Customer Reviews

Ghostwriter: A Novel

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Dennis Shore is a successful horror novelist but has suffered one of life's greatest tragedies in the past year, the death of his wife. "When stricken by a paralyzing case of writer's block and a looming deadline, Dennis becomes desperate." He plagiarizes an unstable fan's manuscript, setting off a chain of events and the pursuit of violent revenge that threatens his sanity and the lives of his daughter and friends.

This was a difficult review for me to write. I'm a fan of the horror genre, but loathe the excessive profanity, sexual content, and gratuitous gore that so many writers in the genre depend on to make an impact with the reader. I had not previously read a Travis Thrasher novel, so I was excited to see what he had to offer.

It would be an injustice to the readers of this review, to myself, and ultimately to the author if I merely stated "This book is great--read it," and was negligent in revealing some disappointment. The fan in me loved this story. The critic in me found some minor negatives.

I was concerned a few pages in whether I would truly enjoy it. The story took a while to develop and incidents occurred that seemed disjointed from the plot. The dialog felt forced. There are some editing errors, for example, the wrong pronoun used (p.17 "Did you threaten you?" The first "you" should be "she."). To the author's defense, it is tricky starting a novel, establishing the plot and characters, and simultaneously hooking the reader. If you stop reading this book because of these flaws, you'll miss out on what simply can be defined as an extraordinarily good story. I'm incredibly grateful I stuck with it.

Yet there was still one more thing that frustrated me--I couldn't wait to see what happened next! This... was a good feeling. For thrill-seekers, GHOSTWRITER is very much like the beginning of a monster rollercoaster. After climbing that first big hill (having time to look around, check your watch, shift around in your seat...), the rest flies at you in an eye-watering rush and your focus is dominated by what's coming in the next stage of the ride. Kudos, Mr. Thrasher.

When you read a scary story and you're not really sure what's going on, but just when you think you've nailed it, something unexpected happens and your perception is shattered, that is the outline of a great horror story. That's a great story, period. That is what GHOSTWRITER is.

It's easy to develop compassion for Dennis Shore and identify with his grief, lack of faith, and his struggles with what's real and what's not. While it's a remarkably frightening story, it is also an emotional love story. The reader feels Shore's nightmarish fears and also his gut-wrenching sorrow.

Shore bounces in and out of lucidity so the reader cannot always discern what is real and what is the product of his poor mental health. This element can be difficult to pull off while mitigating reader confusion, but Thrasher makes good use of the technique, effectively keeping the reader guessing.

While this may sound like just a scary love story, do not be deceived. It is a full-on horror novel. Unspeakable supernatural evil tries to destroy the very essence of Shore's life with an unhealthy serving of shocking violence.

GHOSTWRITER is an emotionally intricate masterwork of how evil can destroy us and love can redeem us. Thrasher has proved to me to be an exceptional storyteller.

Do you believe in ghosts?

[Rating: 1-5 Stars]
Plot: 5
Character: 5
Dialog: 4
Setting: 4
Theme: 5

I normally read books that are what people would say are 'chick' books, but I decided for a change. I picked up Ghostwriters and was immediately drawn into the story. Thrasher's adjectives and the way he writes made me feel apart of the story instead of just looking in. This book is an intense, seat gripping story and I couldn't set it down! The charaters were so real and vivid; I could picture every scene, it was incredible! This is the first book I read by Thrasher and won't be the last! I don't care what kind of book you read give this a try, you won't regret it!

I like Travis Thrasher. I got one of his books from the library a while back (Admission) and after finishing it, pulled all the titles we had at the bookstore into my hold pile. This is the second book I've read by him. It was entertaining, but not my favorite. I like suspense and mystery, but horror is really not my thing. Thrasher spins a good tale; he is definitely a skillful writer. Ghostwriter was scary, but a little too dark and gory for my personal taste.
Bestselling author Dennis Shore loses his wife and finds he cannot write anymore. He winds up selling a stolen manuscript, later that choice haunts him, literally. Cillian Reed, the author of the manuscript confronts Dennis and begins to stalk him. Throughout Dennis is searching for hope. I did not find a strong message of Christ, but rather images of heaven and his dead wife giving him that hope.
I have not given up on Thrasher, as even in this novel, he proved he is a talented writer. I think I will stay away from any classified as horror for now. I'm not completely convinced that there is such a thing as "Christian horror," if you can suggest a book that would prove me wrong...Please do.

