Extraordinarily inept book from a previously sure-footed writer. A ghost-biographer, thinly and unconvincingly characterised, is suddenly drawn into a politcal furore as former British PM Adam Lang, whose memoirs he is ghosting, becomes embroiled in a Hague investigation into war crimes. The action unfolds with laborious slowness, most of it on Martha'a Vineyard, where Lang and his small entourage are holed up. The story has the virtue of first person simplicity but rapidly degenerates into feeble wish-fuflilment with the narrator suddenly becoming a central speech-writer for the former PM (after having just met him!), before enjoying an entirely unconvincing bout of sex with the former's PM's wife. Even that is capped by a ludicrous episode where a jammed SatNav directs him to the CIA villain's lair. The truth finally appears on page 331 where he admits: "It was like a Feydau farce, each new scene more far-fetched than the last." Exactly. In 'Archangel' the twist was dazzling and scary, here it is laugh-out-loud stupid. You can only assume that the author's rage against Tony (or Cherie) Blair has paralyzed his literary judgement. And the moralizing doesn't even work as an anti-war polemic for, as we move further into a post-Blair world, most of this feels as if it is from another age.

Not the author's best work, but a fairly good read nevertheless. As a writer I found Harris' depiction of the publishing industry interesting and informative, while the story itself took the back seat. I'd wait for the paperback editon. This Side of the Gate

Terrible writing, mediocre story.

Had me cringing from beginning to end. Aweful metaphores, fifty percent of the text could have been binned. On top of that it was a massive book but with huge text and double spaces between the lines. But really a short stork that goes in to no detail. If you have to do that to sell you books there must be something wrong.

First book I have thrown away after reading.

I thoroughtly enjoyed Harris' latest for its wit, authenticity, pace and well crafted plot that doesn't resolve til the final pages.

I only picked it up because it was the latest novel by Harris, my new hero since he wrote Imperium - (read it several times). I can't say I was disappointed at all, however you can tell this plot was not the object of any great concentration of this author's time. This book is meant to entertain you for a couple hours and possibly get picked up by Hollywood for an okay movie. But if you're looking to actually BUY a book, get Imperium! That's a book that will earn its place on your bookshelf many times over.

In The Ghost, Robert Harris has given us an engrossing read. Winter in London and Martha's Vinyard is a perfectly bleak setting for those scenes. The events described "could" happen, so they seemed believable (to me). The several plot jumps are almost forseeable, and the twist at the end a fine capper. Read it if you like convoluted tales.

I've read all Robert Harris' novels but was very surprised by what a witty gem his latest is. This quick, sophisticated novel works on several levels, not the least of which is as a sly drawing-room comedy with political smarts. The first half reads like a David Hare play. Throw in savvy asides on the publishing world and a neat thriller plot that kicks in towards the end and the whole affair is a complete delight. His earlier novels are white-knuckle classics. This one doesn't exactly have the fine writing and passion you get with LeCarre, but Harris takes his game to a different level. He doesn't go in for the scorched earth attack of Absolute Friends, but offers instead a devastating slow burn. An instant classic. Bravo.

The book is a novel by Robert Harris, you can recognize the style, the humor and the pleasure in describing the characters step by step.

It's probably true that the second part of the book seems a little bit weak compared to the first half of it, but to say the truth one must focus on the desired effect of sudden realizing what was going on... and one should, in my opinion, somehow appreciate the fact that the author did not fool the reader, all the information is there and still you share the surprise of the main character when he finally understands.

The best book by Robert Harris, however, remains Fatherland, in my opinion.

Robert Harris has written a political thriller that never quite managed to "thrill" me.

The title of the book refers to its unnamed main character, a ghostwriter who has made a pretty good living writing "memoirs" for celebrities and sports figures that are incapable of writing their own books. Despite all of his experience in the field, however, our Ghost has never tried his hand at writing a political memoir until lured to do so by the big money he is offered to complete a manuscript for a former British prime minister.

The Ghost knows that the author of the manuscript he is replacing drowned near Martha's Vineyard, a death that some attribute to suicide and others to drink, but which is not officially marked as a questionable one. It does bother him a bit that he is ghosting for a "ghost," but it is not until he finds a stack of pictures, one of which has a phone number scribbled on the back of it, that he begins to suspect that Prime Minister Adam Lange is not the man he appears to be and that some very powerful people in Britain and America are desperate to hide that fact.

Our Ghost wonders for a time if he is being paranoid about the potential personal dangers involved with the project but, as he gets farther and farther into his research, finds that paranoia could be the least of his problems.

Harris has basically written an anti-Tony Blair novel with The Ghost although some of the plot elements are so farfetched that it is easy to forget the similarities between Blaire and Adam Lange. One gets the feeling that Harris is making some legitimate political points in the novel but that they are a bit obscured by the envelope in which they are delivered. The Ghost would have been more effective with a few less of the "Mission Impossible" elements to distract from its political message. The impact of the novel is also lessened to some extent because Adam Lange and the Ghost are surrounded by several stereotypically clichéd characters, an element that made it difficult for the novel to build to the level of tenseness that it deserved.

