✨ Rounded up from 3.5 ⭐️’s ✨

Writing was good, plot was so-so. The set-up for the story is really intriguing and the structure of the plot kept me turning the pages. Sadly, I was a bit underwhelmed.

📚 Character development 4/5 ⭐️’s
📚 Plot 3/5 ⭐️’s
📚 Writing style & pacing 4/5 ⭐️’s
📚 Twists & suspense 3/5 ⭐️’s

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

This was quite a clever read. I love Julie Clarks writing, so I was excited to hear she had a new book coming out. This is a slow burn mystery about a resurfacing cold case murder.

Olivia Dumont is a Ghostwriter and has been estranged from her father Vincent. She has hidden the fact that she's the only daughter of Vincent who is a successful thriller author that has been suspected of killing his two siblings in the 70’s. Although he had a solid alibi, that suspicion has followed him throughout life. Now dealing with dementia, he contacts Olivia and wants her to write his last book, about what happened all those years ago. She accepts the offer. Olivia begins to unravel family secrets and the truth about that fateful day.

Going back in time and reading about Vincent's family gripped me and I couldn't wait to get back to it each time I picked it up. I had to know what happened. As I read, I had my theories, but just was too sure if I was right. I thought the reveal was so worth the read. I really loved this book

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

The book started a little slow for me, but I really liked the premise and was intrigued enough to stick with it—and I’m glad I did. The way the story eventually wove together, incorporating the games the main character played with her dad as a child, was such a clever and emotional touch. It added a layer of depth I didn’t expect. There were some great unexpected twists along the way that added real excitement. I was sure I had the killer figured out… and then the story went in a completely different direction—which worked, and was honestly so tragic. I love being surprised like that.

Some parts were a little confusing at times, but the chapter titles indicating POV helped keep things clear. And the last 25%? Electric. Once I hit that point, I didn’t want to put it down. Everything came together in a way that was both satisfying and emotionally heavy in the best way.

If you enjoy slower-burn thrillers with layered storytelling, this one’s worth checking out.

As a longtime fan of Julie Clark’s fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat thrillers, The Ghostwriter felt like a noticeable departure from her usual style. While the premise is intriguing—a desperate author named Olivia is forced to reconnect with her estranged father in a last-ditch effort to revive her writing career—the story unfolds at a much slower pace than Clark’s typical offerings.

Olivia’s ghostwriting project soon turns into a deep dive into family secrets, as she is presented with two conflicting versions of the past: her father’s incoherent memories and her deceased aunt’s old videos and diary entries. As she pieces together what really happened to her father’s siblings, the novel teases a dark family mystery rooted in 1975, told through alternating timelines.

The dual narrative structure adds depth, but the momentum takes a while to build. The first half moves slowly—unusual for Clark—but patience pays off as the second half delivers more action and a twisty ending that does manage to satisfy.

The Ghostwriter isn’t Clark’s most gripping novel, but it’s still a worthwhile read for fans who enjoy a slow-burn mystery with a compelling emotional core.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I could not put this book down! One of the best books I’ve read this year. Olivia is offered a ghostwriting job by her estranged father, Vincent, who is a prolific and successful author of horror stories. Fifty years ago, Vincent’s brother and sister were murdered, and Olivia attempts to unravel the family secrets. It was a bit slow moving, but a compelling story with lots of twists and turns. The book is well-crafted in different POV and different timelines. Highly recommended!

I love stories told in multiple voices so this one was right up my alley. An unreliable narrator, a life gone off the rails, family secrets, an unsolved murder- what more could you ask for? A fast paced read that will keep you turning the pages as fast as you can.

This is an atmospheric and propulsive story that I could not put down. The plot was thrilling and the characters were well rounded out. I enjoyed the main character’s discovering of clues and piecing things together, even when she had other issues to deal with. It made this novel realistic and interesting.

Olivia Dumont is a successful ghostwriter who also happens to be the estranged daughter of best-selling horror novelist, Vincent Taylor, who has lived for almost half a century under a cloud of suspicion for the murders of his siblings. Despite this estrangement, she is compelled to work with him on his memoir as she is facing mounting legal bills while he faces medical challenges. Olivia must sift through what is fact and what is fiction in this exciting book by Julie Clark.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.

The Ghostwriter has to be my favorite book of the year so far. It's been awhile for me since a book has had me telling myself, "just one more chapter", then staying up past my bedtime to read. I enjoyed both time lines in this book and when I put it down for the night I found myself still trying to figure out the mystery.

Thank you netgalley for advanced copy for my honest review.

