The Ghost
A Novel
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4.2 • 126 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
From the bestselling author of Fatherland and Imperium comes The Ghost Writer, an extraordinarily auspicious thriller of power, politics, corruption, and murder—now a major motion picture starring Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan.
The role of a ghostwriter is to make his client look good, not to uncover the truth. But what happens when the client is a major political figure, and the truth could change the course of history? Adam Lang, the controversial former prime minister of Britain, is writing his memoirs. But his first ghostwriter dies under shocking circumstances, and his replacement—whose experience lies in portraying aging rock stars and film idols—knows little about Lang’s inner circle. Flown to join Lang in a secure house on the remote shores of Martha’s Vineyard in the depths of winter, cut off from everyone and everything he knows, he comes to realize he should never have taken the job.
It’s not just his predecessor’s mysterious death that haunts him, but Adam Lang himself. Deep in Lang’s past are buried shocking secrets. Secrets with the power to alter world politics. Secrets with the power to kill.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The Web is infinite, which is why we are so partial to our Web-exclusive reviews. We can cover noteworthy books that might have arrived late, might have slipped through the cracks, or were just one book too many for the limits of the real world. We're putting some of them in this issue to remind you how good our web reviews really are.The GhostRobert Harris. Simon & Schuster, $26 (352p) ISBN 978-1416551812Displaying enviable versatility, Harris, who first achieved acclaim with his alternative history, Fatherland, and who more recently showed his mastery of the historical novel in Pompeii, hits one out of the park with this dark paranoid thriller. Former British prime minister Adam Lang (clearly modeled on Tony Blair) is up against a firm deadline to submit his memoirs to his publisher, and the project is dangerously derailed when his aide and collaborator, Michael McAra, perishes in a ferry accident off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. To salvage the book, a professional ghostwriter is hired to whip the manuscript into shape, but the unnamed writer soon finds that separating truth from fiction in Lang's recollections a challenge. The stakes rise when Lang is accused of war crimes for authorizing the abduction of suspected al-Qaeda terrorists in Pakistan, who then ended up in the CIA's merciless hands. As the new writer probes deeper, he uncovers evidence that his predecessor's death may have been a homicide. Harris nicely leavens his cynical tale with gallows humor, and even readers who anticipate the plot's final twist will admire the author's artistry in creating an intelligent page-turner that tackles serious issues.
Customer Reviews
Good Book & Movie
My first book by Harris and intend to read more! Keeps your interest & entertaining. His new book on Dreyfus Affair looks like a winner...EAF
Art describe real life
I enjoyed the book and the suspense. I really think that the US and the British cooperate almost to the point of excess. I run a book club at CCRC and this book will be fun to discuss