Reason for Reading: Ever since reading Ted Dekker, I'm wide open to the Christian Fiction/Horror/Thriller genre and this sounded right up my alley.

Dennis Shore has enjoyed a successful career as a horror writer but now, a widower, with his daughter off to college he is suffering a terrible case of writer's block and can't start his next book. In the meantime, his latest book has just hit the shelves and is as popular as ever. This is when he starts receiving e-mails from a crazed fan accusing him of plagiarizing that book from him. The emails turn into text messages and phone calls. Then parcels start arriving and other more threatening events happen as he meets his accuser, who just happens to really be the true author of Shore's latest bestseller. Dennis's imaginary world of horror is turning into a real life horror story.

This wasn't bad, not great, but okay. The Christian fiction angle of it is really not a big deal within the story and is stuck into the climax and denouement of the book's plot. This, I guess, is a way to appeal to both mainstream and Christian audiences but it feels forced, stuck on at the end. I'm a Christian reader of the book but I found myself shaking my head at the corny conversion. That aside, the horror story was quite well-written. An interesting and creepy story that is hard to make sense of at first. The reader is as confused as the main character wondering whether he is being stalked by a madman, visited by the supernatural, loosing his mind or a combination of all three. There are some fairly gruesome bits not for the faint of heart. The writing style does leave a lot to the imagination but enough details are given that you know exactly what happened and of course, being CF, there is no cursing. A decent horror story that I certainly enjoyed enough to have read the whole thing, but it feels as if the book is trying too hard to be Christian fiction that can crossover into mainstream fiction, and not quite succeeding. Thrasher has written several other books in this genre, though, and I'm willing to give him another try.

I enjoyed Thrasher's book "Ghostwriter" much more than I thought I was going to. I enjoy horror novels and I enjoy faith-based novels just not usually at the same time. That said, saying "Ghostwriter" is faith-based or Christian fiction is almost a stretch. It is a very creepy book, disturbing - and it takes a lot for me to say that. This book caused chills and I actually locked my doors - during the daytime - while reading it (no exaggeration). There is some pretty graphic violence, talk of a rape but no details there, a very vicious serial killer. So even though, in the ending chapters of the book, eternal salvation is barely touched on and the promise of heaven, I would be hard-pressed to shelve this with the faith-based fiction in the library. I do believe the faith sequences were handled very well but were just very sparse.

I did like the book, though. Thrasher is an excellent writer and I will be looking for more of his past written books to read plus I'll watch for his name in the future (I have read Isolation and did enjoy it, too.

This is the scariest book I have ever read! I read it all in one sitting because I simply could not put it down. I think there will be people who might be turned off by the "Christian" label, and then there are Christians who will think it is too dark or disturbing, but I would say to both groups to give this book a chance. Ultimately, this book is about love and it has some surprisingly sweet moments. I saw another review that said some of the switching back and forth in time made the book a little confusing, but I think it helped keep the reader on his toes and give you the story in brief but tantalizing doses. I really hope Thrasher continues writing in this genre, but all the books I've read by him have been outstanding.

Dennis Shore is a bestselling horror writer and the world is waiting for his next book. So is he. He's pacing through an old Victorian house, suffering from writer's block, and grieving over the loss of his wife. Nothing is working--not his writing, not his relationship with his daughter, not his faith (or lack of), and to top it all of, disturbing scenes from his books seem to be coming back to haunt him.

