Suspenseful Clues and Thrilling Reviews discussion

Here is where we will discuss The Ghostwriter after we finish reading the book. Please only visit this thread AFTER reading the book as there may be spoilers here! Feel free to post links to your Goodreads reviews here as well as general discussion on your thoughts.

Wow, looks like I am the first to comment. I finished this book yesterday and I absolutely love it. The characterization, the pace, twists and turns were all on point. It made me cry like a baby but it was worth it. The link to my review is below if you are curious. I just know this is a book I will not soon forge about.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The author reached out to one of our members and sent a link to some discussion questions (Thanks for passing this along, Dianne!).
I figured I would post them here!

How did you feel about Helena's mother? Do you feel as though she was in the right - trying to restrict Helena's time with Bethany? Do you think Helena was justified in cutting off contact with her after that day? Do you think she was a good mother? A good grandmother?

How different do you think the Ghostwriter/Author relationship would have been if Mark had been female? Would she have shared more sooner or held back things?

Did Simon actually love Helena? Or did he marry her as a cover?
If you were Helena in the panic room, would you have done the same thing she did?

I just finished and am speechless. I absolutely loved this and felt so emotional by the end! Here are my answers to some of the discussion questions above!

- I felt indifferent about Helena's mother. I thought at some points she wanted to help Helena but also was overstepping her boundaries. I felt like she should have tried to be there along to help with Helena as opposed to trying to restrict her time with Bethany. I think that Helena cutting off contact with her was justified because of how much she blamed herself for the incident and I probably would have reacted the same way had something so tragic happened.

- I feel the relationship of ghostwriter/author would have been completely different. I think that Helena trusted Mark because he was male and because he was the exact opposite of what she imagined he would be. I think she would have held back things and their relationship would have been competitive and combative had Mark not been male.

-I think Simon married Helena as a cover. I don't think he truly loved her, I think he loved the things she was able to provide for him. I think that I probably would have done some things the same and some things different had I been Helena in the panic room. I think that she was looking to protect her child and I would have done the same in that aspect.

When she first meets Marka Vantly. 😂😂😂

Their marriage was a total cover. He was in love with her money

Erik wrote: "When she first meets Marka Vantly. 😂😂😂"

My jaw literally dropped when she met Marka Vantly

I liked this, but didn't love it. Some things I liked were Helena's relationship with the ghostwriter and the genuine emotional pull of the ending. I didn't care for all the foreshadowing and the changes in narration from first person to several third persons. Here's a link to my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I will be starting this tomorrow. 😎

I really did love it! It pulled me right in from the first few pages although I agree there was a lot of foreshadowing. I too found the relationship between Helena and the ghostwriter very moving.

I didn't like. Helena's mother at all and felt she was colluding with Simon in some ways and undermining Helena.
I don't think Helena would have been able to work with any one other than Mark. He was like a father figure to her in terms of the stability, grounding and security he gave to her as well as his particular life experiences and skill set. I also wondered what may have happened if Helena hadn't been on her way out..there was a mutual feeling there- would or could that have developed into anything more? I don't necessarily think so but I am just speculating.

Erik wrote: "When she first meets Marka Vantly. 😂😂😂"

yeaaaaaahhhh perfect loved this scene!!😀😁

*unpopular opinion*
I finished today and I wanted to feel bad for Helena's character by the end of the book. But I don't. The end made me angry.

It was easy to fly through and I wanted to know what happened to her family. That is what kept me reading.

Helena as a character I could do without. I loved Mark-a tho =)

I finished today. I l😍ve this book! My spoiler free review- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Now to the questions: The whole question of mothers is subjective. We all (well, most of us) do the best that we can at the time, and under the circumstances. It is easy to look back and say, I should/shouldn't have done this. Helena's mother doesn't seem to have had a lot of mothering skills. She didn't hug her daughter. She seemed more interested in psychoanalysing her. In later years, I think she recognized her mistakes, but instead of trying to fix them with Helena, was trying to overcompensate with Bethany. I don't think any of us are in the position to judge Helena for cutting off contact with her mother. Until you are in that situation, who knows what you really would do? I don't know that Helena was a good mother, but I don't think she was a bad mother. I think she was trying to balance Simon's influence.

