The author’s political bias was clear enough (pro Iraq war) but I did not allow this to detract from the enjoyment of the read. I found it a fun, engaging read, a beach book, not to be taken too seriously, but enjoyable. He can accept the assignment and make a lot of money, but in doing so he will alienate his sort-of girlfriend and trouble his conscience at least a little. What really happened to the earlier ghost writer? Was his death really a suicide? Will the PM be brought to the international court as a war criminal? Is he guilty of the crimes of which he is accused? The ghostwriter is faced with choices. His brains-behind-the-scenes wife, Ruth, was probably the most interesting character in the book, both warm and calculating, seemingly vulnerable yet dangerous. The former PM has a background in theater that suits perfectly a person who seems not to be really there.
The characters here are the sort one would expect in a political thriller, not too deep but fun to watch. The ghost is also under great time pressure from his publisher, one month to fix over a hundred thousand badly written words. The subject of this is a Tony Blair stand-in, Adam Lang, a former British PM who had served American foreign policy needs with more attention than he gave to the wishes of his own people. This is a fast-paced thriller, centering around a ghost writer assigned to revise and complete the first draft of an autobiography prepared by his predecessor, another ghost writer, recently deceased.
Robert Harris - image from his Goodreads page
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