Friday, February 29, 2008


THE GHOST
Robert Harris Hutchinson $36.99

This is a work of fiction….Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead………is entirely coincidental

Yeah, right. Who does Robert Harris think he’s fooling? It certainly is a work of fiction, and a brilliant and entertaining one at that but the recently retired Prime Minister of Britain, Adam Lang, around whom this story revolves is clearly a very thinly disguised Tony Blair.

Our protagonist is a ghostwriter who until now has specialized in “autobiographies” of sports stars and second tier celebrities. But now he is working on the big one, the memoirs of the recently retired PM, and it is being written in collaboration with the former PM in a mansion of Martha’s Vineyard.
Things are going along smoothly enough when out of the blue Adam Lang is charged with war crimes and he whisks off to Washington to confer with his close friend the President.

This is a fast-moving, highly-readable, occasionally funny, almost believable political thriller, something of a romp I guess. Especially fascinating for those who work in the publishing industry as it gives a great insight into the skills and skullduggery of ghostwriting.

I enjoyed it but I do hope that Robert Harris now returns to his historical novels for which he has earned a high reputation.

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