THE GHOST
Robert Harris
Simon & Schuster
Political Thriller
ISBN: 9781416551812

Former British Prime Minister Adam Lang is in temporary exile in Martha’s Vineyard and in the process of turning his memoirs into a bestseller. The only problem is that his ghostwriter and long-time associate is found suspiciously drowned. In order to get his book completed under the publisher’s strict deadline, a new “ghost” must be assigned to finish the job.

So begins the premise of Robert Harris’s new thriller, The Ghost. Harris is a bestselling author (ENIGMA, FATHERLAND), political commentator for the BBC and newspaper columnist for the London Sunday Times. He was also once very closely acquainted with real-life former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. To say that Lang and Blair share similar backgrounds would be an understatement. Like Blair, Lang rose to prominence in the British political arena only after departing from an initial dream of making it in the music/theatrical field. Lang appears to have been pulled into politics by his wife Ruth and, like Blair, had no real party affiliation or desire to one day become P.M.

Harris, like many British citizens, was at one time a strong supporter of Blair only to feel betrayed by him due to his strong allegiance to President George W. Bush and the United States in the post-9/11 war on terror. The author has added another wrinkle to Lang by making him a key suspect in several war crimes during Operation Tempest. The timeliness of this portrayal is especially poignant since we have just witnessed the highly publicized nomination of Michael Mukasey for U.S Attorney General. This was surrounded by controversy over the torture technique waterboarding, which Lang might be guilty of approving during Operation Tempest.

The job of ghostwriting is a very specialized craft, and each chapter of THE GHOST opens with a quote from a fictional ghostwriting handbook. One of the most interesting features of this novel is that we are never given the name of the new ghostwriter --- he is simply referred to as “the ghost.” The new “ghost” has been a career ghostwriter, mostly doing celebrity tell-alls, and has never covered a political figure before. He is given a mere four weeks to get with Lang in his Martha’s Vineyard location (not far from the infamous Chappaquiddick) and rewrite the memoirs in Lang’s “voice” while capturing him in a positive light that will deflect the current war crime allegations that presently surround him.

As “the ghost” begins to investigate Lang’s memoirs and personal effects, he uncovers potential conspiracies and associations that not only give credence to the war crime accusations but may very well be the reason for the first ghostwriter’s demise. Different clues lead the ghost to meetings with a former college friend of Lang’s as well as a former cabinet member who is now lead investigator into Lang’s war crimes. What follows is a twisting thrill ride with some serious shockers and an unexpected climax.

I was somewhat frustrated by THE GHOST. To begin with, it is difficult to have a “hero” who is nameless; it keeps you from really knowing who that person is. There also is not enough time in the novel devoted to Lang. The reader is merely taken along for a ride with the nameless ghost as he uncovers more and more during his personal investigation, and you are unable to make a determination as to what Lang may or may not be guilty of. I also found none of the individuals in the book to be terribly likable. It is understandable that Harris would have a cynical approach to the former P.M. character, but they all come off as suspicious and reprehensible. Even our ghost proves to be disloyal, as he sleeps with the P.M.’s wife and goes on a date with the P.M.’s cold-as-ice assistant.

It is a fact that Blair went from being almost as popular as Winston Churchill early in his career to currently holding the third-lowest approval rating (26%) of any former P.M. (behind Margaret Thatcher and current P.M. Gordon Brown). Harris’s feelings toward Blair and the current British government in general are obviously tainted with his feeling of personal betrayal, a tone that permeates the entire novel.

The ending does contain shocks and political machinations but wraps things up a little too neatly. I enjoyed reading the book because of the complex characters and issues it covers but feel it would be better suited for a Hollywood script than a bestselling novel. At the time of this review, I have learned that Roman Polanski has already signed on to direct the film version in 2008. I look forward to seeing how THE GHOST translates to the big screen.

   --- Reviewed by Ray Palen

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