This one was a hard one to review for me, my initial rating being 3 stars. However, after writing my review and thinking back over the plot, I’ve now settled on a 2 star rating. Although I found Paper Ghosts easy to read, I doubt I would of been so inclined to continue if I wasn’t stuck in the airport/on a plane for most of the last 40%. Like a number of other readers, this novel started out with real promise for me and I was keen to see what happened. However, this then began to wane slightly. As things began to come to light, I started to feel disappointed. For me the ending was a massive anti-climax and left me wondering what an earth the point was.

It comes down to being some fanatical ravings from Grace who has pulled much of her theories from thin air. I understand that she was a confused child who missed her sister and got carried away, but it doesn’t make for the most interesting of finishes.

I also found that I didn’t really take to any of the characters, which always make it hard for me to stay interested. I felt for Grace but then she continued to make stupid mistakes which started to bore me.

Continuously the writer made me think that something exciting was going to happen, just to find that it was more of the same and that nothing was actually happening at all.

The 2 guys that kept trying to kill Grace? Ok, I understand how that was important to the story as it showed Carl hadn’t killed that girl, however how inept they all were in those final scenes was just irritating and uninteresting.

And then to find that Carl works it all out with an educated guess? Mhm. I hardly think Grace should be training anyone, the only time she was ever in real danger she had luck on her side and someone there to save her.

This is a really creepy thriller, which concerns a girl, and the man she thinks murdered her sister, and several other girls. However, he has not been convicted, and is know apparently suffering from Alzheimers. He was, in his time, a very skilled photographer, and the girl takes him onto a trip to try to find her sister's body.
They are accompanied by a stray dog, and several hallucinations of his unfettered mind.
Eventually she finds out much more than she expected, and none of it is what she expected.
The man is unscrupulous, confused, and at times unpredictable.
The characters are well-written, but slightly edgy, and the plot varies from truth to total lies!
Thank you to Net Galley, and the publisher for allowing me to read this book.

Grace was twelve-years-old when her sister, Rachel, went missing. In the years that followed, and with no body ever being discovered, Grace became obsessed with finding out what happened to her sister, crossing names off her suspect list until one man remained: Carl Feldman.

Once a celebrated photographer, Carl was tried and acquitted of the murder of a young girl; now he's in a care home, reportedly suffering from dementia. Posing as his daughter, Grace visits Carl and offers to take him on a road trip and Carl, desperate to have a few days of freedom away from the tediousness of the home, goes along with her ruse - with a few conditions, naturally.

Not only does Grace believe Carl killed her sister, she believes he's responsible for murdering several other young women, too, including the girl he was acquitted of killing.

Following the trail of his photographs, each stop on the road trip is designed to jog Carl's memory. Has Carl truly forgotten what he did, or is he just pretending? Will he confess to killing any of the women Grace suspects he's murdered? Moreover, will she finally learn the truth about what happened to Rachel? And so begins the chess-like game between the duo.

The story takes off at break-neck speed and initially I thought this would be an easy five-star rating. Until I got to the middle of the book, that was, when the pace slowed down immensely and several of the scenes became rather drawn out. The novel picks up again about two-thirds in, as Grace draws ever-closer to finding out what happened to her sister.

While there were several plot reveals that I didn't see coming, it's Grace's interaction with Carl that stole the show for me. The back-and-forth between the pair, each having their own agenda unbeknown to the other, made for entertaining reading. Alas, the ending was rather anticlimatic, which was a shame given the long build-up over the course of the book.

Nevertheless, Julia Haeberlin has woven an intriguing story that had me changing my mind several times as to whether or not Grace's suspicions were well-founded, and whether or not Carl really had dementia. As it turns out, I was completely and utterly wrong. But that's a good thing.

Note: Many thanks to the author, Penguin UK and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this title in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved Julia Heaberlin's novel, "Black Eyed Susans", so reading this new release was a no-brainer for me. The premise of "Paper Ghosts" is an original and imaginative one, it grabbed me from the synopsis and continued to captivate me throughout the book. I particularly enjoyed the tagline - "My sister disappeared. I know who took her. Now I've taken him". Oh, and the beautiful cover! You can't underestimate the advantages that come from it being an eyecatching one.

Carl Feldman, a dementia sufferer, made a name for himself as a photographer. That was until he was tried and acquitted of murder. Grace is certain that Carl is her sister's killer and hatches a plan to visit him in care to take him on holiday, whilst pretending that she is his daughter. Her plan? To take him back to the places he is suspected to have killed women - in the hope that it will jog his memory and lead to him confessing that he did, in fact, kill her sister. So, did he actually do it or is he nothing but an old man with dementia?

I found Heaberlin's writing mesmeric, there are twists aplenty and the story is both haunting and compelling in equal measure. I appreciated the way the subject of dementia was addressed, and was exploited to maximum effect creating an endlessly riveting, unique thriller. There is also a sprinkle of sharp as a tack, black humour which was a great contrast to the evocative prose. There were also sinister and creepy undertones right from the beginning - I do delight in those type of titles.

Overall, this is an authentic and chilling read that uses deeper topics as substantial parts of the main hook. I look forward to Heaberlin's future releases and would definitely add them to my to-be-read heap.

I would like to thank Julia Heaberlin, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have pondered how to describe my view of this book and as I read it almost straight through I would have to say I found it both enjoyable and thought provoking. The story develops very fast and the intriguing relationship between a suspected serial killer, never convicted of murder, who is now suffering from dementia and the young woman who believes he murdered her sister, is fascinating. The author has tried, successfully, in my opinion to demonstrate how dementia can take many strange and troubling forms, making it difficult to know what is true and what is not. The young woman is obsessed with finding her sister's killer and goes to extremes to break through the dementia to find an answer. There is a period about two thirds of the way through the book where I felt the story stalls a little but I was satisfied with the ending. Paper Ghosts is not always a comfortable or easy read as it grapples with memories that might not truly exist and it pushes the bounds of credibility in places. The book made me think, and continue to think.