Readers should be warned not to read the last pages of the book before they work their way there naturally because Harris has saved a little surprise for them that he throws in at the very end. The audio version of The Ghost was perfect for a week's worth of my daily commuting but I am not convinced that I would have enjoyed the written version as much as I did the excellently narrated audio book.

The Ghost starts off very interesting , lags in the middle, and then gets interesting again for the last one hundred or more pages. The descriptions of Martha's Vineyard in winter are great. The story is really over a period of a week . The ghostwriter who is relating the story also relates what happened before he became involved with the prime minister.
There's not alot of character development but, for this sort of story it's not needed. There's a surprize ending that I never saw coming and the very ending I found chilling. I gave this book 4 stars but it really is 3 1/2.

I really liked this book at first...husband and I both commented on what a wonderful sense of humor Harris had, so many hilarious gems. The story was interesting, increasingly so as it went on. So why is this review called "Betrayed"? Nothing to do with a betrayal of Tony Blair...that's for Harris to deal with in his own conscience. I am the one who feels betrayed when I spend my time and money on a book, trusting the author to deliver another of his excellent reads, and am thanked by a long, drawn-out political diatribe. Future readers: don't worry, he does point to what's coming, and you can skip many, many pages without missing anything...it's just the same old thing we see and hear in the media every day: TV, radio, newspapers, online. Are authors under some kind of pressure from publishers to include this kind of thing? Or do they feel they are getting older and need to hurry to inflict their political views on faithful fans who expect better? Now, that's a mystery for you.

i go through so many books on audio because i drive a lot. this one kept me seated in the garage, because i was so interested toward the end. you will feel it ended a little too abruptly, or maybe i just wanted more - but the narrator was excellent, which is always important. i get rid of some audio novels after the first disc because they are so bad. i'm listening to harris' Imperium now.

I've not read any of Robert Harris' books before this one so I was a relative newcomer to his style of writing. What a trip! I really enjoyed this book on so many levels (it kept me up late many a night while reading before bedtime). How cool it was of Harris to never actually name his "ghost" (who tells the story in first person narrative). It added to the air of mystery. It was also enjoyable to have each of the primary cast members became slowly fleshed out through the course of the book, not the usual two-dimensional characterization of "good/bad". Nothing was transparent or easily guessed at in this novel. Even thhe book's protaganist is written as a normal, ordinary fellow put into abnormal, extraordinary circumstances. That just adds to it even more. This is a very good story and if Harris continues to write choice thrillers like this one, I'll keep buying them and reading them.

Ghost refers to a ghost writer, and this particular one has been slotted to write the former British PM's memoire. Of course, the previous ghost writer ended up dead, and then there are all the nagging little details that don't add up to a sterling public figure.

This is a great book that keeps you twisting and turning right to the end.

The only other Harris novel I've read is POMPEII, so I was pleasantly surprised with this contemporary mystery/thriller. What makes this book work is the engaging voice of the (unnamed) ghostwriter, as well as some spot-on and witty observations. The character of Adam Lang is somewhat of a cipher, though this is likely intentional, and the other supporting characters (Lang's wife, various publishing insiders) are less well-drawn. This book keeps you turning the pages, though a few too many surprises at the end detract a bit. As a whole a very entertaining--and often scathingly funny--literary thriller.

The story revolves around politics and the intrigue that surrounds being part the behind the scenes goings on that happens when you are a known political figure. Taking place between England and Martha's Vineyard gives you a feel that political games are not limited to one country.

Adam Lang, the retired prime minister of Britain, is having his memoirs ghost-written. But, the "ghost" is killed while returning to Martha's Vineyard by ferry. The police are unable to solve the case.

Now a new ghostwriter must be found and our hero jumps at the chance. He has worked with aging rock stars before so he figures this can't be any worse. Beside, a quarter of a million dollars for a month's work? Who could pass that up?

Off to America he goes only to find a manuscript that is very lacking in anything that anyone would want to read. He is installed in the dead "ghost's" old room and begins the process of finishing the manuscript. In doing so, he gets caught up in the unsolved death of the first ghost and ends up finding out more than he bargained for.

Twists and turns, the book holds your attention to the very end. Even knowing this book is written about political games and the quick and devious turns it can take, the ending was a huge surprise for me.

Roger Rees has a wonderful English accent to begin with so he was perfect for our English ghost writer hero. He gives each character enough of a chance in voice to be able to follow who is speaking and Mr. Rees' voice is easy on the ear.

All in all, this is a good listen so be sure to get a copy for yourself.

This book quickly draws you into its story before you realize why. The first level is probably because the writing is so witty and graceful that you immediately feel entertained.

At another level you feel drawn to the author-protagonist because of his self-deprecating humor and the acceptance of his fate, which is to be a ghost writer rather than a "real" writer. The politics of being a ghost writer, always humbly in the background, while nevertheless creating stunning works for celebrity non-authors gives insight into the mind of actual ghost-writers, whom Harris liberally quotes in each chapter.

