Reading Paper Ghosts is like watching a chess game or a tennis match. Back and forth, back and forth. Both individuals have their own agenda and are trying to outwit the other. One, Grace, is the sister of a murder victim who thinks she’s identified her sister’s killer. That man, who may now be suffering from early onset dementia, was formerly a documentary photographer who was acquitted on the one case taken to court. She takes him on a road trip to view sites of murders he supposedly committed. But her stories seem tenuous at best or nonsensical at worst.

The book consists of mixed media. There are photographs, photographer’s notes from Carl’s published book, lists and pages out of a youngster’s notebook. I liked the way this broke up the story and gave an added dimension.

There’s a delicious creep factor to the beginning of the book. It had me squirming. But as the story goes on, the tension comes and goes and in between, the book just seems to sag. Too many scenes that just didn’t seem to make sense. Grace is totally paranoid and not just about Carl and his proclivities. The plot didn’t hang together and the ending seemed anticlimactic and definitely out of left field.

If I rated this book at the beginning it would have been a five star. But by the end, it was down to a three. I felt like the author squandered a great premise.

My thanks to netgalley and Ballantine Books for an advance copy of this novel.

Grace has gone a lot farther to figure out what happened to her missing sister than anyone can imagine. She has trained in self-defense and to master her fears. She has scoured the dark web for information and false identities. She has cooked up lies to cover her tracks. She has done all of this to break a possible serial killer with dementia out of a halfway house to get the truth out of him somehow. Julia Heaberlin’s Paper Ghosts is a tense ride through Texas, following a trail that leads who knows where for a story Grace might not want to hear. The more I read, the more I enjoyed this book.

We don’t know much about either Grace or Carl Feldman at the very beginning of Paper Ghosts. In a few short chapters, we learn that Carl has dementia, he was a photographer, and that he might have killed Grace’s sister. We also learn that Grace is going to bust him out and take him on a trip to the sites where he took pictures and young women disappeared. Somehow it’s all going to work, in Grace’s head. It has to. She refuses to think that it won’t work. Carl, of course, is not talking about his past no matter how much she prods or tries to jog his memory. Instead, he makes demands for fast food; stops to pan for gold; and to pick up stray, wounded animals. He is not the kind of serial killer Grace expected, especially when he starts to save her life from mysterious pursuers.

The question of what Carl has and hasn’t done kept Grace (and me) guessing about what really happened to her sister and three other young women. Carl was on trial for one kidnapping and murder, but acquitted due to lack of evidence. There’s circumstantial evidence that puts him in the right time and place. There’s his cunning intelligence and charm that can be predatory or flattering by turns. He seems like he ought to be a serial killer. And yet, there’s a delicious ambiguity that runs through the entire book that is only finally resolved at the very end.

I wasn’t sure about Paper Ghosts when I first started it. There were a lot of short paragraphs to get the story moving that made me worry that there might be a lack of depth—characterization and backstory sacrificed for the sake of a fast plot. But Heaberlin is very skilled at embedding information in such a way that you learn more about what’s happening and why without loading readers down with exposition. She’s also great at building up an atmosphere and rich setting that made me feel like I was in the car with Grace and Carl, worried every minute for Grace’s safety and wondering what Carl would do next. This book is a fantastic thriller. It was so good that I want to go and read the rest of Heaberlin’s books.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration. It will be released 15 May 2018.

I have read her previous books and was looking forward to reading this book.

Since Grace's sister's disappearance, life has revolved around her solving case.
She was 12 when her sister, 19, rode her bike to babysit and never made it there.
Leaving not only her family, but, two boys that she babysat (played with) also feeling
and mourning her sister's loss.
Grace goes on a journey - looking for closure
Does she have a death wish or a brave wish?

I enjoyed reading her "My Survival Notebook" pages throughout book.

Insane. I was attracted to the cover of this book, then the blurb sent me over the edge. I never expected to story to live up to how high my expectations were for this! I was fascinated by the 2 main characters and felt a closeness to both of them even though they were both crazy. I want more from this author!

What a strange little book. I found the idea for the plot so unique and interesting, but the execution was so-so. I just felt like not a lot happened. The writing was really wonderful though and I definitely felt it was an atmospheric novel. The ending was a little unbelievable, but it did tie up most loose ends. Reviewed on Goodreads and will post on Amazon after release date.

Got bored with this one pretty quickly. Couldn't finish it. What was wrong with it? Who knows! I just didn't click with me.

Grace has never gotten over the death of her sister. She has become obsessed with finding the answer. She tracks down Carl, the man she believes is responsible. Carl is living in a home for convicts with dementia. Grace pretends to be his daughter and takes Carl on a road try to try to get answers.

Is Carl a serial killer, does he really have dementia or is he manipulating Grace. Grace is totally obsessed with her sisters death and is determined to get an answer from Carl. This book moves slow at first and the writing style at the beginning was off putting to me, and I almost quit reading. I kept on a little longer and as the book went on it did capture my interest but it took awhile. Both the characters in this book are screwed up people. I had no idea where the book was heading. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

What a great read. I started this expecting to have one experience but on top of being a great thriller and having the twists and turns associated therewith, I also got a touching family story and the beginning of a friendship. Heaberlin writes wonderful, complex characters that come to life and have all the qualities and flaws real humans have. They come to life. The story of our main character, who until very late in the book remains unnamed, is tragic and intriguing as well as the tale of Carl. I loved every minute of this book and didn’t want it to be over. Pick this book up and love it too!

