liked the themes of the father/daughter relationship, the commentary on ghostwriting (you get the impression the author has some experience!), and the well-plotted and intriguing murder mystery. I'll be excited to read whatever Julie Clark writes next.

Unreliable narrator? Check. Story I could not stop reading? Check. Finding out who actually killed a brother and sister 50 years ago? Check. This book is a wild ride and I was hooked the entire time. We start off with Olivia Dumont, a ghostwriter with some issues in the publishing world getting approached to ghostwrite a book for her estranged father. She needs the money so she heads there immediately and is met with an ill father that is struggling to remember what happened some days. The writing starts off immediately but not everything is adding up, and the secrets she unveils just might solve this mystery. This entire story is a give and take of information. While you might get some information, it might be wrong. I was eager to see what really happened at the end. If you are a fan of mystery and thrillers you need to pick this book up.

This was an atmospheric thriller with a leisurely pace that pays off in the end. I enjoyed the intricate plotting and emotional depth.

I loved this book from the very start to the ending. Olivia is a writer and she has been estranged from her father and mother for years. When Olivia was very young her mother up and left so Olivia’s father Vincent raised her until she was sent away to a school. But when Vincent was a teenager his sister Poppy and brother Danny were murdered in their home. Many people were sure that Vincent had been the one that murdered them. Vincent had been diagnosed with Lewy Body dementia and he wanted to have the truth come out. So in comes Olivia as the ghostwriter. Can Olivia find out the truth or just what her father wants people to know? She did connect with an old school friend and her mom to try to get some clarity. Loved the twists and turns in this book.

I received this ARC from Netgalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.