John Harwood - The Ghost Writer

Pros: Well written and intricate tale of generational intrigue.
Cons: There are tangents to sift through.

Secrets have a cost attached to them. They come with obligations. The secrets must not only be protected but also nurtured. Family secrets exact a price.

Gerard Freeman has grown up with his mother's secrets, ones that confound him and haunt him. She said she did things to keep him safe. Did she?

His quest to find out what the truth is involves an intricate plot spanning generations and some confounding twists found within The Ghostwriter (2004, Harcourt, 370 pages) John Harwood's first novel.

The moon still shone through my eyelids. A barred shadow touched my face. I shot bolt upright with a shriek that rang and reverberated around the library and died to a slow drip, drip, drip somewhere beneath the couch. I had lost control of my bladder. [page 323]

As with The Séance, Harwood has written a layered story within a story, involving the interaction of characters past and present with enough psychological turmoil and night terrors to make one wish for the light of day and the coming reasonableness of the sun.

The Ghostwriter is a solid mix of gothic and Victorian horror that should please fans of the genre. (four stars).