The Ghost (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: water boarding, Adam Lang, New York, Martha's Vineyard (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Displaying 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 modelled 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. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Known for Fatherland (1992), Pompeii (**** Selection Mar/Apr 2004), and Imperium (*** Jan/Feb 2007), novelist Robert Harris opens his latest work with a derisive account of the publishing business. From there, it quickly gains momentum, merging a shrewd indictment of the war in Iraq with a literate, page-turning thriller. Harris, who was once a friend of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, offers a withering, barely disguised attack on Blair’s policies and his collusion with the United States in the Middle East. Some critics felt that the fictional backdrop weakened the political invective. Other complaints included some stock characters, formulaic plot points, and far-fetched twists, but most critics dismissed these as trivial and agreed with USA Today that Harris has produced "one of the most politically informed novels of the year."
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Star; Reprint edition (August 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416551824
• ISBN-13: 978-1416551829
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #42,331 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When reading this latest work of his, you cannot avoid making parallels with the real thing, October 29, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Ghost: A Novel (Hardcover)

the former PM and his entourage, his political adventures and disasters, and so on and so forth. But the way Harris narrates his story is enticing and thrilling, issuing suspense right and left with a skilled hand: the ambience is right, the dialogue fits, the main characters tally, the spinning is familiar and the cynicism is sharp. I enjoyed the book in a single reading, and I think I'll go back to it with more attention to detail, since it seems to me this is a super parody of Blair and his retinue, and of the publishing world from which the author extracts true images surely derived from real experience. Also, if you missed reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates, go and read it. I'm reading it at a rapid pace because it's so addictive. There is something about his books that bring you in and get you hooked. and I'm loving this one. Highly Recommend!

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book...Great Ending, October 24, 2007

By	Holden Caulfield (Bear, DE USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ghost: A Novel (Hardcover)

I own and enjoyed Harris' other works "Fatherland," "Archangel" and "Enigma." While this definitely is a bit of a different historical fiction, (set in present day or not so distant future), I found it to be a good read. Harris is a master of the thriller, and you won't be disappointed. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, I just happen to disagree with the notion that fans of Harris who enjoy reading intelligent writing should skip this book. The ending alone is worth it, as Harris employs an unusual and possibly original technique that leaves the reader satisfied. I usually don't review the books I read (this is my first) but I felt this book was worthy of defense against a one star rating.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Desperately dull and highy implausible. The ghost here is Harris himself, once upon a time he wrote good thrillers, July 6, 2008

By	leslie10 (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ghost: A Novel (Hardcover)

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.