This book wastes no time pulling you in by immediately setting a tense, eerie tone that never lets up. As ghostwriter Olivia is lured into working on her estranged father’s final book, long buried secrets begin to surface. The atmosphere is thick with dread, and the slow unraveling of the truth is masterfully done.

Every chapter built the tension higher, but it was that ending that sealed it for me. It was twisty, emotional, and completely unexpected! A phenomenal thriller with emotional weight and fantastic storytelling.

Thank you NetGalley & Sourcebooks Landmark for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

What an interesting story. I was so engaged trying to determine what really happened. I loved Polly. Vince was such an unreliable narrator. The suspense was so good I did not want to put it down. I suspected a few things but did not guess it all correctly.

I loved Julie Clark's books and saw excited to see the approval for this ARC. This one didnt quite hold my attention or pull me in like her other books. Bits felt left open and confusing at times, especially with the dual time lines.

I love everything by Julie Clark!!! She is one of my favorite thriller authors. The Ghostwriter brings a refreshing and unique plot to the thriller world. I was captivated by the first page. The mystery unfolds perfectly and the ending is unexpected and satisfying. It's full of family drama and dysfunction, but also has a sentimental aspect as well. If you haven't read The Last Flight and The Lies I lell you must add them to your TBR. I can't wait for more from Clark!

Thank you too, sourcebooks landmark my copy of THE GHOSTWRITER.

Julie Clark has cemented herself on my auto read list. Her latest book was such a fun read and very hard to put down. I highly recommend all of her books to everyone I know. If you’re looking for a fun escape from life with twist and turns you’ll never see coming, snag a copy of THE GHOSTWRITER.

This book at first was a bit slow for me but once you get into it, it is truly going to grip you! I felt a deep connection to both Olivia and Poppy and I loved the alternating POVs. It doesn’t give too much away but just allows you just enough insight to start coming up with theories. While I thought I knew where this book was going I was definitely wrong about a lot of things! One aspect I did predict but other than that my jaw was on the floor! Not to spoil but there is one issue I have with one of the characters and an action they took but other than that, a great thriller that will having you guessing!

"The Ghostwriter" is my first novel written by Julie Clark. It was a page-turning tale of a fictional unsolved 50 year old double murder in Ojai, California, in 1975. At its thriller core, we find a family left to pick up the pieces of their lives when inexplicably two of their three children are murdered in their home on the night of the traditional end of school carnival. Left in the spotlight of suspicion is the family's middle child, a troubled teen who can never seem to make the right choices.

Fast forward to the present day, that young teen is now a world-famous writer of horror fiction who has just been handed a medical horror of his own. A diagnosis of lewy body dementia is slowly robbing him of his memory, his words, and his time to resolve the mystery of his sister's and brother's deaths.

Enter *the ghostwriter,* a woman with her own personal demons to battle, and an animosity toward this flawed man who has enlisted her to assist him in the writing of his last story.

This book has a pace of its own as the author slowly provides facts (and fictions) that the reader must connect to a clearer picture of what happened to Poppy and Danny all those years ago.

I received an uncorrected galley proof copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this novel! It was less of a thriller and more of a slow burn mystery filled with family drama, which I am usually not a huge fan of, but somehow it worked with this one? Even through the slower bits I never lost attention - which is saying something.

A notorious ghostwriter is hired to write her estranged, infamous father's memoir - although her father has made a career at being a best-selling crime author, he's at the center of a crime himself: in the 70s, his only two siblings were found brutally murdered in his childhood home. While he has an alibi, the suspicion still lingers....did he do it? He decides to reveal all in his memoir. The catch? He's suffering from a form of dementia - so his daughter has to parse through what is true, and what isn't.

SO good and creative. It felt very fresh. I really enjoyed this!

This was my first Julie Clark; I was not disappointed. I was hooked from start to finish. There was never a lull or a feeling of having been there, read that before. Ghostwriter is just an excellent Thriller Mystery that never lets you get comfortable.


Thank you to NetGalley, The Publishers, and Julie Clark for an advance Copy in exchange for an Honest review.

This was such an amazing read. The characters are very well developed. They had such depth with their trauma and anger and hope and love. It was an unpredictable read and kept me get guessing to the end. It was very suspenseful and addicting with lots of secrets. Julie Clark is a Must Read author for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with a digital review copy of this in exchange for my honest thoughts.

The first couple of chapters absolutely grabbed me-- the remainder of the novel couldn't hold quite as tightly, but that can be forgiven. Definitely a classic Julie Clark and for sure worth a read for her fans.

The premise of a ghostwriter and the murder mystery was why I selected this to read. However it didn’t really hold my attention. The dual timeline was ok but the ending didn’t really appeal to me, seemed to leave a lot open ended. Overall just slow for me and the characters were just ok.

I devoured this book. It was full of suspense and weaved a complex and emotional story that had me hooked at the beginning.

