I was so excited to hear Julie Clark had a 3rd book coming out this summer. I was even MORE excited to receive an advanced copy of the books so a huge thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark!

In true Julie Clark fashion, Clark winds a story between present day and 1975 when the murder of Poppy and Danny Taylor occurred. The surviving sibling, Vincent, is left to answer questions and remains under public scrutiny to now.

Vincen's daughter, Olivia, has made a career or being a ghostwriter, in that she writes for other authors. Imagine her surprise when Vincent's publisher and team reach out to her with an offer she can't refuse: writing about what happened the night of Danny and Poppy's murder.

Olivia returns to Ojai to revisit both her and her father's demons in a story twisted with lies, hunts, and renditions of situations that may or may not be true which both the reader and author are left to question.

The ending remained a tad unresolved for me (I think that was the point) but I would recommend this rollercoaster ride to ANYONE. Can't wait to discuss what others got from this book as well!

Olivia Dumont is the only child of famous horror author, Vincent Taylor. This twisting mystery is intertwined with their dysfunctional family drama, a judgemental community, and affectionate sentimentalism. Vincent was only 16 when his sister and brother were brutally killed in an unsolved murder case. Although he has an alibi, he was a suspect and many in their community still think he was the murderer. Olivia spent her life running from the implications and suspicions her father was guilty. Now her financial situation and pride are requiring her to contract for ghostwriting her father’s memoir. In order to solve what happened, Olivia searches for the clues that will tell the real story.. The mystery lingers with you due to its thought provoking themes, resonating tragic events, and unique perspectives. The main characters are well developed and quite interesting in their multi facets. This author has done a masterful job of telling this story which keeps you guessing and doubting your guesses as you read.

Thank you to NetGalley ,the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book. My comments are totally my own and given voluntarily.

This was GOOD! I loved the dual timelines. The characters are extremely likable and the story is unique. I loved it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

So she’s a well known ghostwriter. Her Dad is famous horror author who may or may not have killed his brother and sister when he was a teenager. They’re estranged. Then he hires her to write his memoir.

First five star of the year. That was INCREDIBLE.

I think my favorite part of this book were the flawed, interesting, and believable characters. The different POV's and timelines kept the story moving along. I liked the ghostwriting aspect and thought that was an interesting approach.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars

Excellent way to end my year of reading! Olivia Dumont is a ghostwriter helping authors write their books. She moved away from home at 14 and hasn't been back since. Her father is believed by most of her home town to have killed his brother and sister as a teenager and is now a famous horror book writer. Olivia is hired to write his story of what happened to his siblings.

You have two unreliable narrators, multiple POVs in different timelines. I loved Poppy. Highly recommend The Ghostwriter.

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark turns the estranged daughter comes home to discover a multitude of secrets trope on its head. Clark makes this completely unique and adds her own twist to it. While I was able to figure out the big twist, there were several smaller ones that I didn’t. It also didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story at all. Poppy was my favorite character and I was so upset knowing how her story would eventually end up. The different POV’s and timelines enhanced the complexity of this story. I highly recommend The Ghostwriter.

A woman is hired to ghostwrite a memoir for her estranged father who now has Lewy body dementia and has long been thought to have killed his brother and sister. He wants to tell his story. Can we trust what he has to say? (is he lying to cover up? Is he experiencing cognitive decline and hallucinations?)

I thought the premise was very interesting, just like Julie Clark's <i>The Last Flight</i>, but, as with that book as well, wish it was executed a little better. I felt it got a little slow and repetitive in the middle, but the ending picked up and I enjoyed the resolution. We get POVs from the daughter/ghostwriter in the present, as well as from the dad and the now-deceased sister from 1975.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Expected date of publication: June 3, 2025

Olivia Dumont is a ghostwriter who is desperate for work. She agrees to ghostwrite her estranged father's story of the murders of his siblings. The whole town thinks he did it, and he isn't exactly an easy person to be around. He was a terrible, self-centered father who battled alcohol and drugs during her childhood. He is impossible to work with because he is suffering from Lewy body dimentia and is not always living in the present. I loved this story, especially Olivia started doing what she does best and interviewing all the people who were around during 1975 double homicide. The suspense and the use of two time periods was well done, especially the Super 8 movies in Poppy's camera.

I dropped everything to read this book. I’ve loved everything she’s written and THE GHOSTWRITER was no different.

Vincent is a famed writer who is always famous for being the primary suspect in the murder of his siblings. He wants to write one last book and he wants his estranged daughter who is a ghostwriter to do it. This is unbeknownst to her and she has no idea what she’s in for.

It’s quite clear that Vincent has kept his secrets and it was very satisfying finding out what those were.

The storyline is amazing, but I will say the pacing was a little slower than I would preferred. I would still recommend this book though.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC.

I throughly enjoyed this book from cover to cover! Not only is the synopsis golden, but the emotion that is evoked throughout is truly a masterpiece. By the end of the novel, I was completely wrecked. It has been a long time since a novel truly rocked me like this.

This novel is one that you could re-read and never grow tired of. I will be purchasing this in a physical form to keep on my shelf.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.

Expected publication date: June 3, 2025.

This is the third book I've read by Julie Clark, and she hasn't let me down yet! She always knows how to hook me in the beginning and then keep me engrossed until the end. If I had started this on a Saturday morning instead of a Monday night, then I probably would have read this in one sitting.

