The Ghostwriter was such a page turner. It’s told in dual timelines and I loved how it all slowly came together to a jaw dropping conclusion.

I enjoyed the book. It kept me interested the whole time, right from the beginning. You go back and forth between the present and past, and it was nice to see things from different POVs with different avenues. I wouldn’t say it’s a slow burn, but it’s not super fast-paced. I feel like things picked up more around 60% in. It definitely kept me interested, especially in the second half.

I did figure it out. I think I just got lucky, but I got to the end, and I had figured out pretty much every detail except one. It’s okay because I did enjoy the story to get to the twist.

It was very atmospheric. You never knew who you could trust. I felt like she did a good job giving you clues if you paid attention. The end felt a little bit rushed.

Overall, I thought it was really good!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for letting me read this ARC.

Olivia Dumont is a seasoned ghostwriter, renowned for her skill in bringing other people’s stories to life. But her professional life takes a devastating hit when a clash with another industry writer spirals out of control. The fallout is severe: a smear campaign in the court of public opinion, a small claims suit, and a hefty bill she can’t afford to pay. Desperate to salvage her career and her finances, Olivia reluctantly accepts an unusual offer—to ghostwrite the memoir of the infamous Vincent Traylor, a celebrated writer as well known for his literary brilliance as for the dark cloud of suspicion that looms over him: the long-unsolved murders of his siblings.

The job comes with an unexpected twist—Vincent is not just a client. He’s Olivia’s estranged father. Compelled by the chance to rebuild her career and perhaps untangle the mysteries of her own past, Olivia travels to California to take on the project. What she finds is a shadow of the man she remembers: Vincent is battling a debilitating illness that leaves him physically frail but no less enigmatic.

As Olivia begins to peel back the layers of her father's life, she is drawn deeper into the chilling events of the night his siblings were killed. The story is as much about uncovering the truth behind that fateful evening as it is about Olivia’s journey to reconcile with the parents who emotionally abandoned her.

Julia Clark masterfully delivers a gripping and atmospheric novel that blends family drama with the intrigue of a psychological thriller. Readers will find themselves captivated by Olivia’s struggle for closure and justice as she navigates the blurred lines between truth and deception.
This engrossing story of ambition, family, and redemption will keep you guessing until the very last page.

#ghostwriter #familydrama #psychologicalthriller #JuliaClark #sourcebooks

This was fabulous. We follow the daughter of thriller writer, who as a teen has his older brother and younger sister murdered. He was suspected by some though not officially. After many years of separation, she goes home to help him write his memoir. We follow the current day as well as the three siblings leading up to the murders. So we'll paced and I really enjoyed the story. I did figure it out but that didn't ruin the pleasure of the read.

4 all the secret stars

Olivia Dumont is a ghostwriter. She had a promising career until comments got her in hot water, and she was blacklisted in the industry.

Bestselling author Vincent Taylor has requested that Olivia write his memoir. Vincent’s past is clouded with suspicion that he killed his two teenage siblings. He was never charged with the crimes, and maybe now it’s time to tell the story. However, Vincent is afflicted with Lowey's body dementia. He can no longer read or write, and he has frightening episodes.

Only Olivia knows that Vincent is her estranged father. And because of a substantial financial charge against her, she must accept this book offer.

You’ll want to pay attention as you read this one because the twists come at the reader at a furious pace. I never knew if I could trust Vincent’s viewpoint. I did enjoy the flashbacks of Poppy, Vincent’s sister. It was heartbreaking to know that she would be murdered.

As Olivia digs into the past, she’s also forced to reconcile her memories. She and her father engaged in treasure hunts until he sent her to boarding school. Olivia immerses herself in the music, politics, and atmosphere of fifty years ago to write the story. Will she explain what happened, or will the deception continue?

This is my first thriller by Julie Clark, and I’m glad I finally gave her a shot! The Ghostwriter has an intriguing premise with a great twist at the end. I did find the first half of the book to be slow and a bit uneventful (like an extended exposition), but the second half really ramped up and had me quickly flipping through pages on my Kindle to find out what happens next. The multiple POVs and unreliable narrators are really twisty and engaging, and Clark keeps you guessing about what’s real and what’s a red herring until the bitter end.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the arc!

THE GHOSTWRITER by Julie Clark
⭐️ rating: 9/10

read if you like:
🥶 cold case mysteries
🏠 family dramas
🧓🏼 father daughter relationships
🏴‍☠️ treasure hunts

summary:
THE LAST FLIGHT is probably my favorite book ever, and when I saw Julie Clark had a new one releasing next year, I could not wait to get my hands on it! And wow, it did not disappoint.

