Ghostwriter: A Novel

Travis Thrasher
Faith Words (2009)
ISBN 9780446505581
Reviewed by Leslie Granier for Reader Views (8/09)


Dennis Shore, the main character in “Ghostwriter,” is a well-known author whose most recent endeavors have been horror stories.  However, after his wife Lucy passes away, he is unable to write at all.  After much frustration, he finds in his closet a manuscript that had been submitted to him by Cillian Reed, an aspiring writer who was looking for feedback on his work.  Having an imminent deadline to meet, Dennis chooses to submit Reed’s work as his own.  When Cillian discovers what Dennis has done, he sets out to make Dennis’ life a living nightmare by threatening to expose the theft.

Dennis is a deep character struggling with the recent death of his wife.  His loneliness is compounded by the fact that his only child is away at college.  The scenes in which he reminisces about the good times he had with his family are particularly touching.  Learning about the inspirations on which some of his books are based was enlightening.  I could feel his frustration about being unable to write more books because of the loss of those inspirations.

Some of the scenes in the book are confusing because the author jumps around in time.  It is at times difficult to discern whether the events taking place are occurring in the present or the past.  The year is listed at the beginning of each section but I found it cumbersome to keep flipping back to find the time line.  There were other scenes where I could not tell if Dennis was actually reliving scenes from his books or if he was hallucinating.

There is definitely a battle between good and evil in this book.  There are religious undertones present, mainly involving whether or not an afterlife exists.  However, the author does not try to force his religious beliefs on the reader.  He merely puts the ideas out there and allows the reader to reach his own conclusions.  I also thought at times that the character of Cillian was actually Dennis’ conscience, chastising him for plagiarism and making him lose confidence in his own abilities.

“Ghostwriter” by Travis Thrasher tells a good story, however it does seem to jump around too much.  Although some of the scenes are somewhat gory, it will appeal to both males and females.

Make comment on weblog