Then of course there is a level of political analysis thinly veiled from the real world of a discredited (in Harris' mind) Tony Blair. Harris hits upon a deep sense of regret felt by many of us because of Blair's foolish entanglement with the arrogant American president in the Iraq war. As one who admired Blair's entertaining performances in Parliament (seen at home on C-Span)I can heartily share the sense of tragedy of a great man who, like Chamberlain, falls from grace by commiting a remarkable stupidity of judgment. While the Prime Minister in this story is fictional, the parallels with Blair are inescapable.

Finally, there is the plot itself, which starts off with a suspicious death, weaves its way into the private life of the fallen PM, maintains a sense of urgency and tension until the climax is revealed, in the best tradition of mystery thrillers. The value of this book is that it is much more than a thriller, without eroding the central plot.

A wholly entertaining, engrossing, and instructive book. This one immediately sent me looking for other books by this exceptional writer. None have been disappointing.

People on here seem to have issues with this novel, but I really enjoyed it. I read it in two days, which doesn't happen to me very often these days, especially with thrillers, which tend to be highly praised and poorly written. The pleasure here, beyond the clever and disturbingly credible turns of plot, is the writing, which is clean and crisp. Thrillers told in the first person tend to be over-written, but at a tight 331 pages, Harris keeps his guy focused, while still managing to jam in bits of wisdom about how the world works. This is a good novel that I thought about when I wasn't reading it...how often does that happen?

"...by the end of a successful collaboration, I am more them than they are."

Wow. This is a hard book for me to review because I am such a fan of the earlier Harris book, Enigma, and its subsequent movie, which profiled (beautifully) the cracking of the Enigma cipher by the British boffins at Bletchley Park during World War II.

By comparison, The Ghost was an interesting opportunity to be a voyeur in the life of a ghostwriter but, for me, it lacked characters I could really relate to and care about. Adam Lang is supposed to be the fictional stand-in for Tony Blair but instead of hiding in a billionaire's compound on Martha's Vineyard, Blair is actually back out in the world trying to resolve what is left of his legacy. The conceit is that Adam Lang has his feet to the fire because of a contract to write his memoirs but since when has one of the great leaders of the free world been cowed by the likes of Rupert Murdoch into a desperate sequestration on a clearly miserable winter-bound island? And we get that Martha's Vineyard is tough in the winter. Many lines are spent on this.

On the good side, it is one of those "you don't know who you can trust" books with lots of twists and turns and a ghostwriter protagonist who takes some amazing chances in who he is going to trust. Turns out that he isn't all that wise.

The good news is that the last paragraph of the book very nearly redeems the whole thing - really! It's nicely done and one of the few moments in the book that really gave this reader pause.

As a writer, I enjoyed this book on multiple levels. The description of the way the ghostwriter works, although necessarily under-played, was interesting in that it's not all that different from the way I work, whether I'm writing fiction or non-fiction. The mechanics of the process had little to do with the plot, although they do tell use something about the narrator. His tone of voice--cynical yet curious--perfectly fits someone in the profession.

The major characters were credible, although not particularly admirable, and the action moved along apace. From the opening murder to the twist at the end, the book carries the reader forward not just to see who dunnit, but to find out what happens. The resolution was, in my opinion, quite satisfactory.

A good, diverting read.

I have very much enjoyed Mr. Harris' other novels and was quick to pick up "The Ghost." Unfortunately, Mr. Harris has written a (very) thinly veiled critique of Tony Blair, America's war on terror, and the CIA. If you can get yourself by this poppycock, and accept this is a work of pure fiction, you could enjoy the story.

Any frequent reader of thriller fiction can probably see where this is going from a very early in the narative. Nonetheless, the unmasking of the villain, while not shocking, is satisfying.

But more so is the eventual ending, which isn't exposed until the final paragraph of the book. Quite probably intentionally, the ending adds a certain level of duplicity to the book's title. Clever!

I bought this book after readng a review in USA Today. I previously read Harris's book Imperium which I loved. This book, The Ghost was a huge disappointment. Loosely modeled after Tony Blair and his wife Cherie, it is a work of fiction with the name Blair replaced with Lang. Storyline is that the Langs/Blairs were American poodles, breaking international law with the War on Terror. Two things you get out of this book: the world of Ghostwriters and a good review of geography of Martha's Vineyard (looks like you've spent some time there, Mr. Harris). I suggest the author stick to writing historical fiction (this ain't it). This so-called "thriller" bored me to my bones.

I was probably biased in reading this book (actually listening to the unabridged audio CD). I heard an excellent interview with the author on NPR prior to publication. The notion of ghostwriting and the Adam Lang/Tony Blair theme caught my attention. I don't plow through novels, but this one absolutely held my interest. The characters were credible, the plot was intriguing and the writing flowed beautifully. There was NO portion of this novel I would call a "snoozer." I know a book is successful when I don't want it to end and I look forward to starting the next. I have no hesitation in highly recommending this product but wouldn't mislead you into believing it was spellbinding. It was just a very solid, well-written story with enough theme to hold your attention and imagination to a logical conclusion.

I got to this book based on positive reviews from couple of sources, including New York Times.

The main plot of this book is that it traces albeit in a ghostly manner the life and times of ex-PM of UK (Tony Blair) and his incrimination by International Criminal Courts for war crimes. The story is told from the eyes of a ghost writer who is writing the memoirs of the PM.