The relationship would have been completely different with anyone but Mark. I don't think she would have opened up to anyone else like she opened up to Mark, male or female, unless they had the same open and honest character.

Perhaps Simon did love Helena in the beginning, or at least believed he did. But then again, it's one of those things that we will never know. I hope he did. I don't think that I would have been as clear headed and clever as Helena.

4.5*
Loved this book!
I went in blind and was wowed. What an ending. It left me breathless and crying.
For me, I liked Helena's character, I felt for her, I kind of "got" her. She was a tough cookie to like, but she had many redeeming qualities, imo.
Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Q&A from above:

How did you feel about Helena's mother? Do you feel as though she was in the right - trying to restrict Helena's time with Bethany? Do you think Helena was justified in cutting off contact with her after that day? Do you think she was a good mother? A good grandmother?
- I didn't feel that I got enough information on Janice to have a set opinion of her, but I don't think she was a good mother, and she helped set the path for Helena not being the best mother
- it seemed that Janice tried to be a good grandmother-she was looking out for the best interest of Bethany, but in doing so she interfered with Helena's mother role
- Janice definitely shouldn't have taken Simon's side all of the time, that would've been treasonous- as a mother I would've hated that

How different do you think the Ghostwriter/Author relationship would have been if Mark had been female? Would she have shared more sooner or held back things?
-the relationship would've continued to be antagonistic, so as a reader we wouldn't have gotten to see the softer side of Helena, only Mark could bring that out of her
- I also think that the final book written through Mark would reveal Helena's humanity, he saw through her, he saw her as a flawed human being, and that would be reflected within the pages
- I think that if it was Marka who had written the book the antagonism between the two of them would have kept the book more sterile, and would've turned out to be more of a clinical study of what happened versus a human study of what happened

Did Simon actually love Helena? Or did he marry her as a cover?
-most definitely a cover
-he used her writing obsession to his own benefit so he could get away with his obscene/awful/illegal/sadistic/heartbreaking obsession

If you were Helena in the panic room, would you have done the same thing she did?
-no, once I found the key I would've gotten out of there and called the police first thing

Finished this the other day. Parts of this book I really loved, other parts I was confused by, but on the whole I'd rate it a 4.5.

Q & A:
How did you feel about Helena's mother? Do you feel as though she was in the right - trying to restrict Helena's time with Bethany? Do you think Helena was justified in cutting off contact with her after that day? Do you think she was a good mother? A good grandmother?

There wasn't enough of the story from Janice's point of view for me to form an opinion of her. Most of what we learn about her is from Helena's point of view, which tended to make her out as a monster. I do think that she tried to be a good mother, but being a psychiatrist may have made it hard for her to separate her job from her role as a mother. I do think she was a good grandmother. I wonder if she really did take Simon's side all the time, or was that just Helena's perception of things?

How different do you think the Ghostwriter/Author relationship would have been if Mark had been female? Would she have shared more sooner or held back things?

I loved this part of the book! I don't think that the Helena's story would have been written if Mark had been a female, there would have been too much rivalry. Mark seemed to have more empathy for what Helena was going through since his wife also died of cancer.

Did Simon actually love Helena? Or did he marry her as a cover?
If you were Helena in the panic room, would you have done the same thing she did?

I really don't know whether Simon loved Helena or not, but it does seem like it was a cover.

I'm not sure what I would do if I were in Helena in the panic room. She had already started plans of using the water heater to kill Simon before she found the key, so it would be hard to put those plans aside in the hopes that the police would believe her and check out the evidence on the tapes. I hope I would have enough sense to just get out and call the police!

I finished this book last night. I really had a difficult time with it. I think that had more to do with me and not the book. I am caring for a family member in hospice it was just hard for me to enjoy a book about sickness right now. The writing was good and the relationship between Helena and Mark was a good. This was an interesting story. I did not like the way Helena's mother and simon teamed up against her. I believe she may have had some postpartum depression but they did not handle that situation well at all. I don't believe simon loved her it seems like a cover. A school teacher with his tendencies would probably need one.

Thelma wrote: "I finished this book last night. I really had a difficult time with it. I think that had more to do with me and not the book. I am caring for a family member in hospice it was just hard for me to e..."

Big hugs to you Thelma. I know where you are coming from.