Olivia is a ghostwriter desperate for a new project. She reluctantly agrees to write the memoir of her estranged father, Vincent Taylor, a famous horror writer with a dark past. Vincent was suspected of murdering of his two teenage siblings in 1975, but he was never convicted. As Olivia begins to write his story, she finds herself immersed in a mystery that blurs the lines of truth and fiction.

I loved the dual timeline and perspectives from the present and the past from around the time of the murders. Vincent is an unreliable narrator with his diagnosis of dementia, so the suspense was killing me of what really happened in 1975. When the truth was revealed, I was shocked. Hands down one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a while!

Olivia Dumont is a ghostwriter, but a public spat with another writer has left her career in ruins. Her luck changes when acclaimed horror author Vincent Taylor requests Olivia to ghostwrite his memoirs. This isn’t just any life story, though. Vincent’s siblings were murdered in 1975 and he was the prime suspect.

Link to the rest of the review: https://westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/07/08/the-ghostwriter-julie-clark/

I really enjoyed this book. I was completely immersed in the atmosphere of it (especially the flashbacks to the 1970’s) and really could see it all play out like a movie in my head. Here’s what you need to know about this book- the main character, Olivia goes back to her hometown to assist her father as his ghostwriter in writing his last book, a memoir. The memoir is all about uncovering the murder of his brother and sister back in the 70’s. Olivia’s father, Vincent, though never charged with the murders has always dealt with most in their community believing it was him, but was it? This book kept me interested and engrossed in the story. I thoroughly enjoyed it and definitely would recommend it. One thing to note- this read more like a slow burn mystery, it is not a thriller. That’s not a bad thing, just important to know going into it! Thanks so much to NetGalley for my advanced digital copy!

3.5 ⭐️

I liked this, but didn't love it like I was expecting.
Julie Clark got put on my radar after reading The Lies I Tell and loving it. Everything she writes I want to read and her latest was one of my most highly anticipated reads this year. Unfortunately, it was just an okay read for me. I enjoyed it, but because I loved her other book so much, the bar was set high and I was expecting more from this one. It was good, but not my favorite by her.

I did like how it was a quick read, but I felt the pacing was off and some parts dragged. Despite not having the epic twists and jaw dropping ending I expected, Clark still is a great author and I do enjoy her writing. Unfortunately, I just had a lukewarm experience while reading this one and if you haven't read any of her books before, I'd go with The Lies I Tell before reading this one.

**Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion. I am posting this review to my Goodreads account immediately and will post it to my Amazon & Instagram accounts upon publication.

5 stars! This book grabbed my attention right from the start. It’s uniquely written, focusing more on the story than just the murder mystery (though the “whodunit” aspect keeps you hooked!). I especially connected with the father’s diagnosis, as my own dad had Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia, and I felt the author did an excellent job portraying how this affects the mind. This was my first read by Julie Clark, and I will definitely read more. Highly recommend!

Julie Clark is an auto-buy author for me, and this one did not disappoint! This is a story about a woman named Olivia who is a ghostwriter and down on her luck. She’s gotten herself into some legal trouble and is asked—through her agent—by her estranged father, who is a famous author himself, to write his memoir before he dies. The issue is that they are estranged for very good reasons. Besides the fact that he wasn’t a very good father to her, he’s also been accused of murdering his siblings for decades and has hardly disputed the allegations. You’d think if someone accused you of something so heinous, you’d fight tooth and nail to change people’s minds, right? Not Vincent Taylor.

Olivia needs the money, so she agrees to do it (even though her agent has no idea she’s his daughter because she changed her name!), and in the process of writing this memoir, she finds her deceased aunt’s diary and learns there are film recordings somewhere. What was supposed to be a ghostwriting job turns into something much more sinister as she starts to investigate the murder of her aunt and uncle herself—and either clear her father’s name or, once and for all, prove he did it and put the mystery to rest.

I thought this was such a clever and addicting thriller. I loved the multiple timelines, multiple POVs, family secrets, and the murder mystery itself. The social commentary may bother some people (which I personally cannot relate to), but I took a star off because Olivia wasn’t the strongest main character I’ve read in a thriller—she left a lot to be desired. There was quite a bit of miscommunication, and she was frustrating at times. Her relationship just wasn’t important to me and I did find this to be extremely slow paced.

Aside from those gripes, I thought this was really well done, and the ending surprised me!

Thank you, NetGalley and Sourcebooks, for this ARC!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

I really enjoyed this story. It’s a fantastic murder mystery with some family drama that keeps it interesting. I could relate with the main character, Olivia, and appreciated the multiple character perspectives to tell the story

I thoroughly enjoyed the premise of The Ghostwriter. The twists were a bit predictable and while the ending was open ended, I felt like there were several things that did not make sense to me. I would have liked for more things to feel wrapped up by the end.

Overall it was an enjoyable read and I think many thriller readers will enjoy it.