This was my first book by Julie Clark and I definitely want to read more from her. This was a hard to put down thriller and I really enjoyed it.

Olivia Taylor, a ghostwriter, is assigned to write her father’s memoir. He was accused of killing his two siblings Poppy and Danny in 1975. Olivia’s father has lewy body dementia and she doesn’t have that much time to get her father to relive his past and uncover the truth about the night his siblings were murdered.

The story is a little slow in the beginning, but at 50% it’s almost impossible to put down. I loved the flashbacks and I loved Poppy’s storyline. I also enjoyed how we are uncovering clues at the same time Olivia is, it really added a thrilling element to the story. I would highly recommend picking up this thriller novel this June.

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Sins of the father? Great, shifting suspense😮

4.5🌟 stars
The plot here is twisty and I really did not know where it was moving to next, making it truly suspenseful and unpredictable. It's a mesmerizing murder mystery, with a professional ghostwriter daughter, who is forced by heavy debts to help her estranged and ill, presumed killer of his two siblings, father to write his biographical account of his childhood and the murders.

The best and meatiest part of the plot is the research the daughter manages unbeknownst to her ailing father who believes she is basing the book on his own confusing notes and what she can winnow from her short interviews with him. What she turns up shocks even dad!

And a major subplot involves the rocky father-daughter relationship that led to their long lack of contact. This was good but not as compelling as the pieced together evidence of the events leading up to the teenagers' unsolved deaths.

The climax was a complete surprise but, once it happened, it was completely logical in retrospect.

I would definitely want to read more of author Julie Clark's work.

Thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honestly opinion.

Review shared on 5/25/25 on Waterstones, Goodreads and Bookbub, and with Barnes & Noble and BAM. To be shared with kobo and Google Play when published.

This was my first time reading Julie Clark and I truly enjoyed her writing style in this book. The Ghostwriter is an interesting thriller read that quickly sucks you in with so many unexpected plot twists. The beginning of the book was a bit slower paced, but it quickly picked up in the middle and end of the book which made the story much more intense. The concept of this book was captivating as the main character, Olivia, takes on a writing job which ends up being for her estranged father and the mysterious story behind the murders of his two siblings years ago. I appreciated that the plot was written in a way that Olivia knows just as much as the reader and uncovers clues about what truly happened years ago in a slow way that is easy to follow, yet kept me on the edge of my seat. Although the ending was completely unexpected for me, I felt that it was a bit anti-climactic and rushed. Overall though, I still really enjoyed this story and will be reading more of Julie Clark's work!

Olivia fled her hometown, changed her last name, and has spent her entire adult life in hiding from a terrible family secret in her past. She thought she'd left all that behind her, keeping the secret from her boyfriend and working as a ghostwriter. Unfortunately, a public confrontation with another writer has destroyed her professional reputation and left her drowning in legal bills. When her agent calls and offers her a job with famous horror writer Vincent Taylor, she accepts out of desperation.

Only Olivia knows the truth-that Victor Taylor is her father, calling her home. When she arrives she learns the job is not just a memoir, but a tell all. Victor Taylor is ready to tell the truth about the terrible summer night that destroyed his family in 1975. Victor's memory is failing and his mind is confused. Can Olivia discover the truth of that fateful night while keeping her reason for being in town a secret before the killer strikes again?

I always enjoy Julie Clark's books. They are always surprising and tightly plotted, and The Ghostwriter was no exception to this. I devoured this book in a weekend. The dual timelines kept my interest without confusing me and the flashbacks kept the story moving forward. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a summer thriller!

Olivia is a ghost writer whose career has gone a bit off track. When she receives a new job offer, she knows she needs to take it, but can she really write a novel for the father she is estranged from, and that nobody in her life knows exists? Will writing this book lead to forgiveness, or will it open s can of worms she isn’t sure she wants to open?


GAHH how much do I love Julie Clark? This book was a bit of a slow burn in the best way! I was instantly a fan of Olivia, and wanted her to succeed and prove a certain gentleman wrong! IYKYK. I loved that we get to live the story from so many different sides, her father with his failing memory, Poppy, and sometimes Vince, alongside the items that Olivia finds during her research. I found myself reading this one slower than normal because I wanted to savor every word along the way! This book certainly kept me on my toes and while I had a lot of theories, I did not see some of the twists coming!

Thank you to @Bookmarked for my gifted copy of this book!