The positives of this book are the the beautiful prose about the wonderful locales of Martha's vineyard, plausible plot and a solid page-turner political thriller of which we get few and far between.

The shortfalls of this novel are too many, not having strong characterization, more focus on the surroundings over the characters and predictable ending. Definitely can fit into the mold of a hatchet job in the veil of a fictional novel.

On the whole, I would recommend this book for anyone flying across pond and wants a cheap thriller to fill the air waves.

Fred "Ghost" Sanford.

The story begins promisingly, but it's not as suspenseful as the author probably intended. There is a twist, but it's a bit of a letdown. The narrator is witty and engaging, which makes up for shortcomings in the story itself. I'd recommend this as an airplane/beach book.

I have liked Harris' other books.

This one is written in the first person but you quickly become comfortable with the narrator.

This may sound silly but I wish I had read the British version - I felt like the British voice of the narrator was so americanized that I had to keep reminding myself that all the characters are British

Harris has a wonderful of describing things - in this case Martha's Vineyard in winter so that you feel that you have been there.

Harris has given us a really good read of the current geo-political environment. Lang is obviously the current past PM and we all know who the "real" villans are. That being said, his use of Martha's Vinyard in winter is a wonderful stroke that further pulls us in to the mood of the novel.
Loved all the characters except the main one, the "author". He was a tad too casual with his comments and concern to really be believable early on, and then when he begins to discover the seriousness of the situation, sort of bumbles his way through. Hard to swallow. Esp. the later scenes with the recording that "didn't happen". Yeh, like that would slip past these guys. Uh-huh.
Other than that, really excellent read, but then you forget it. You really don't care in the end. And we should.

Robert Harris wants very much to show us he went to Martha's Vineyard to write this novel, which in part reads more like a travel book than a thriller. After the third page of winding lanes and atmospheric portraits of houses and descriptions of trees my alarm bells began to whisper "This is just padding". Harris is usually sure-footed but for a while he loses his way in this tale of a ghostwriter who is hurriedly brought in to turn the dire autobiography of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang into something worth reading. His predecessor as ghostwriter died mysteriously and our rather bland hero gets into a lot of trouble as he tries to pump Lang for interesting tid bits, deal with the ex-prime minister's prickly wife Ruth while probing the death of the man he replaced.

It's not a bad premise (certainly better than much of the dross out there) but Harris starts off very slowly. This is the second recent book of his that I've read (Pompeii was the other) where I don't really give two hoots for the hero, who in this case starts off by telling us how flat and uninteresting he is and how no one would notice if he vanished forever. The pace finally starts to pick up when the ghostwriter turns up in Martha's Vineyard and meets Lang, who shortly thereafter finds himself under investigation for allegedly ordering four British citizens be turned over to the CIA for brutal interrogations. That said, this book does read as though Harris is rather going through the motions, and to my mind it's the most disappointing of his works since the dire Archangel.

Harris writes smoothly but the more I read of him, the more I suspect he will never repeat the fantastic success he deservedly had with Fatherland, his first thriller.

Harris' ripped-from-the-headlines plot (the design motif for the back of the book even features torn newsprint) puts former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, oops, I mean fictional former British Prime Minister Adam Lang, in the hot seat.

Lang, thoroughly hated at home for his inexplicable enthusiasm for the policies of George Bush, has accepted the loan of a well-fortified Martha's Vineyard estate to reflect and work on his $10 million memoirs. But then his longtime staffer and rather inept ghostwriter, Michael McAra, goes missing off the ferry from the mainland and drowns. There was a lot of booze in his blood and accident or suicide is the verdict.

And so the unnamed narrator, a professional, rather cynical, apolitical ghostwriter to fading celebrities is called in to rescue the book and given an impossibly short time to come up with a juicy, readable bestseller. From the beginning our hero finds the cloak-and-dagger a bit much. The contents of the manuscript are closely guarded and his work is impeded by not being able to take the thing off the premises (he refuses to stay with the subject he's ghosting).

Then a former staffer accuses Lang of seizing suspected terrorists in Pakistan and handing them over to the CIA, a crime under British and international law. The World Court may try Lang for war crimes. Suddenly his book is a much hotter prospect.

But our narrator knows that the memoir, such as it is, is dry as dust. McAra, cobbled Lang's life together from documents, and even new interviews with the charismatic, actorish Lang have not provided much else of interest, though the man certainly is as personable as his wife is prickly.

As he pours over McAra's work and speculates about his subjects, he stumbles on some information that doesn't quite fit. And this is the tiny thread that may unravel a vast web of conspiracy reaching deep into the past.

Which is pretty much what you'd expect. The whole book is pretty much what you'd expect - competently constructed from the man who brought us "Enigma" and "Fatherland" - but over-the-top and only modestly suspenseful. What's most surprising is its almost actionable resemblance to Tony and Cherie Blair.

Apparently Harris is a former friend of Blair's, now quite disillusioned, and his book has created a sensation in Britain, though Harris consistently denies any relation between Lang and Blair. Maybe you have to be British to get it.

A far cry from Harris' best.