Wow! This was a great book. The characters were extremely well-developed, warts and all. It was suspenseful, but since it wasn't a detective novel, there was time to delve into the characters' lives and try to understand their motivations. I had no problems with the alternating POV's, but I agree with Dianne and Emma that the suspense was drawn out a little too much. I forgave that, though, because it was such a good story. I was waiting for the ridiculous plot twist that comes from an unreliable narrator... it seems to be all the rage lately. I was surprised to be hit with a believable, although gut-wrenching twist. I love that Torre wrapped up the ending and didn't leave us to speculate what happened to everyone else after Helena died; I hate it when authors do that. I can't help wondering, though... maybe Torre IS Marka Vantley. All those erotica books that she's published and, finally, a touching, well-written novel without smut. Coincidence? I'd like to say I'll be reading other novels by Torres, but since they are all erotic, I won't be.

On to the discussion questions. Helena's mother was clinical and controlling. She tired too hard to mold Helena in her own image, causing Helena to keep her feelings to herself and dislike her mom. As Carlissa mentioned, we only have Helena's biased opinion of her mother, so I reserve any judgment. I would add that the things we might think point towards her being a bad mom are also the things that helped make Helena a great writer - a gift and a curse. But I agree with Kate in that Helena's mom understood Helena's shortcomings and could have been there to fill in the gaps instead of just trying to take Bethany away.

I think the most important part about Mark wasn't that he was a man, but that by revealing that he was a man, he had trusted Helena with a damaging secret, allowing Helena to be more open about sharing her own secrets. That being said, I do think a male worked better here because, as Emma mentioned earlier, it provided Helena with the father figure that she needed to get through this.

I don't think Simon actually loved Helena (I highly doubt his character would know what love is) - I think he loved how perfect she was for his cover-up. An insecure girl with low self-esteem who'd be too worried about losing him to actually notice any oddities on his part or ask questions. A girl who was so obsessed with her writing that she wouldn't notice if he were missing for hours. And then she became a girl who made lots of money for him to spend. What's not to love!

I highly doubt I would have done the same thing as Helena in the panic room. I'm not that brave... to be responsible for someone else's death. I may have wished him dead, but I don't think I could do it.

I gave this book 5 stars and really enjoyed it!!

The letters Helena wrote at the end were amazing in my opinion - they offered such an insight to her character. The thing that stuck the most for me was how from the very beginning we're told that Helena murdered her husband. Having said that, I wondered how she could ever be redeemed in our eyes? How could she be anything other than the villain? By the end the questions were answered and the author pulled it off. I felt for Helena.

I also really enjoyed the look inside the writing process that some of the scenes provided.

Oh, and am I the only one who thought the book was beautifully formatted?

Tara wrote: "Wow! This was a great book. The characters were extremely well-developed, warts and all. It was suspenseful, but since it wasn't a detective novel, there was time to delve into the characters' live..."

Great point! Something that never occurred to me!😎

Alessandra Torre knocked it out! I very much enjoyed this. The pace, the characters & the writing made for an easy page-turner!
My somewhat of a GR Review ☺😘✌

Eldon wrote: "I gave this book 5 stars and really enjoyed it!!

The letters Helena wrote at the end were amazing in my opinion - they offered such an insight to her character. The thing that stuck the most for m..."

Totally agree!

I really enjoyed the book. I gave it a 4.5 stars.

Here is my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I really enjoyed how Helena grew and changed as she told her story.

I agree 100% with everyone who feels that Simon did not love Helena. I agree that he loved her money and the lifestyle he was able to lead.

I would not have done what Helena did. I would have gone immediately to the police. True, he did have some things hanging over her head such as being hospitalized and her Mother needing to care for daughter. I do get her fear of not being believed but I would have also realized/hoped that the victims would have come forward.

I liked that the ghostwriter, Mark, was a man. After Simon she would have had HUGE trust issues especially with men, so it was nice that she was able to have a healthy trusting relationship with a man.

I am about half-way through with this novel and so far not terribly impressed. While the initial set-up with a terminally ill writer asking her hated rival to ghostwrite and finish her current work is interesting, none of the characters are very likable.

Knowing that the author mostly writes romance novels (not a genre I enjoy) has me a bit worried as to where this one is heading. Review to follow.