I devoured this haunting, slow-burn thriller! A ghostwriter with a broken past. A father with a dark secret. A decades-old murder that was never solved

Told in past and present POVs, The Ghostwriter is emotional, suspenseful, and full of twists I didn’t see coming. If you love character-driven mysteries and deep family drama, don’t miss this one!

I would like to thank Sourcebooks Landmark & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review

The Ghostwriter has it all – mystery, suspense, family dynamics, an unreliable narrator, a plot in two time periods, and an interesting California setting. I absolutely flew through this book because I had to know what happened and it did keep me guessing until the very end. This one is more than just a mystery/thriller; it has a level of family conflict (and associated mysteries surrounding such conflict) that added to the plot in a way that elevated the book. Julie Clark’s writing is excellent and she weaves a story that doesn’t coalesce until the end but does so in such a good “ah-ha” way. There is pain and there is healing and the reader gets to go along on a pretty interesting ride. This one should definitely be in beach bags this summer. My only regret with reading my advance copy is that I didn’t get to read it while on vacation.

Tense, atmospheric, slow burned thriller and emotionally layered—The Ghostwriter completely pulled me in.

Olivia Dumont is a ghostwriter with a crumbling career and mounting debt. When she’s offered a job working with reclusive horror author Vincent Taylor, she wants to say no… except Vincent is her estranged father. And he’s ready to finally tell the truth about what happened in 1975, when his teenage siblings were found dead—and the world suspected him.

Told in dual timelines and multiple POVs, including Olivia’s aunt Poppy (whom I loved), this slow-burn mystery is packed with family drama and buried secrets. The writing is clever, the characters compelling, and I was guessing until the final reveal.

Highly recommend for fans of twisty family mysteries and character-driven suspense!

I would like to thank Sourcebooks Landmark & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review

Olivia has spent her life trying to separate herself from her past: her world-famous author father, Vincent, whose siblings Danny and Poppy were murdered in 1975 when he was a teenager, and the mother who left her. Once a successful ghostwriter, Olivia has been essentially canceled for speaking her mind.

But when Olivia is offered the chance to ghostwrite her father’s memoir—and finally uncover the truth about what really happened in June 1975—it could save her career and prevent financial ruin. The question is: is she prepared for what she’ll find?

I loved this dual-timeline novel, which alternates between the present day, as Olivia works on the memoir with her father (who is suffering from Lewy Body syndrome), and flashbacks to the events of 1975. The book is told from multiple perspectives, including from Poppy and I just loved her! The mystery of who murdered Danny and Poppy kept me hooked—there are several plausible suspects and plenty of red herrings, so I was guessing right up until the end. This thriller has more depth than most, and I especially enjoyed the complexity of Olivia’s relationship with her father.

Thanks for the advanced copy, this book publishes June 3rd. Until then, I highly recommend Clark's previous novels, The Last Flight and The Lies We Tell.

The Ghostwriter is my favorite Julie Clark book yet! This story is so unlike her previous books that I have read (The Last Flight and The Lies I Tell), with a multi-perspective and at times non-linear unraveling of a family secret decades old.

Olivia Dumont is a middle aged ghostwriter who has unfairly hit hard times after calling out the bad behavior of a dominant male in her field. When she is offered a job to write her father's last book, she is in no financial position to turn it down- even if they've been estranged for years.

While the reveals are slow in the beginning, I was hooked from the first chapter. Clark does an excellent job creating a relatable character in Olivia and an inscrutable father who made his money writing horror books after his two siblings were murdered in 1975.

My favorite part of this is the ambiguity, especially towards the end. I know this is no everyone's cup of tea, so I mention it for you to discern if this may be your taste. I also loved Clark's explanation of why she chose this approach in her writing style for this novel. It brings so much to the atmosphere but also reflects the very significant issues brought up in the plot.

I think this book sits solidly in the mystery genre with thriller elements, especially in the final quarter. I highly recommend!

This had everything (and more) that I love in a good mystery/thriller novel. The plot was gripping, the unraveling of the truth was twisted and driven by the characters’ motives, and the resolution was satisfying and not forced.

There’s a lot of sensitive topics that this novel deals with and it does so in a way that feels genuine and for the sake of the story.

I love the parallels between Poppy and Olivia. It was nice to see some light through all of the generational trauma as Olivia fell into similar patterns as her parents did. And it’s always so very exciting to have an unreliable narrator like Vincent - especially when his memory is being used as a source of truth.

I will certainly be reading more of Julie Clark’s work! I couldn’t put it down, especially once I hit the second half.

Thank you to Julie Clark, SOURCEBOOKS Landmarks, and NetGalley for this ARC!