I sat down with Ghostwriter one evening just to see what it was like. When I looked up, I'd read nearly the first 100 pages. I was immediately sucked into the story. Being a writer myself, I was fascinated by this story of a bestselling novelist struggling with the craft and putting on the facade of a big-shot author who has it all together. It doesn't take long to reach the first bizarre twist in the story, and when it hits, there's no putting this thing down.

Again, Thrasher demonstrates his knack for a fast-paced thriller laced with horror and hints of redemption. He doesn't waste any time with fluffy prose, but throws the reader straight into the action of every scene. I liked Ghostwriter better than Isolation, and this time I didn't see the big twist coming. And what a twist it is!

Scary, thrilling, just plain good reading, this is some of the most enjoyment I've had with a novel in quite a while.

This novel is a great suspense thriller! Once I started reading I couldn't put it down. I just had to keep reading. It got my attention right away and kept it with its mystery! Its a great read for those who like puzzingly mysteries of the supernatural!

After having devoured Thrasher's novel, 'Sky Blue', I felt compelled to try another. This one is a haunting story that keeps you on the edge of your seat from the start to the finish. Having read it during the Halloween season made it that much more enjoyable. The characters come to life and you find yourself casting the movie in your mind. (Nathan Fillion who plays 'Castle' and Molly C. Quinn, who plays his daughter, come to mind..) Anyway, the story revolves around author Dennis Shore making an impulsive and ultimately bad, decision which comes back to haunt him. People make decisions every day without thinking about the long-term consequences, but I'll bet that after reading this book, you might think a little harder.

I began reading Ghostwriter because I live in Geneva, Illinois; I will read Travis Thrasher's other novels because Ghostwriter is a riveting read.

Geneva is a fairly tony suburb of Chicago--forty miles outside the city--and has a storied history, it's in the Fox Valley right on the Fox River (with neighboring small cities of St. Charles and Batavia), and it's a superb setting for a horror story. Travis, living in nearby Aurora, set his novel in Geneva, with pivotal scenes at the Geneva dam, the Fabyan Park, Third Street, and even Geneva Commons shopping area (who else but Thrasher could make me think of zombies while I'm shopping for a hammer at Home Depot on Randall Road!). If you live in the Fox Valley, this book is a must-read by definition.

But Travis Thrasher impressed me on a different level--a deeper level. The book is a psychological thriller/horror novel, and other reviewers have given plot details in the other Amazon.com reviews. I'm a very critical reader--I'll admit it, unlike some, if I dislike any book fifty pages in, it's hitting the back of the wastebasket. I've read so many novels that are roaming, hard-to-follow, poorly written and just plain boring.

In Thrasher's world, the main characters allow us into their minds, especially Dennis Shore, the lonely author and main character in Ghostwriter. Dennis has harrowing experiences brought on by his writer's block and his theft of another writer's unpublished manuscript. Sound trivial? If ghosts jumping into the river, dead memories from Dennis's past novels, creaking doors and oddly lit rooms, fistfights on Third Street, and dead animals on the doorstep make your skin crawl, get ready for a lightening ride in Ghostwriter. Who is real? Who is fiction in the pages of Dennis Shore's books? And who is a ghost? These questions will lurk in your mind as you surf the compact chapters in this 355 page novel. The answer...read it and find out.

Like Dennis Shore--and perhaps this is where I can relate to Ghostwriter on a personal level--I don't believe in ghosts or bogeymen, and black cats don't give me the heebie-jeebies. So, why would I be moved by this book? Two reasons: (1) Thrasher always makes the story plausible, always "real", never contrived, never "Nightmare on Elm Street". Ghostwriter is tangible. (2) The basic story is human--Dennis loses his wife to cancer, and then struggles to regain purpose and balance in his life. The supernatural story, told in a believable fashion, is draped gently over this basic human storyframe. A similar book, equally well-written, is Stephen King's Bag of Bones. Yes, I would place this book in a similar category.

If Peter Benchley's "Jaws" is the quintessential "summer beach read", then Ghostwriter is highly recommended as an enthralling, entertaining and spooky autumn page-ripper.