I didn't really know what to expect from this book and I went in a little blind. Basically, the creep factor was a lot of looking over your shoulder, waiting for the other shoe to drop moments. It was refreshing and different for me, who mostly reads romance.

The woman who is guiding the story is interesting, strong and brave, determined and clever. The photographer along for the ride is sneaky and maybe a genius. Genuine, can't totally figure him out. I think sociopaths are like that and I wonder if this is really a pretty close picture to what it's like when someone like that starts to get dementia.

I wish every little thing was answered, or more fully satisfied me. I know a lot was and maybe I'm just a little slow but I still feel like he kept his secrets til the end. I do find it interesting how things unravelled in an unexpected way. All in all this was an enjoyable read with cool pictures between chapters.

Paper Ghosts is a novel by Julia Heaberlin told in ten days with an epilogue. Paper Ghosts tells the story with some back and forth in time. Ms Heaberlin immediately draws the reader into the story. In some ways most of the book is an edge of your seat thriller because our "heroine" really can't depend on the actions of her traveling "companion". I was given an early copy to review.

I loved the pictures that were put into the book - it really made an impact! The main character frustrated me, at times, for her lack of foresight and perceived intellect. For all of the "training" she's put herself through, she seemed quite incompetent at times. Enjoyed the overall story, though.

A witty, edge-of-your-seat ride that kept me guessing and second guessing. Not to be missed.

Grace has never gotten over the loss of her sister who disappeared all those years ago. She believes Carl Feldman is responsible for her murder. Carl has after all been on trial for murder before. These days Carl is in a halfway house, supposedly with dementia, but Grace is not so sure he isn't faking. She hatches a plan to pose as his daughter, visiting him often so that it won't seem suspicious when she wants to take dear old dad on a road trip one last time. Grace finds out more than she ever expected to, and we find out that there is far more to Grace than just a grieving sister.
There were lots of twists and surprises to this suspenseful story.

'Lying is a delightful thing, for it leads to truth. That’s Dostoyevsky.'

This is a heck of a suspense story about a serial killer who may or may not have dementia. Can you ever really trust a killer? Sure, he’s an old man but isn’t dementia a convenient illness for someone with a lot of sins to hide? Carl Louis Feldman was a celebrated photographer, but it’s the girls he photographed that captivates the young woman who arrives at the half-way house where he lives claiming to be his daughter. She is going to take him on a trip to ‘dig up’ his lost memories of his darkness, and find out what happened to her beloved sister Rachel who disappeared when she herself was just a kid. “Death came to her like a summer’s dream.” Her years have been haunted by not knowing what happened, if she is dead or alive. An adult now, her obsession has driven her to deceive old Carl, but is his mind really filled with holes or is it just another deception in a dark life? He isn’t a fool, nor does he trust her. Her sister climbed out of a grave once, just what will Carl reveal, will she rise again?

With photographs as clues and with Carl in tow, she is going to unravel the great horrific mystery of her life. Though during his trial for another crime he was found not guilty and went into hiding, she always knew he’d ‘crawl out.’ Never could she have imagined she would become his ‘daughter’. He wants things, and only then will he help her. He tells her it’s an exercise in madness, he doesn’t remember! Then he gives her the list, and she will give in to his demands. He starts playing with her, leaving her little gifts meant to frighten her, and it works. There are flashbacks to her memories of Rachel, and now with Carl sharing her space, she is remembering things that once seemed inconsequential. She won’t be cowed by Carl, she knows her power is in never showing her fear, never flinching in his presence, never letting him know his effect on her. With two fingers on her flesh he says, “Bump, bump. That’s your carotid.” It just shows how he loves mind games, and a woman’s fear. She plays the game right back.

She wants to know everything, even if she risks her own neck. I didn’t have a clue how this story would end, not what I expected at all. It’s scores points for originality with the dementia angle. I really liked Black-Eyed Susans by Heaberlin, this one is a bit slower but still an interesting story. He is a killer, how the hell do you cozy up to a killer who plays the liar’s game so much better than you? They are both screwed up, and is strange to see how much she has in common with him. The story is more about their psyche than any of his victims, her sister included. Sometimes the answer is worse than what you thought you knew. The memories of a chid are distorted to begin with, colored by rage and grief carried into adulthood and truth becomes a murky diseased artifact. What has Carl done? Does he really have no memory of her sister because of his dementia, or is there something else?

Without a doubt one of the strangest books about a killer I’ve read in a long time.

Publication Date: May 15, 2018

Random House

Ballantine Books

Two-ish years ago, I read Heaberlin's Black-Eyed Susans (my review) and was impressed enough with it that I didn't even read what this one was about before I requested it on Netgalley. The truth is, I had been disappointed by the ending of that book; but it gave me the creepies big time and I raced through it so I knew Heaberlin was capable of taking me for a ride again. And, oh, what a ride!

