The Ghostwriter by A. R. Torre @alessandratorre4 #ErinSpencer @brilliancepublishing #TheGhostwriter

the setup…
Helena Ross is running out of time. She’s a best selling romance novelist and needs to get her last book done within three months…from start to finish. Helena has just learned she’s got a terminal illness and needs someone to ghostwrite the story, someone with talent and is a prolific writer. The person she’s needs is Marka Vantley, her nemesis and nastiest critic. Her agent helps engage the ghostwriter who has just as many secrets as Helena plans to share in what won’t be a happily ever after.

the heart of the story…
Helena lives alone in an almost empty 5k square foot home, and it’s a reflection of her equally void personal life. She was once married and had a daughter but where they are now is a bit murky. Her story slowly unfolds as she and the ghostwriter write the book at breakneck pace. I liked the slow burn of it all…her life, the prickly relationship with Vantley that morphs into something different…as my imagination took hold and tried to deduce her past. We get narratives from Helena, the ghostwriter and her beleaguered and loyal agent Kate.

the narrator…
Erin Spencer is a really great storytelling and she moved this slow burn perfectly. Even though i often couldn’t distinguish Kate from Helen, I was still able to rebound quickly.

the bottom line…
This is a re-release and I’m grateful because I came late to the Torre party, wanting to explore her backlist. It isn’t a romance or a high stakes thriller, just a well developed character study with an underlying mystery that’s all compelling. It takes a dark turn late in the story, a staple I was hoping for. It culminates with an emotional punch I hadn’t foreseen. Just another satisfying reading experience from one of my now favorite authors.

Book Info

• Release Date: March 31, 2026 (originally published October 2017)
• Narrator: Erin Spencer
• Audio Length: 8 hours, 24 minutes
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio

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(Thanks to Brilliance Audio and NetGalley for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)