This book is about Olivia, who is a Ghostwriter. She is the daughter of a legendary horror author, who also happens to be suspected of murdering his brother and sister almost 50 year ago. She is estranged from him and has spent her professional life hiding her relation to him, but due to her stalled career, she accepts an offer from him that she can't refuse. His health is failing (along with his memory), so he hires her to ghostwrite his final book: a memoir about the murders. As she works with him to finally tell his side of the story, she has to determine if what he's telling her - whether a result of his failing mental health or due to him intentionally deceiving her - is actually true.

This one had me guessing the whole way through, and I enjoyed every minute of it! 4.5 stars rounded up!

Julie Clark can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned. I was completely hooked by this thriller from page one and I could not put it down until I knew what was going on. My favorite part of Julie's books is that she takes the tradtional thriller formula and then seemlessly weaves in deeper themes. In this book, Julie portrayed the dynamic of a complicated father-daughter relationship so well. Her writing is also so descriptive to me that it feels like a movie playing out in my mind. I loved every second of this and cannot wait to recommend it to people.

The best Julie Clark book yet! I flew through this book, and it definitely kept me guessing! I appreciated the true crime nature of the plot, and found the entire premise to be engaging and fresh. Perfect summer thriller beach read!

A masterful novel of suspense full of emotional depth.

After a faux pas that threatened her entire career and is about to ruin her financially, ghostwriter Olivia Dumont is desperate for work - even when it comes in the form of her father, prolific horror author Vincent Taylor, the relation to whom she has kept a secret her entire life. After reluctantly agreeing to help her ailing father write his latest book, Olivia soon realizes the project she signed up for is not another horror novel. Her father - accused of murdering his own older brother and younger sister fifty years ago, in the summer of 1975, a crime which is still unsolved - is planning on publishing all tell-all memoir about the murders.

"The Ghostwriter" alternates between Olivia's point of view in the present-day timeline and flashbacks to 1975, which are told both from Vincent's and from his sister Poppy's perspective. While Olivia, distrustful of her father's recollections, starts her own investigation into the dark secrets at the heart of her family, the events simultaneously unfold int 1975's timeline, often offering a different take on Olivia's discoveries and interpretations. What really happened that summer - and who murdered Danny and Poppy - is a mystery that is unraveled masterfully and slowly until the novel's heartbreaking conclusion.

Admittedly, the story of how Olivia comes to work with Vincent in the first place felt inorganic (she does, in effect, exactly what she accused another writer of doing - to the detriment of her career - and even acknowledges this hypocrisy). However, once father and daughter start working together, the novel is nearly flawless in its execution. What makes "The Ghostwriter" stand out is not only its excellent writing and its complex and multi-layered storyline, maneuvered with expertise by the author, but also its characters, most of all Poppy, for whom the reader cannot help but desperately want another fate, despite knowing all along how her story will end.

"When Poppy was born, she was beauty and grace and light. And she continues to be that, all her beautiful days."

"The Ghostwriter" is a suspenseful and heartbreaking mystery full of emotional depth.

TW: murder, domestic abuse, parental neglect, grooming, rape, abortion.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"The Ghostwriter" is slated to be released on June 3, 2025.

this was a really good book! It did remind me a bit of "First Lie Wins" in a good way!! I think it was an interesting concept and the themes of family, past trauma and guild all played well together in this book. I was a fan!!

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

I'm a big fan of Julie Clark's books, but this one was different from her others. It's not a psychological thriller but more of a mystery. I read it quickly and was very engaged in the mystery and finding out what happened. I did guess one of the twists but there were still enough surprises for the ending to be satisfying. Clark is a must read for me!

This book is a masterfully crafted thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. The suspense and pacing were impeccable, making it nearly impossible to put down. I loved Olivia, who is dragged into her father’s enigmatic world. Her journey from hiding her true identity to facing her family's demons is both harrowing and compelling. The plot twists were unexpected and thrilling. Just when you think you have it all figured out, the author throws in another curveball that will leave you reeling. The revelation of what truly happened that fateful night in 1975 is both shocking and satisfying, tying together every loose end with expert precision. The author’s ability to weave such a gripping narrative, filled with deep character development and a richly atmospheric setting, is truly commendable.

If you enjoy a suspenseful, well-paced thriller that keeps you guessing until the very end, "The Ghostwriter" is an absolute must-read.

So I wanted to love this book and give it a 5 star but the pacing was just a bit slow for me. I was expecting im not sure maybe just a few twists earlier to keep attention but its fine. I did love the development and "the answers" explained everything for me

I’ve been a fan of Julie Clark since The Last Flight.

The Ghostwriter is an amazing, tragic story, a story I thought I could predict the outcome of while I was reading it only to find that I hadn’t predicted any of the twists and turns the author created.

I’ve never been a fan of multiple points of view, but Ms. Clark does an amazing job: it’s easy to follow many different points of view, all taking place at different times in history. I was a young teen during the mid 70s and I can remember and recognize the feeling of 1975.

This is one of those stories where you think you know what’s going to happen, you think you know who did what, but I can almost promise you you’ll be wrong. The plot, although easy to follow, was so complex and so full of misdirection and hints, it was like participating in one of the scavenger hunts that played a part in the storyline.

Thanks to Sourcebooks/Landmark for the E-ARC. All opinions are my own. #HighlyRecommend.