Entertaining thriller with a cleverly twisty plot and an engaging narrator--a professional ghostwriter hired to revise the draft autobiography of former British Prime Minister, Adam Lang. Polanski had originally teamed with Robert Harris for a film of Harris's novel Pompeii, [6] but the project was cancelled because of the looming actors' strike that autumn. [7] [8]

A lot of this story is about Helena and Simon, on the face of it their marriage was uncomplicated, underneath, it was so complicated that it took the whole book to fathom the depth of the secrets, lies and subversive deceit. I'm not even going to speak to my feelings regarding Simon but it felt 'off' early on. But it is a Robert Harris book and, as I've stated, I like his books. It didn't take long for me to start enjoying it. Oh sure, there was the usual cringe moments - this man cannot write a sex scene to save his life. In fact, he can't even write a "sexy" scene to save his life: I can't reveal special spoilers but this book takes a twist that it melted my heart, I felt everything with Helena. The ending was infinitely painful and heart-breaking. Books hardly ever make me actually that emotional so this was special. Just read it! This story is narrated by the man who is a professional ghostwriter. He has been hired by a publishing company to complete a political memoir on a former British Prime Minister. The prior ghostwriter has just died. Harris has the regular story plot going, but underneath he has a subtler serious discussion about political memoires, truth, the use or abuse of power, international law and politics. Also, there is a on going discussion about the role of ghostwriting. I found the story interesting and it did start me thinking about the topic. From the bestselling author of Fatherland and Imperium comes The Ghost, an extraordinarily auspicious thriller of power, politics, corruption, and murder. Dashing, captivating Adam Lang was Britain's longest serving -- and most controversial -- prime minister of the last half century, whose career ended in tatters after he sided with America in an unpopular war on terror. Now, after stepping down in disgrace, Lang is hiding out in wintry Martha's Vineyard to finish his much sought-after, potentially explosive memoir, for which he accepted one of history's largest cash advances. But the project runs aground when his ghostwriter suddenly and mysteriously disappears and later washes up, dead, on the island's deserted shore.

Roman Polanski: "Studio Babelsberg has highly talented and enthusiastic crews" ". Studio Babelsberg AG. Archived from the original on 22 July 2009 . Retrieved 7 August 2009. A local woman found the body early the next morning, thrown up on the beach about four miles down the island’s coast at Lambert’s Cove. The driver’s license in the wallet confirmed him to be Michael James McAra, age fifty, from Balham in south London. I remember feeling a sudden shot of sympathy at the mention of that dreary, unexotic suburb: he certainly was a long way from home, poor devil. His passport named his mother as his next of kin. The police took his corpse to the little morgue in Vineyard Haven and then drove over to the Rhinehart residence to break the news and to fetch one of the other guests to identify him. Mr. Beaks (5 March 2010). "Mr. Beaks Interrogates The Ghost Writer Novelist-Screenwriter Robert Harris!". Ain't It Cool News . Retrieved 5 March 2011.

Alessandra Torre has written many novels but this is the first I’ve read. You can be sure my “to be read list” has quite a few more titles on it now that I’ve read this novel. I loved it! The story is about a man who is called in to ghost the memoires of a former British Prime Minister, Adam Lang. The Lang character is clearly supposed to be Tony Blair and the author (Harris) displays a great hatred of Mr. Blair. It is that hatred of a spurned lover, an emotion I can understand. When Blair was elected, I was so excited, so positive - I sang along to "Things Can Only Get Better" for the several hours it played, as we waited for him to arrive in London. But it all went wrong. All the dreams, all the hopes, all the beliefs turned out to false. He wasn't the saviour we all thought. He leaves a legacy that is dominated by a war in Iraq. And, it is the reason why we went to war, that forms the cornerstone to this novel.If you've already signed a publishing deal to produce a ghostwritten book for a publisher, congrats! Your publisher will be covering the cost of the collaboration. If you're yet to secure a deal, but still want to pursue the traditional publishing route with the help of a ghostwriter, you may have to pay for some of their services yourself. Bray, Christopher (13 November 2007). "The Blair Snitch Project: Thriller Pulps Britain's Ex-Prime Minister". New York Observer . Retrieved 22 July 2014. Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this publication in exchange for an honest review. This is an utterly captivating storyline unlike any I have read before. JFC I don't even know how to capture the words I need to review this book.