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The Ghost
 
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The Ghost (Paperback)

by Robert Harris (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (121 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd; Reprint edition (3 Jul 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099527499
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099527497
  • Product Dimensions: 20.2 x 13.2 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (121 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,256 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #1 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > H > Harris, Robert

Product Description

Review
"Britain's leading thriller writer"
-"Daily Telegraph"
"Robert Harris is a superb writer of thrillers."
-"Independent"
"A writer who handles suspense like a literary Alfred Hitchcock."
-Nelson Mandela," Guardian" --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Sunday Times
`Truly thrilling' --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Product Description

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Ghost
78% buy the item featured on this page:
The Ghost 3.6 out of 5 stars (121)
£5.19
Fatherland
8% buy
Fatherland 4.4 out of 5 stars (91)
£5.99
Imperium
6% buy
Imperium 4.0 out of 5 stars (67)
£5.99
Pompeii
4% buy
Pompeii 3.8 out of 5 stars (102)
£5.99

 

Customer Reviews

121 Reviews
5 star:
 (31)
4 star:
 (47)
3 star:
 (17)
2 star:
 (15)
1 star:
 (11)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (121 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
75 of 85 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Entertainingly implausible, 6 Oct 2007
By J A C Corbett (Blackheath, London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
This review is from: The Ghost (Hardcover)
The narrator of Robert Harris's new novel is a ghostwriter assigned to write the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister. But all is not as it should be; the ex-PM, Adam Lang, finds himself exiled in Martha's Vinyard with a war crimes indictment hanging over him. A previous 'ghost' had died in mysterious circumstances. And what of the shadowy right wing organisations that lurk in the background?

Lang, is a thinly fictionalised version of Tony Blair, a former friend of Harris, and much has been made of this and of other real life charcaters who are meant to crop up in the book. Lang's wife Ruth is said to be Cherie (she's not) and there's meant to be a Robin Cook figure (there's not, really).

I was under the impression that this would be a novel about a former PM brooding over his legacy, but it's actually a decent - if not implausible - thriller. Some of it is far fetched, though never as ludicrous as a Dan Brown book, and it is entertaining and gripping. I read it in an evening.

There are echoes of Graham Greene at times, and the ending was reminisent of Evelyn Waugh's Handful of Dust. The implications of Britain's 'special relationship' with America are laid down in terrifying if not exagerated terms. And while too much has been made of Harris's former friendship with the Blairs, there are flashes of insight that are revealing and amusing.

Not a brilliant work of literature by any means, but a better thriller or beach novel you won't read this year.
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44 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A very good read, 1 Oct 2007
By J. Parker "A UK viewer" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Ghost (Hardcover)
This is a departure for Harris, being set in contemporary Britain against the background of international politics and it works very well. The narrator's voice is very clear as he moves from amused detachment through bewilderment and fear to taking charge of his own destiny. The references to the current political scene are incisive and often witty. It's written with pace and verve. I read it on one sitting so I suppose I found it "unputdownable".

If I have a criticism, it's that the trail is a bit too easy for the ghost writer to follow.

I still prefer his earlier novels, especially Fatherland and Enigma, which were not set in the current time and I re-read those often. I can't imagine re-reading this one as there is not quite enough going on outside the hunt for the story hence only four stars.

It is a very good, gripping read though.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Fitting epitaph for the Blair era, 18 Feb 2008
By Jezza (London) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Ghost (Hardcover)
I didn't expect to like this half as much as I did - I have long thought of Robert Harris as airport fodder. I'm sorry, I now see that was unfair.

This isn't exactly literature but it's well plotted, well paced and well written. Its fictionalisation is often wafer-thin -- even the revelatory photograph of former prime minister "Adam Lang" is very much like a well-known picture of Tony Blair during his university days.

It's curious that someone so well entrenched within mainstream journalism is prepared to write a book about CIA conspiracies against the British Labour Party - I would have thought this stuff wasn't widely believed beyond the far left. But well done to Harris for writing such a plausible thriller set in this sort of world.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Do you want to go there?
A very disappointing submission by a terrific author of 5 previously wonderfully written and entertaining books. Read more
Published 4 days ago by R. J. Marshall

5.0 out of 5 stars prompt delivery
The whole ordering and delivery process was straightforward and quick and the product was exactly what I expected to receive.
Published 23 days ago by R. Gregory

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
I am a fan of Robert Harris and was not disappointed by this book. It's quite a departure from his normal kind of thing, but I found it engrossing - truly a 'can't put it down'... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Hammamelissa

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!!!
Great read, reading this book is like going on a roller coaster, you will be thrilled right until the very end.
Published 1 month ago by C. Brooker

2.0 out of 5 stars a good yarn poorly written
I have to admit to being rather baffled by the glowing reviews this has received. I suspect what has happened is that the praise is for the plot and particularly for the audacity... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mandrake

3.0 out of 5 stars A easy read, but a weak plot

Having read a few reviews about this book it is clear that people either love it or hate it. I have to say that I sit between the lovers and the haters with this book... Read more
Published 2 months ago by J. Milton

2.0 out of 5 stars No ghosts in this book
Did I read the same book as the people who gave their reviews on the back cover. I suspect not. This is not the suspence filled page turning that I expected. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Matthew Millington

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as other stuff by Harris
This is not as good as Imperium or Fatherland, simple as that. It doesn't really get to be a page turner until well into the second half of the book. Read more
Published 3 months ago by L. P. Lewzey

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad -- but not a classic
Not to be read it you are expecting a classic, but this is an undemanding and fairly entertaining read - ideal holiday reading - and a very thinly veiled commentary of recent... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Hespro

4.0 out of 5 stars Ghost
I enjoyed this book, which had a very clever twist. It was discussed at our Reading group and all had enjoyed it
Published 4 months ago by D. G. Dallyn

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