The Ghost

I really enjoyed The Ghost by Robert Harris—it’s a gripping piece of political fiction with sharp insight into modern politics.
The story follows a ghostwriter hired to complete the memoir of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang. As he digs deeper into Lang’s past, the narrative becomes increasingly tense and layered.
What makes the novel especially compelling is how closely it mirrors real-world political debates, particularly around the Iraq War and UK–US relations. Harris blends fiction and reality in a way that feels both intelligent and unsettling.
The twist at the end really stood out to me—subtle but powerful, and it completely recontextualizes the story. Definitely worth a read.

An experience ghost writer of celebrity autobiographies picks up a lucrative commission to write the memoirs of former UK Prime Minister Adam Lang. The memoir is in a loose draft as a previous ghostwriter had died suddenly, leaving the project unfinished. Lang is a controversial figure at home having led the country to war in the USA for the same reason. Called over to the USA to deliver the memoir in super fast time, the writer discovers that his predecessor died in very mysterious circumstances, and then the project is further derailed when Lang is indicted by for war crimes.
This book catches you unawares as it reaches its conclusion. The ex-prime minister is so obviously modelled on Tony Blair and this sucks you into reading the show more novel in quite a biased manner. Like Harris, I was once a Blair supporter and became disillusioned with his toadying up to George Bush and dragging us into an illegal war against Iraq. This background and the assumption that Adam Lang is Tony Blair made me focus on the role of the ghostwriter in trying to find the truth behind Lang's actions, find the justification for the wicked misdeeds and explore whether the man has any regrets or conscience. This clever thriller has a great twist to it though and having been lulled into thinking it is a political criticism, the ending comes as a complete surprise. Good stuff. show less

An excellent political thriller that is well written and kept me engaged to the end. The narrator is a ghost writer, hired to ghost the memoirs of a former prime minister. Travelling to Martha's Vineyard, there is a mystery about how the previous ghost writer died and the ghost writer get involved way beyond his comfort zone. Interesting and occasionally very close to the truth.

I like Robert Harris and have read several of his books, many of which have an historical grounding. As this was promoted as being different, I avoided it, but one day started up the audiobook and I was hooked. The premise is quite interesting. A ghost writer, never identified by name, has been hired to complete a famous ex-prime minister’s memoirs after the apparent suicide of the former “ghost.” There’s a very short deadline, and he’s dismayed to see the 600 pages left by his predecessor are virtually unreadable, boring in the extreme.

Then things get a bit complicated as Adam Lang, the subject of the memoir and supposed author, is indicted by the International Criminal Court for having permitted and encouraged the rendition show more and torture of suspects following the 9/11 attacks. I suppose it’s the height of irony that the country that created the Nuremberg courts, trials and executions, the United States, has withdrawn from participation in the ICC, along with the Sudan (its president was indicted) and Israel, although being one of the signatories. That it is perhaps afraid of subjecting its leaders to international sanctions for committing war crimes puts the U.S. in good company with countries like China, Iraq and North Korea. I suspect it’s because Congress fears possible indictment of GW Bush for his complicity in the treatment and torture of prisoners. In any case, the indictment of Lange (Tony Blair, anyone?) makes the memoirs, already sought after, hot property, indeed.

Terrorism has been a real boon to those in power providing a rationale for obtaining more control over their “subjects,” while providing them with more mechanisms, in the name of security, of course, to remove themselves even further from the electorate in bomb/gas-proof limousines, guards, etc. That is a sub-theme of the book that has a host of relevant meanings for the word “ghost.” (Note that the book has been reissued under the title “Ghost Writer’ which loses much of the impact of the double meanings.)

Some interesting discussion on the relationship between truth, memoirs, ghost writers, and politics. I found it hard to put down, listening while walking the dog, sorting stamps, cleaning, etc. My only complaint was the ending , the justification for which seemed thin. Good read, nevertheless. show less

I enjoyed Harris's first novel, Fatherland, and adored his second, Enigma; I can't quite work out why it's taken me so long to read another. Whatever, the wait was worth it.