I read this book, all in one sitting, on the day that Tony Blair became a Catholic. The book is Harris's latest, a pacy thriller, well-crafted, with a plot that has the plausible ring of yesterday's headlines. The plot concerns a former British Prime Minister - Adam Lang, a pen portrait of Tony Blair - currently in a Billionaire's holiday home to finish his memoirs. The pen portraits of Lang and his entourage are both unflattering and recognizable to those with even a passing interest in British politics. The book's main character is a ghostwriter brought in to finish Lang's memoirs, following the mysterious death of the original ghostwriter, a long-time Lang collaborator. More mysterious, ominous events follow, and the holiday home plays as conspicuous part in this novel as did large houses in his other thrillers. Lang is investigated by the International Criminal Court, and it seems he will have to stay in the US, rather than risk an appearance before the court. There is a neat, if unsatisfactory, end to Lang's dilemma, and the plot trips along mightily. The ghostwriter becomes more and more involved with Lang, his wife, his backround until he makes the great discovery that explains both the current problems, and the disappointments which accompanied Lang's initially promising premiership.

To be read as a work of fiction, this is a very satisfying thriller. However, knowing Harris's backround as a political journalist, who was one of Blair's most vocificerous backers in 1997, it reads as a sour act of revenge for the disappointments which Blairs decisions - especially Iraq and the war on Terror - brought among his original supporters.
The basic premise is that Lang/Blair was an unfulfilled actor who thrived in politics, whose every decision was influenced by his wife, who in turn was a CIA agent. Thus every decision that Lang took was to the benefit of the USA, rather than the UK. There is an insult here for Lang/Blair, a misogynous attack on his wife and a simplistic view of the CIA as the `big,bad wolf'. The plausibility of the plot dissolves within a few minutes of applying serious thought, and what we are left with is a simplistic explanation for Blair's curious turn from populist to autocrat. The book's only courageous aspect, it seems to me, is its attack on the modern British publishing industry, with searing descriptions of dumbing down, falisification and unflattering pen-portraits of Rupert Murdoch and his minions.

The Ghost manages to stay on the right side of plausibility in its story of a recent British Prime Minister's rather murky background. The character of Adam Lang combines the matey personality of Tony Blair with the biographical details of his predecessor John Major. As with Blair himself, perhaps, the character remains something of a mystery right to the end. Lang's wife, Ruth, on the other hand emerges as the real heart and soul of this novel. Harris captures the persona of this funny, vulnerable, and ultimately rather horrible woman extremely well.

While we await the next instalment of Cicero's life, this smart thriller reinforces Robert Harris's status as one of the best popular novelists today.

Harris is much acclaimed, but this was the first I've read by him. Let me tell you, it won't be the last.

A ghostwriter, never named, is hired to help a former Prime Minister finish his memoirs, and in the process is drawn into a world of secrets and shadows. The story is terrific in its own right, nuanced, tense, and compelling, with plenty of sly satirical moments. But what really blew me away was the writing. It's graceful, elegant, and compelling, like an Olympic athlete who makes it look easy. As a novelist myself, I found this a particularly brilliant passage:

"A book unwritten is a delightful universe of infinite possibilities. Set down one word, however, and immediately it becomes earthbound. Set down one sentence and it's halfway to being just like every other bloody book that's ever been written. But the best must not be allowed to drive out the good. In the absence of genius, there is always craftsmanship."

This is now taped to my monitor.

Having read all of Robert Harris's novels, and still clinging to the hope that he will one day return to the form so brilliantly displayed in "Enigma" and "Fatherland", "The Ghost" was definitely not what I had expected.

As other readers have pointed out, this book comes up short in a number of ways. Obviously there is no love lost between Mr Harris and Tony Blair. While I don't have a problem with that, per se---indeed, it's gratifying to see someone of Mr Harris's stature and abilities take the ex-Prime Minister to task for getting Britain involved in the so-called War on Terror---at times the story becomes a little too patently vindictive even for my liking. None of the characters comes close to being plausible, while the plot, as it unfolds, bears an increasing resemblance to a bad acid trip.

On the other hand, "The Ghost" is genuinely entertaining and suspenseful, a certifiable page-turner. Take it with you the next time you're facing a long flight with nothing better to do. You may not be able to remember much of what you read the next day, but never mind. At least it made the hours pass quickly, and helped you forget just how unpleasant flying has become (thanks, in part, to the War on Terror).

Having read all of Robert Harris's novels (and still clinging to the hope that he will one day return to the form so brilliantly displayed in "Enigma" and "Fatherland"), "The Ghost" was definitely not what I had expected. As other readers have pointed out, this book comes up short in numerous ways. Obviously there is no love lost between Mr Harris and Tony Blair. I can't fault the author for that, though at times the story becomes a little too patently vindictive for my liking. As with most Hollywood scripts, one needs to suspend one's sense of disbelief throughout: none of the characters is plausible, while the story, itself, often seems little more than a bad acid trip. On the other hand, it's quite entertaining, a certifiable page-turner. Take it with you the next time you're facing a long flight with nothing better to do. You may not be able to remember it the next day, but never mind. At least it made the hours pass quickly, and helped you forget just how uncomfortable that seat was.