It follows Olivia Dumont, a famous ghostwriter trying to recover her career after an embarrassing mistake. Olivia has a secret — she is the only daughter of famous crime writer, Vincent Taylor, an author with a dozen published stories and a tainted past — he was once accused of brutally murdering his sister and brother in their childhood home. As Olivia looks to turn her career around, she gets a job offer — to ghostwrite her father’s final book. When she heads out to his home in Ojai, she finds him dying with pads full of notes, sharing what happened that fateful day in 1975. As Olivia uncovers his notes and his stories, she realizes that her father’s motives for bringing her out are more than she thought, and the story she’ll tell will be the final piece of a puzzle she’s been haunted by her entire life.

I love the way Julie Clark writes her stories — an intersection of multiple times and places, all woven together like a puzzle. It feels natural and flows well, creating a deeper, broader story. Olivia is a fascinating, complex character. Her family situation is nuanced and pretty unique, which adds to the story itself. Her father’s character though is DEEPLY complicated, and while I don’t want to give anything away, I found myself loving him, hating him and crying for him, all in the same sitting. The writing is a perfect balance of action and reflection, in a way that keeps you gripped the entire time. Between the flashbacks and the current day, she paints a beautiful picture of Ojai, and it just rounds out the perfect book. The plot moves quickly and will keep you engaged, and the ending is equally heartbreaking and revealing.

I cannot thank SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and NetGalley enough for this advanced copy. Do not miss out on this book when it releases on June 3!!

I love when an author’s first book is terrific and somehow each book they write afterwards gets better and better! I was so engrossed by The Ghostwriter that when I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about it. The cast of characters was small enough that I thought I had it figured out. I did not.

The story will grab you from the first page and it doesn’t let go. The characters are so well developed and the plot is outstanding. Easily one of my favorite reads this year. Mark your calendar for The Ghostwriter!

Many thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and @julieclarkauthor for an advance reader copy of The Ghostwriter.

The Ghostwriter is a fantastic mystery thriller/ family drama that had me reading well past my bedtime. Told from multiple points of view this book had me hooked from first page to last.
Julie Clark will now be an auto buy author for me.

Julie Clark is a must read for me. I enjoyed the alternating characters and timeline. There is a big twist which I did not expect. Very fast paced with some unreliable narrators.

So I LOVED The Last Flight and The Lies I Tell. I did not love this. It was slow and some of it was just boring. Parts I did like were Poppy and her chapters. The end and who the murderer`s actually were. I liked that there was some closure between Olivia and her father and she could make peace in the end. This book had some good twists and I liked the different perspectives and timelines for chapters. I just think it could have been tightened up a little. 3.5 stars from me.

I loved this book! The pace, the plot, the mystery.....everything was spot on to the point I was sad I couldn't read it in one sitting. Fantastically written!

This book was just ok for me. It was a little slow to get into and it felt like it dragged on but it was still ok.

Julie Clark is an auto buy for me, I have read her previous works and loved them so much. Thank you netgalley and the publishers for the ARC. The story is excellent with great plot and development. The characters were fleshed out and the pacing mid level. I enjoyed the twists and was instantly invested in the story.

I have really enjoyed previous work by this author, so I was very excited to get the opportunity to read a (very) advanced copy of this book!

I took my time with this one and enjoyed slowly unraveling the mystery that was tangled up in this family. The dark and eerie atmosphere and the diary entries were my favorite two elements, but I think there was a lot to enjoy with this story.

I’m looking forward to hearing people’s thoughts on this one!

I’ve been a big fan of Julie Clark since reading The Last Flight and I significantly enjoyed this new novel as well. I found the premise and plot to be very compelling and I enjoyed how much everything came together at the end despite all the paths it took. Thanks again!

I genuinely loved this book. The prose was stunning, and the plot kept me invested the entire way through!

Oh how I loved this book! A brilliantly written book that works at solving a familial mystery with a main character who was really exceptional. I loved how Olivia worked with her estranged father to figure out who killed her aunt and uncle way back in the 70's and the multiple points of view were done so well. It was nice to hear from Poppy and even Vince in the time leading up to the murders and I was so engrossed, I was unable and unwilling to put this book down. Clark is great at making characters come alive on the pages and I can't recommend this one enough.

Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Olivia is a Ghostwriter who is struggling with reputation and money issues when she is offered the chance to go back home and work with her ailing and estranged father to write his memoir. His two siblings were killed when he was a teenager and many thought he was the murderer although he had an alibi. After accepting the job, she winds up digging into the past to try to find the truth about the murders.

Another winner from Julie Clark. I throughly enjoyed this one, as I have with the other books of hers that I have read. I love books that uncover family secrets from the past and this one kept me turning the pages. I look forward to her next novel.

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.