Our nameless protagonist/narrator is called in as ghostwriter for the memoirs of a recently retired British Prime Minister who is Not Tony Bliar: you know he's Not Tony Bliar because his name is Adam Lang. However, this PM is widely loathed in the UK, not least because he was craven poodle to a war-criminal US Administration that invaded a Middle Eastern country for corrupt reasons; bells might be ringing, no? Because the Brits have come to hate his guts, Adam Lang and his wife Ruth (who is Not Cherie), plus entourage, are holed up in Martha's Vineyard. Our hero show more flies across to join them and prepares to do his stuff; but then he stumbles across the notes and documentation used by his predecessor in the job, who was mysteriously drowned. There are conniptions galore and lots of wonderfully catty observations from our narrator until it becomes evident to all that Adam Lang was a CIA plant, the most successful of all such moles placed into the UK political structure by the shady organization. It's a great conspiracy theory, but, evident or not, is it in fact the final truth? Our narrator discovers that, no, it isn't . . .

Gotta confess I found the conspiracy theory pretty convincing.

This is a spiffy book at every level: it functions well as a page-turning thriller, you bet; and it's a wonderfully biting, often laugh-out-loud funny piece of social/political satire. show less

I bought Robert Harris' latest blockbuster, bundled with certified bestseller Enigma, for £3 and change from Tesco. At the time it seemed to good to be true. That turned out to be a fair assessment.

From the author that gave us Fatherland, this is a thoroughly disappointing outing. As I read I wondered whether I was missing a trick: was some message encoded in the pages that necessitated a clunky writing style and a poorly articulated, incredible plot? (I didn't notice one, but I confess to not being moved sufficiently to look very hard.) Was the leaden prose in reality a skilful characterisation of a mediocre jobbing ghostwriter? (Given how thin the characterisation otherwise - we don't even know the narrator's name, and Harris show more (clumsily) goes to some lengths to avoid telling us - I doubted it.) Was there an undelying figurative structure to which Harris wished his reader's attention drawn, not to be distracted by such trifles as elegant expression? (Not that I could see.) Perhaps this was a mis-guided attempt by a hitherto sober writer to inject some wit into his delivery? (Well - Perhaps.)

I don't think so. What, instead, I concluded was that this was a half-hearted book knocked-off in the teeth of an encroaching deadline, possibly not even by Harris himself. (Ghosted! Now wouldn't that be ironic!)

The Ghost has the ring of a contractual obligations novel, much of it sounding dictated - even phoned in - rather than written, flabbily plotted (many of the repeatedly, portentously, mentioned characters, such as a mysterious vietnamese gardener, fulfil no plot function at all) poorly paced (just as the tension is starting to get going, Harris completely deflates it and moves to what is effectively the novel's epilogue), and frankly incredible at any level. Yes, fiction requires the willing suspension of disbelief: but Harris makes so little effort to earn the reader's investment in the story that disbelief is suspended only grudgingly, and frequently not at all.

On the plus side, it's a quick read: it may require work setting aside ones scepticism of the plot, but cracking through the text requires no effort at all, and you'll be through before you know it.

But, of itself, that wasn't a ringing endorsement of a book last time I checked. show less

Robert Harris – never to be confused with Thomas ‘Hannibal’ Harris – has a talent for exploring somewhat obscure or unconsidered subjects and bringing them to life. He has done it again with the Ghost.

Banish all thoughts of the supernatural: This is a fictional narrative by a ghostwriter, one of that unseen army of talented hacks who are essential to any celebrity writing an ‘autobiography’.

The unnamed narrator welcomes the chance to ghost the memoirs of Britain's former Prime Minister, a man who went from hero to zero in only a decade: I’m sure all similarities to Tony Blair are mere coincidence… Not quite a roman a clef, but an accomplished literary thriller, and well worth reading.