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

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 found this an excellent, topical read. The build up of tension was impeccably paced and, just when you think you've got to the bottom of it, the twist in the tail gets you. (Well he caught me out, at least.) For me, it had something in it of The Day of the Jackal, which is no small praise. One should also factor in the descriptive writing which is first class, so to my mind, one of Harris' best

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've probably missed all the political implications of this contemporary thriller (see more), but it certainly is a good read. We never find out who the ghost writer is, but he finds out that his predecessor has recently died, and that he must work on the manuscript in the house where his subject, a recently unseated British prime minister, is staying. Not only that, but the timeline for completing the work is incredibly short.
The ghost writer realises that this is yet another boring autobiography. There is no personal interest to hook the reader and he feels that he will need to cull much of the existing text and find something new as the opening hook. In his quest to be thorough he discovers that much of the text written by his show more predecessor is not true at all. And then an international news item brings the "hook".

The text is superbly narrated by Michael Jayston. show less

I wouldn't say this is Robert Harris at his best, but it is a very good read. He exhibits all his usual talent for vivid and atmospheric description - his depiction of Martha's Vineyard in winter is grim and depressing and makes you feel as if you're right there - and his narrative voice has some extremely witty turns of phrase. As for the plot, it keeps you reading right to the end and leaves you slightly unsettled - despite his reminder that consipracy theories should be treated with the proper amount of scepticism, if this were a conspiracy theory rather than a thriller, it would be an extremely believable one.