Like Black-Eyed Susans, there is almost no violence in the book, and almost no description of the murders of the girls Carl is supposed to have killed, which I very much appreciate in a book. My imagination can handle that part just fine and I really don't need to read descriptions of things that will keep me up at night. The thrill factor relies almost entirely on Heaberlin's ability to get into her readers' heads by making them think about what might happen (or what the heck just happened?) and she is certainly up to the task. More than once, I almost dropped the book in surprise and if this had been a movie, I would have watched peering through my fingers. Heaberlin made great use of Carl's photography; including descriptions of his photographs at the beginnings of many chapters to help readers climb into his head and to paint scenes. It managed to cast an extra layer of eeriness over the story.

Texas comes alive in the book - I found myself, as I so often do when a book piques my interest, turning again and again to the internet to see pictures of the areas Heaberlin is writing about, to see a map of the route Carl and Grace are taking, and to learn more about the historical events Heaberlin writes about.

All that being said, at the heart of this book is a story about the relationship between two people and how it changes and what those changes reveal about each of them. That's something you rarely see (at least in my somewhat limited experience) in this kind of book. I really liked this part of the story and it's what kept the book moving, even in places where the story lagged.

The book is not without flaws. It sometimes drags a bit, as we spend a lot of time in our heroine's head. The biggest flaw, for me, was the fact that, for a person who talks so much about how much she has trained for all situations, that Grace seems to find herself in bad places without a backup plan all too often. And given that most of the "action" is psychological, there wasn't much need for all of her physical training anyway. Perhaps the point was that no matter how well prepared we think we are, there will always be surprises in life we can't foresee. At least that's the reason I'm giving Heaberlin because I liked this book well enough to want there to be a reason for the things I questioned.
"Bad people are to be found everywhere, but even among the worst there may be something good."
I was much more satisfied with the ending to this book than I was with Black-Eyed Susans. Parts were unexpected and other pieces tied up exactly as I wanted them to end. A very satisfying read!

Wow! A smart psychological thriller with over-the-top characters that are somehow completely believable and relatable. Our unnamed narrator has trained for an unspecified plan that involves kidnapping the man she thinks abducted and murdered her sister. The more time we spend with her and the more we learn about her plans and training, the more we get involved with her story. Carl Louis Feldman, the man she's planning to entrap, may be a dangerous serial killer but he is slowly succumbing to dementia. Or he may be playing her. This is a tale of cat and mouse in which you don't know who is who. Carl was also a photographer, and his pictures may be clues to his killings or simply beautiful works of art. The complete story won't come together until the very end but the conclusion is simply fantastic. Carl is scary, a thief and a liar, but he is also kind enough to help strangers and rescue animals in need. Unless it's all part of a plan. The story is like a road movie across Texas and its visual language makes the images pop in the reader's minds.

Knocked it out of the ballpark this time!!!!!!!!! This book will be going to the top of my all-time best books read list!! Black Eyed Susans was already up there, this one tops it, hands down. I would give this book 10 stars, which would not be enough. As you can tell, I loved every minute.
The relationship between Carl and Grace (or whoever she is that day) was so awesome. I laughed so much when Carl or Grace would one-up each other, chuckled when I wasn’t reading just thinking about things that had happened, and yes, cried at the end. The writing is stellar, the storyline is excellent. I loved the way the story was told, you would be in the present and then the author takes you quickly back to things that had been done before and the preparation Grace had done years prior. And I always love when the book tidies everything up in the last chapter to let you know how it all worked out.
Julia Heaberlin, keep doing what you’re doing!! Producing great books. I am an avid reader and it will be a long, long time before I come across another gem like this one. Walt, George, Barfly and Baloney, nice added touches, priceless.
I thank Net Galley and Random House/Ballantine Books for allowing me the opportunity to read this book for my review.

This was a very unique take on a family member tracking down her sister’s murderer. Lots of twists and tension. I much preferred this book to the author’s earlier “black eyed Susans”

4.5 Stars
I fell in love with Julia's writing when I read Black-Eyed Susans so I was excited to see Paper Ghosts on netgalley.
I really enjoyed Paper Ghosts. The plot had me wondering throughout most the time I was reading. Then when Julia connected all the dots I was like WOW!!!!
I look forward to read more from Julia!

Dementia isn’t a pretty evening sky. It’s an ocean fog, an endless midnight beach run and a stalker you hear padding in the sand behind you. Keep running, or wade into the black waves. The correct veribification of dementia would be ‘Stephen Kinging.’

A story about a ‘could be’ serial killer suffering from dementia and the sister of one of his possible victims that just wants answers.

Have you ever had one of those books that has been sitting on your shelf for a few months and you finally decide to read it...then you power through the story because it’s so good! That was this book for me, I can’t believe I waited so long to read this story. A well written psychological thriller that keeps you guessing until the end of the book.

I highly recommend this book!

I would like to thank the publisher Random House/Ballantine Books, Julie Heaberlin and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.