Don't worry... there's no romance in this one. I dislike romance novels as well and I promise there's no sappy sucky-face. Yes, Helena in particular does not come off as very likable. The second half of the book tries to show what's driven her to act the way she does. By the end of the book, I forgave a lot of her behavior, but then again, I had a very curmudgeonly grandfather, so I may be more forgiving than others. I hope you like the second half better than the first half!

Well, I got through THE GHOSTWRITER and was pleased that it did not take a 'romantic turn'. It still was not a thriller --- more like a very personal work that depicts a person having the opportunity to leave this world on their own terms and cleaning both the slate and their conscience in the process. Please see my review on my Good Reads page. See you next month!

Dianne wrote: "I liked this, but didn't love it. Some things I liked were Helena's relationship with the ghostwriter and the genuine emotional pull of the ending. I didn't care for all the foreshadowing and the c..."

YES Dianne- the changing perspectives really threw me, and drove me nuts! I wonder why she decided this was necessary.

Ok, I finished this one and didn't love it as much as everyone else did. I guess I found a few things hard to believe. I found that the tapes and the whole panic room thing a little contrived (but I'm all about putting reality aside for a book). I just found it hard to believe that Simon would've had a past like that and we didn't really get any indicators (but maybe there aren't any in situations like this?). My heart completely broke over her daughter. I loved how we went back and forth between the Janice/Charlotte interview and Helena's pages. There is no way I could've ran to my mom's house and sat and waited for her knowing what was coming. I would've broken in and called the police immediately.

I enjoyed Mark & Kate the most. I loved the interactions with Helena and even appreciated the nuances they brought out in her.

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Yikes! I am sooooo far behind! Just about 80 pages into this one and loving it!

I didn't love this one.

I found the drip, drip, drip of information more annoying than suspenseful. The use of pronouns with no regard for antecedents made the book a struggle to get into. There were other issues that, for me, distracted from the story.

I loved Mark. He's the reason I continued with this book. Kate was also a bright spot. I liked the story for the most part, but there were places that it felt contrived.

In answer to the questions...

I didn't like Helena's mother. Her intrusions came off as if she recognized the mistakes she'd made as a mother and tried to overcompensate, overstepping as a grandmother.

I doubt she would've shared things the same way, but she was determined to have the story told. I'm not sure if it was the Mark was male or his character and openness that garnered such a friendship between them.

Did Simon actually love Helena? There were multiple references of how young Helena looked, how flat-chested she was. The scene described when he slides his hand up her shirt reeks. She played into his fantasies, AND she gave cover and funds.

If you were Helena in the panic room, would you have done the same thing she did? No, but there were so many other things I would've done differently before getting to that point.

Well, I finally managed to find the time to finish this one and am so glad I did! I loved this book! As someone else stated, I won’t be reading her other novels of “romance/erotica, but would gladly tackle another one along these same lines.

A more objective evaluation of Janice as a mother is unnecessary, in my opinion. Regardless of her actual behaviors or intentions, all that really matters is how her one and only daughter, Helena, felt as a result. To day she felt unloved and unappreciated is an understatement. There were some similarities between the character Janice and my own mother, so I can easily imagine my interpretation is skewed as a result of my own life experiences. I believe this lack of love and affection in her own childhood allowed her to “fall” for Simon. He was the good-looking charmer who was truly a manipulator, purely and simply.

In my opinion, not only was his marriage relationship a sham, but he was quite clearly setting it up for Helena to be categorized as “crazy,” just in case she ever discovered the truth about him. Janice was an easy co-conspirator since she was obviously just as charmed/fooled by him as was Helena. His was definitely a criminal mind. I rather resented that his “profession”/job was teaching elementary school...and how scary is that?!?

For all the reasons noted above I agree that the ghostwriter worked as a male. I doubt it would have worked with two females, but you never know... I don’t believe “gender” to be as stereotypical as I once did, perhaps because I have always been rather androgynous in many ways, as are many of my closer friends and acquaintances.

Honestly, I was heartily cheering her actions in the panic room. I doubt Simon would have ever been convicted unless victims were located to testify. And perhaps that could have happened since Charlotte was obviously already on his trail. But without that I believe he and Janice together might have well had her committed. End of story.

I loved Helena and just wanted to hold her, much as Mark did upon discovering her body that morning. She deserved love, as does each of us. And bless Mark. What a dear sweet soul. I thought Kate provided a bit of comic relief in her own way.