The Ghost: A Novel

Waterboarding and the ethics of torture. Idealism versus pragmatism.

Robert Harris is one of those authors worth reading whenever anything new is published.

The Ghost may not be what it superficially appears to be.

Very thought provoking! Imagine your astonishment when three quarters through the novel suspicious ideas began running through your head.

Can this book really be about a certain Rhodes scholar (you know who) and his significant other (you know who), who in the late 60s suborned by MI-5, became an Agent for the Crown.

No wonder Mr Harris, fearing for his life, is on the run ...

Former British Prime Minister Adam Lang is in temporary exile in Martha's Vineyard and in the process of turning his memoirs into a bestseller. The only problem is that his ghostwriter and long-time associate is found suspiciously drowned. In order to get his book completed under the publisher's strict deadline, a new "ghost" must be assigned to finish the job.

So begins the premise of Robert Harris's new thriller, The Ghost. Harris is a bestselling author (ENIGMA, FATHERLAND), political commentator for the BBC and newspaper columnist for the London Sunday Times. He was also once very closely acquainted with real-life former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. To say that Lang and Blair share similar backgrounds would be an understatement. Like Blair, Lang rose to prominence in the British political arena only after departing from an initial dream of making it in the music/theatrical field. Lang appears to have been pulled into politics by his wife Ruth and, like Blair, had no real party affiliation or desire to one day become P.M.

Harris, like many British citizens, was at one time a strong supporter of Blair only to feel betrayed by him due to his strong allegiance to President George W. Bush and the United States in the post-9/11 war on terror. The author has added another wrinkle to Lang by making him a key suspect in several war crimes during Operation Tempest. The timeliness of this portrayal is especially poignant since we have just witnessed the highly publicized nomination of Michael Mukasey for U.S Attorney General. This was surrounded by controversy over the torture technique waterboarding, which Lang might be guilty of approving during Operation Tempest.

The job of ghostwriting is a very specialized craft, and each chapter of THE GHOST opens with a quote from a fictional ghostwriting handbook. One of the most interesting features of this novel is that we are never given the name of the new ghostwriter --- he is simply referred to as "the ghost." The new "ghost" has been a career ghostwriter, mostly doing celebrity tell-alls, and has never covered a political figure before. He is given a mere four weeks to get with Lang in his Martha's Vineyard location (not far from the infamous Chappaquiddick) and rewrite the memoirs in Lang's "voice" while capturing him in a positive light that will deflect the current war crime allegations that presently surround him.

As "the ghost" begins to investigate Lang's memoirs and personal effects, he uncovers potential conspiracies and associations that not only give credence to the war crime accusations but may very well be the reason for the first ghostwriter's demise. Different clues lead the ghost to meetings with a former college friend of Lang's as well as a former cabinet member who is now lead investigator into Lang's war crimes. What follows is a twisting thrill ride with some serious shockers and an unexpected climax.

I was somewhat frustrated by THE GHOST. To begin with, it is difficult to have a "hero" who is nameless; it keeps you from really knowing who that person is. There also is not enough time in the novel devoted to Lang. The reader is merely taken along for a ride with the nameless ghost as he uncovers more and more during his personal investigation, and you are unable to make a determination as to what Lang may or may not be guilty of. I also found none of the individuals in the book to be terribly likable. It is understandable that Harris would have a cynical approach to the former P.M. character, but they all come off as suspicious and reprehensible. Even our ghost proves to be disloyal, as he sleeps with the P.M.'s wife and goes on a date with the P.M.'s cold-as-ice assistant.

It is a fact that Blair went from being almost as popular as Winston Churchill early in his career to currently holding the third-lowest approval rating (26%) of any former P.M. (behind Margaret Thatcher and current P.M. Gordon Brown). Harris's feelings toward Blair and the current British government in general are obviously tainted with his feeling of personal betrayal, a tone that permeates the entire novel.

The ending does contain shocks and political machinations but wraps things up a little too neatly. I enjoyed reading the book because of the complex characters and issues it covers but feel it would be better suited for a Hollywood script than a bestselling novel. At the time of this review, I have learned that Roman Polanski has already signed on to direct the film version in 2008. I look forward to seeing how THE GHOST translates to the big screen.

--- Reviewed by Ray Palen

Quite simply, I enjoyed this effort and plowed through in a hurry as Harris' writing style is extremely readable, though quite literate. I was pulled along simply by sheer curiousity, knowing that this book was more than just a look at the work of 'the ghost' a writer who is draw to become detective and finds himself far over his head. While I appreciate a historical novel, this work so WAS MUCH in lockstep with real events that it almost seemed a forced reflection, but the actual premise, that a major world leader (one of Ours!) could actually face a trial for war crimes makes "The Ghost" very much worthwhile.

