I was excited to read Julie Clark’s newest book as I really enjoyed her previous work, however I don’t think this one is as good as others. The Ghostwriter has a good character development and interesting family drama but it was just too slow for me. I also found myself skipping through some of the parts. Overall it was an interesting story but forgettable.

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark and the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Julie Clark's ghostwriter is about a woman named Olivia reconnecting with her estranged father. Her father requests Olivia to assist in a memoir of his life unpacking the deaths of his two siblings. This novel is layered with character's points of view in present and past tense. As Olivia continues to interview and reconnect with her father, she begins to learn the truth about how her Aunt and Uncle were abruptly murdered. It is a fast paced read!

I know what your dad did...


This one is definitely a page turner.

The Ghostwriter, Olivia Dumont is the estranged daughter of Vincent Taylor, a very successful writer of horror novels. Vincent has lived his whole life under the suspicion that he brutally murdered his brother Danny and sister Poppy when they were teenagers. Vincent was never convicted and in fact had an alibi, but these tragedies followed him his whole life. Olivia is raised in a very dysfunctional family, in which her own mother abandons her and Vincent continually lets her down.

Present day Olivia has gone to lengths to hide where she comes from. No one in her personal or professional life is aware that she is this famous author's daughter and in fact she hasn't seen him in 15 years. Olivia, after having some success of her own in the publishing world, is now struggling to make ends meet. So when a surprise offer comes up, she jumps at the chance, until she realizes who has requested her, and only her, to ghostwrite this book, her father. After 50 years of silence Vincent Taylor wants to tell the real story of what happened to his siblings on the night they were murdered. But will he be telling the truth?

Olivia learns upon reconnecting with her father that he is dying and has a form of Alzheimer's. He has written notepads worth of jumbled notes for her to frame this book. However, several contradictions to his story and his loss of memory lead her to believe he is an unreliable narrator.

Things get really interesting when Olivia discovers Poppy's diary and hidden reels of video tape. Poppy's story differs from Vincent's recollection and Olivia has to wonder, is her father a murderer after all?

This book did keep me guessing. My only critique was the way Olivia's relationship with her mother played out. It was never really explained why they were estranged for so many years.

Readers of atmospheric, vibey mysteries will love this one.

4.5 stars rounded up!

I was so happy when I got approved for this advanced reader copy via NetGalley! Julie Clark has become an auto-buy author for me (and a shared favorite for my best friend and me!).

This story quickly sets up the circumstances of its protagonist, Olivia, an accomplished ghostwriter who has experienced significant difficulties and passed-down family trauma because of her family's dark past and the father she has not spoken to in years. Early on in the story, Olivia has fallen on difficult circumstances as a writer, so when offered her first ghostwriting opportunity in quite some time (to write a memoir on behalf of her estranged father), she faces the challenge of returning home to try to unravel the complicated truths of her father's story.

This is a book that kept me GUESSING, where I found myself very attached to both Olivia and her aunt Poppy, and I loved the use of multiple perspectives and time jumps to shape the reader's experience.

As a fan of Julie Clark, this story showcases her great skills as a writer, and I enjoyed her writing style and techniques just as much as I have before. I did not love this book quite as much as I loved The Lies I Tell or The Last Flight, but I definitely recommend this book to fans of a story with twists and turns that also has really poignant and meaningful takeaways.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for my honest feedback.

This was my first book read by this author, and I will definitely be reading more of her books.
I love how the book was written from the POV of the murdered persons' diary and the present as well. Good story with many turns of events and a shocking ending. I really liked the idea of the book writing through a ghostwriter and how she went on a hunt to figure out the truth.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me access to this ebook. Julie Clark is one of my favourite authors so I was very excited to receive this one!
The Ghostwriter is going to be released on June 3rd.
Olivia Dumont, daughter of infamous horror author Vincent Taylor, has spent her life hiding her family's dark past: her father was the prime suspect in his siblings' brutal murders. Facing financial ruin, she agrees to ghostwrite his final book, only to uncover long-buried family secrets. As Vincent finally breaks his silence, Olivia must confront the question: is her father ready to reveal the truth—or spin another tale?
This book was fascinating and very clever! I enjoyed it from beginning to end, I think it's best that everyone goes into this one blind and you won't be disappointed!

This one was a great blend of a book about books and a family mystery. It was creepy and atmospheric and full of drama, in the best possible way. I really liked the complex characterizations and the interwoven plot that shifted perspective and time to fully flesh out the whodunit elements. It was a great way to present a complicated backstory without info-dumping. It kept the pacing even and consistent sense of tension that really kept me in the story throughout the course of the book. I will be looking for more from Julie Clark!

Wow! What a ride that was! This is a must read for anyone who loves a suspenseful twisty mystery. Julie Clark just gets better and better. If you haven’t discovered her books yet, now is the time.

Olivia Dumont has been asked to ghostwrite her father’s memoir and hopefully be able to find out what happened fifty years ago in 1975 when his brother and sister were killed. His memory is fading and Olivia has to decipher the truth from his rambling notes and the confused stories he tells her. Follow her as she hunts down the answers and pieces together the puzzle of her family’s tragic past. This complex page turner will keep you engaged and turning the pages to get to the truth of that fateful day.

Many thanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Julie Clark's newest novel, The Ghostwriter, was a pure joy to read. From the first sentence, I was immediately drawn in and only reluctantly put the book down when "real" life called. Olivia is a Ghostwriter who is struggling financially. When her agent tells her that famous writer Vincent Taylor has requested Olivia to ghostwrite his next book, Olivia reluctantly agrees in hopes she'll earn enough to keep from having to sell her house. What Olivia's agent doesn't know is that Vincent Taylor is Olivia's estranged father, a man who sent Olivia away as a teenager and hasn't seen her since. He's also a man who is infamously suspected in the murders of his teenage brother and sister in 1975. Upon arriving at her father's house, Olivia learns that her dad is finally ready to open up about what happened in his childhood home 50 years ago, and he wants Olivia to help him write it all down.

The Ghostwriter is a suspenseful, unique page turner, one I wish I could read again for the first time.

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.