Review by Booklist Review
After her mother left, Olivia Dumont was raised by her father, Vincent, who was often cruel and distant. His behavior confused and angered Olivia, although she understood it was an inevitable result of his brother and sister being stabbed to death in 1975. Some even accused Vincent of the crime. After being banished to boarding school in Europe, Olivia eventually becomes a successful ghostwriter. She finally returns to America, but after she publicly accuses another ghostwriter of misogyny, no publisher will work with her. Then her agent calls to say Vincent wants Olivia to ghostwrite his memoirs. She arrives at Vincent's house only to learn he's terminally ill and deteriorating quickly. Vincent is by turns brusque, confused, and intense, and the notes he gives Olivia are incoherent ramblings. Olivia knows she'll never be able to write the book unless she interviews those who knew her dad earlier and tries to discover the truth of what happened that fateful night in 1975. As she unravels the story, she begins to understand the horrific impact it had not just on her father but on the entire family, including Olivia herself. Dark, enigmatic, suspenseful, complex, thought provoking, and heart wrenching, this book is a riveting, five-star read.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Clark (The Lies I Tell) effortlessly delivers on her clever, metatextual premise in this devilish thriller. Olivia Dumont had a successful career ghostwriting celebrity memoirs until her public rebuke of John Calder, a bestselling but misogynistic author, tarnished her reputation in the industry. Desperate for money, Dumont accepts a lucrative assignment to ghostwrite a book by horror superstar Vincent Taylor, despite her utter lack of experience writing fiction. The other problem? Taylor is Olivia's estranged father. Fifty years ago, he became the prime suspect in the 1975 double murder of his siblings, Danny and Poppy, in their Ojai, Calif., home. Though rumors about the killings persist, they remain unsolved, and Taylor still lives in Ojai, where he's been churning out bestsellers for decades. In recent years, his cognitive abilities have declined, but Olivia remains wary of him--especially when she realizes his new book is a supposed tell-all about the murders. Clark keeps readers guessing about Taylor's motives and guilt, all while playing scrupulously fair with the reader. It adds up to a deeply satisfying shocker in the vein of Riley Sager's The Only One Left. Agent: Mollie Glick, CAA. (June)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont learns a lot about revising the past and writing for a new future when she's contracted for an assignment, breaking the professional drought that struck when she spoke out against misogyny in publishing. The new job will soon prove that starting a fresh chapter sometimes requires rereading one's own history--or, in this case, one's family history. The writer in need of Olivia's services is Vincent Taylor, a prolific horror novelist who was the prime suspect in his sibling's murder decades before. Vincent also happens to be Olivia's father, something she's kept secret as a writer trying to make it on her own. Financially desperate, Olivia takes the job and learns why her father needs her, but it's not until she finds lost journals and talks to the people in her hometown that she realizes how much more there is to investigate. VERDICT With a fast-paced plot that blurs boundaries between present and past, along with a psychologically compelling cast of characters, Clark's (The Lies I Tell) new thriller is perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and will have readers reconsidering what it means to write, right, and rewrite personal stories.--Emily Bowles
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