Robert Harris writes superior thrillers with different settings in history. My favorites are Enigma and Imperium. I expected a sequel to the latter to be his next book. Instead we get this. It looks like an improvisation, like something he squeezed in at the spur of the moment. An idea too good to postpone implementation. Well, maybe that notion was a mistake.
Normally all RH novels are quite different. This one is too, it is his first mediocre one.
The main character, former British PM Adam Lang, is just too obviously modelled on you know who. It leaves an odd feeling. It does not ring true, just like the 'Ghost', i.e. the narrator of the story, does not find the draft memoir manuscript of the PM to ring true, and like he can not find the voice of the man. I have the same feeling with the original version.
As a thriller, the novel is a failure.
It is not a failure as a satire: a satire on people losing power, another one on the stupidity of the publishing business. Another one on British/American relations; or maybe on this one not so much a satire, rather a conspiracy theory which one does not dare to call such, as it might just be the plain truth. In other words, was he or wasn't he? (I.e. a paid agent for a friendly power.)
All in all enjoyable and worth reading, but also not satisfactory from this author. He can do better.

Politics make strange bedfellows. But in this novel, a ghostwriter with no background or interest in politics is engaged to "save" the memoirs of a Tony Blair-like ex-Prime Minister (all for a quarter-of-a-million dollars for a month's efforts). The PM, Adam Lang,. left office under a cloud--an unpopular war in Iraq which he supported as an ally of the United States.

The memoir was researched and written by a long-time aid, whose body apparently has fallen off the ferry to Martha's Vineyard, where the PM is holed up, and washed ashore. The ghostwriter travels to the United States to help make the manuscript publishable. What he discovers is the gist of the novel--all is not what it seems, and the facts of Lang's rise to power do not seem to gibe with historical evidence.

Then charges of war crimes are brought against Lang and the ghostwriter betrays the very precepts of the profession by investigating the background to the charges, even endangering his own life. Not only politics but conspiracy theories populate the telling of this thriller. When read against contemporary public opinion, it is formidable and imaginative, if not a little far-fetched. Nevertheless it is an interesting read which I would recommend.

I agree with the negative reviews here. I looked forward to reading this - such a promising topic - and it could, and should, have been good. But it wasn't. It felt rushed, like it had been hurriedly hacked off on a laptop by the pool. The good novel below the surface was always faintly detectable, but it never fully emerged. I've enjoyed this author's books in the past, but this just wasn't up to his usual standard. The critics, predictably, have largely gone along for the ride, praising great qualities that aren't there. Readable, but...

I agree with the negative reviews here. I looked forward to reading this - such a meaty topic - and it could, and should, have been good. But it wasn't. It was lazy and rushed. The good novel below the surface was always faintly detectable, but it never emerged. I can imagine this being hacked off on a laptop by the pool. I've enjoyed Harris's books in the past, but this has put me off him completely. Foisting this sub-standard work on the paying public, relying on his hype and reputation for a fat cheque that he hardly needs, puts him on the same level as the people he supposedly disapproves of in this novel. The critics have largely gone along for the ride too, praising a quality and great talent that isn't there. Representative of a dishonest, greedy and decaying society in ways that the author didn't intend. Sad.

I felt that after "Enigma," his early thriller, Robert Harris's works weren't especially appealing to me. But he's made a smashing comeback in "The Ghost." It's an unputdownable book. Having helped "ghost" several books myself, I can testify to the authenticity of the process that Mr. Harris writes about. He's come up with a darn good yarn, and his characters are totally believable.

I absolutely loved Harris' book Pompeii about the last days of the city of Pompeii before Vesuvius had it's way and so tried Ghost on that reputation alone. Not being a fan of political thrillers I was curious to see how Harris would do. Ghost is no Pompeii, that's for sure but I was pulled along by the story of a ghost writer who is hired to make deadline and quickly finish the memoirs of a charismatic British ex-Prime Minister after the previous ghost writer dies suspiciously. The British writer is out of his element in desolate Martha's Vineyard in winter with the PM and his staff and a poorly written rough draft but never loses his sense of humor. Further complicating the new writers job are accusations that the PM took part in war crimes. The writer soon finds himself in dangerous territory when following clues left behind by the previous writer. The characters were interesting and run the gamut between quirky and likable to slick and treacherous. Witty, well-done and enjoyable all the way to the end.

This book is an easy read, but very different from Harris's prior works. I found myself a little disappointed in the characters' and plot's thinness. Where Harris's books have brought another world to life for me, this book did no such thing.

I did enjoy the descriptions of Martha's Vineyard and there was something that kept me turning the pages, so it certainly was not a bad book. I've just seen so many of my favorite authors (DeMille, Clancy, Forsythe, Ludlum) run out of good ideas, I hope this book is not such an inflexion point for Robert Harris!

I thought "Fatherland" was tremendous. I looked forward to "Ghost," but I was disappointed. The people don't come alive, especially the wife, Ruth.
And I became keenly aware that Simon & Schuster had skimped in Americanizing it. The book is correct in its quotation marks, but all the Briticisms are still in it: "office blocks," "housing estates," "pavement" (meaning sidewalk), and so on.
When World Publishing was still in Cleveland, it hired Plain Dealer copy editors to copy edit its books and to translate them into American English. I once got caught on "pin table," which, after many phone calls, turned out to be a pinball machine. Later, I was troubled by "tower flats." The British embassy translated it for me into "high-rise apartments."
When you buy a book, you should not need to go through any trouble to understand what the author meant to say.

This book shows that Robert Harris can.

It's shrewd, witty, fast, original, on-the-mark politically and very timely indeed.

I read it in one sitting.

It seems to me that Robert Harris is best at providing a good sense of time and place--this is true of Fatherland, Imperium, etc. The locales are finely drawn and interesting. The storytelling and plot lines often don't measure up quite as well. 5 stars for the sense of time and place, perhaps 3 or sometimes 4 stars for the basic story. This is also the case for the latest work, Ghost.

The primary setting for Ghost is Martha's Vineyard in the winter. Having lived there year-round in the early 1970's for 5 years I can say that it must certainly seem bleak to someone coming from a large city. Harris picked up a lot of good flavor in the few days he spent there, and in Rose Styron (the widow of Bill) he had a good guide. The twisted scrub oaks, the uncertainty of access in the winter gales, the sense of isolation and beauty are well-described. There is a regular scheduled air service (present but cut back in the winter) so I was surprised to find the narrator landing at the airport in Boston, taking a taxi to the bus station, a bus to the ferry, the ferry, and another taxi ride to the hotel when a 30-minute flight would have done the job. There are scenes of near-violent protests where the dirt road to the PM's compound leaves the main road. This seemed unlikely to me. Outside the UK embassy or in Lafayette Park in Washington, fine. But the locals are not ones to protest (nor would the summer residents)--privacy is valued very highly. Clinton as President, whose home was close to and very similar to where Lang is, was given plenty of privacy--he could eat at restaurants and nibble an ice cream cone at Mad Martha's without causing a big fuss. Also, as should be evident in the book, access especially in winter is not easy for people coming from the mainland, and the January winds are strong, cold, damp, and penetrating--even a half-hour of standing around would leave you thoroughly miserable. So even though Harris has a bit wrong with the setting, I'd still give it 5 stars.

The story, as I've noted, is more like 3 stars. It starts off well, although it's hard to figure out where it's going to wind up. But the further along we get, the more it seems as if we're riding into a box canyon--there's no good way out for Harris. The sinister aspects do not really need to be that sinister: this could have been just as good if the story was just geopolitics. Imagine if the first ghostwriter had just quit or been fired and the narrator was replacing him. That would be more believable--but it wouldn't have been a "thriller" and it wouldn't have been a thriller where the storyline falters toward the end. Things just seem to be a little too hurried toward some kind of resolution. But still--an overall 4 stars.

For a differently-flavored view of the Vineyard in the winter, try Anne Siddons' Up Island.

Robert Harris seems to excel at this type of suspense novel. His earlier books are all either historical fiction or alternate history novels ("Fatherland" has Germany winning WWII, and Hitler surviving into old age.) In this one, Adam Lang, obviously based on Britain's outgoing prime minister Tony Blair, has accepted a lucrative advance for his memoirs, to be written by a ghostwriter. When the ghostwriter disappears and then is found dead, his replacement discovers that the ex-prime minister possesses dangerous secrets that may account for the first murder - and may lead to his own. While not quite as fast-paced as Harris' earlier books, fans of the genre will find a lot to like in "The Ghost" - a cynical, acid-tongued hero, loads of contemporary political commentary, and an unusual, satisfying ending.
Also recommended: "A Stranger Lies There" by Stephen Santogrossi, "The Secret Servant" by Daniel Silva.

Events happened so slowly it was difficult to stay with it. Interesting aspects of ghostwriting that I had never thought about before, but that did not redeem the book for me. Interesting twist at end but Ruth did not leave the page for me (she was very flat as a character). I was disappointed in this Harris effort.

Rhinehart Inc has paid former British Prime Minister Adam Lang a fortune to write his memoirs especially focusing on his war against terrorism; the project comes to a screeching halt when the ghostwriter Michael McAra dies in an apparent suicide. To bring the book back on schedule, they hire a new ghostwriter who agrees to do the job in four weeks for a sizable fee.

He travels from London to the Rhinehart Estate on Martha's Vineyard to write the autobiography. While in residence, he notices a lot of undercurrents including Lang's wife Ruth behaving very antagonistic towards her spouse's beautiful assistant. The book in its present form is a disaster, but the ghostwriter believes he can extract some spice out of the dry passages to insure a bestseller. While there a sordid beak involving Lang who supposedly ordered the SAS to kidnap suspected terrorists in Pakistan to rendition them to the CIA for torture. Since the new British government refuses to investigate, the International Criminal Court of the Hague starts it own inquiries. Although he has zero interest in politics, the Ghostwriter conducts an investigation only to find secrets that could lead to his death if he is lucky or worse if he is rendition.

This is an enthralling political thriller that is totally frightening because Robert Harris makes his basic premise believable. There are many shocks to readers especially those who refuse to believe our side, the so called good guys, would resort to some of the tools of the trade. Almost as stunning is the dysfunctional inner circle that surrounds the former PM as everyone has an agenda to insure they look good in the autobiography. The Ghostwriter is a fascinating character as he knows no once is innocent, but who is the great puppeteer manipulating everyone even him. Mr. Harris, author of FATHERLAND, has written a chilling, plausible and enthralling tale.

Harriet Klausner