This book is different from the thrillers I am used to. I found the plot unbelievable, but the book is very well-written, original, and intriguing and the characters are engaging and likable..

Claustrophobic, unsettling and an absolute nail biter is how I would describe Paper Ghosts. The premise is an intriguing one from the get go. The narrator (who, in a simple yet devastatingly effective move by the author, remains nameless for the majority of the book) believes Carl Feldman murdered her sister, Rachel. She also believes that her sister was not the only victim and Feldman is a serial killer who has escaped justice. With Feldman now suffering from dementia and ensconced in a nursing home, she hatches an audacious plan to squirrel him out and take him on a road trip across Texas in the hopes that it’ll spark a confession.

So the games begin. Both narrator and reader are distrustful of Carl from the start. There’s a huge question mark over how far his dementia has progressed and there’s a real air of menace hanging over him. He goes through our narrator’s suitcase, he turns the charm off and on at will with waitresses and gives out little tantalising bits of information before clamming up and leaving us with only breadcrumbs to follow. I loved the background work the narrator has done to prepare for this road trip. She’s hired the sort of personal trainer you can only find on the dark web, one who put her through a series of challenges best described as torture so that she’d be ready for any eventuality. Despite this preparation the reader gets the sense that Carl is still toying with her and could turn things to his advantage if he so pleases. I can’t remember the last time I came across a character with such a quiet menace and I absolutely love it!

This a smart, original book that takes the murdered loved one sub genre and flips on its head. There’s an air of tension running through this book and it takes a very skilful writer to keep that momentum going for the full length of a novel. It’s a thrilling read and one that I’m not going to forget in a hurry.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

This is a totally original thriller. The writing is unique and very talented. It’s unlike anything I’ve read this year and very enjoyable.

I was hooked by its beautiful flowery cover and I enjoyed its solid beginning. There after, the story fell flat for me.

The main girl character believes that famous photographer, Carl is the one killed her sister, Rachael. Carl was declared not guilty as a serial killer of women and he can’t remember what he has done because of his dementia. Now he was taken to road trip by the girl to remember his sinful deed.

This is a slow paced story. The story mainly goes the girl and Carl in a car. It still interest me but I kept waiting something big happens and that made me feel the story is a bit too long.

The story slowly reveals about characters. It was thrilling that keep guessing like how crucial Carl is if he is really a serial killer? How much does Curl remember? Or even does he really have a dementia? What the girl really is? This book keep me guessing what’s going on next.

I was guessing how this story end and its ending is shocking.
The characters full of riddles are making story creepy, tense and thrilling.

It took me a while to get into its story. This was a quite unique read.

I marked this book as 3.5 stars out of 5.0

Having read Black Eyed Susans Julie Heaberlin I couldnt wait to read Paper Ghosts. The books description was intriguing as was the story. Allthough at times I found parts of the book repetitive it didnt put me off. The journey across Texas between the excellent characters Carl and the woman is well written and makes you wonder who is the liar in all of this and will we get to the answer at the end?
I would recommend this book and live the beautiful cover.

I found this book very strange and nearly gave up on it on several occasions. The story is about Grace and her search for answers regarding the disappearance of her sister. She is obsessed with finding out what happened and her search leads her to a photographer who she is convinced is responsible for murdering her sister.

Carl was tried and acquitted of another murder and is now living in a care home suffering from dementia. Grace believes by revisiting the sites of the disappearance with him, he will admit his past and give her closure about her sister,

I found the book really bizarre – picking up stray animals, the constant costume changes and disguises and it was a real anticlimax at the end. Quite a disappointing read for me

Paper Ghosts tells the story of a young woman searching for answers. Years after her sister’s death, she has tracked down the man she believes is responsible, an aging photographer named Carl. He suffers from dementia, and in an effort to coax the memories from him, she takes him on an epic road trip across a Texas, tracking down murder sites and places Carl once took famous photographs.

With no clear evidence of Carl’s involvement, she is driven by a mysterious photograph she found as a child and her own conviction that this complicated and often frustrating man is her sister’s killer.

It’s an engaging read and I really liked the use of photographs throughout to create atmosphere. I found the main character a little difficult to follow at times, and the ending felt a little rushed, but overall I enjoyed it.

Grace is only pretending to be Carl’s daughter, is she driving across the state with a man with dementia, or with a serial killer? Perhaps the scariest option of all, both, because what unknown danger is she in if she triggers a memory and Carl’s serial killer instincts kick in? The need to know if Carl killed Grace’s sister was the driving force that kept me reading this book.

The pace was much slower than I anticipated, and the plot didn’t quite deliver the thrills I was expecting. I don’t think I managed to settle into the flow of this novel at all. I did like the interactions between Grace and Carl, they created a great sense of unease because you’re not sure if Carl was pretending or not, and his cryptic answers made you just as frustrated as they made Grace. Definitely some mind games on both parts at play. Paper Ghosts is a slow-burner, but I felt like the middle of the plot never really went anywhere, it was almost stuck on reply with these cryptic interactions, and while I did like them, movement in the plot was noticeably missing. There were moments of great tension, but nothing really came of them, which is shame because I wasn’t ever really able to immerse myself in the plot. I was so pumped at the beginning, but the inaction slowly caused my interest to deflate; by the time the ending came around, I just didn’t care about the outcome at all.

It didn’t help that I didn’t like Grace or Carl’s characters, and I don’t mean they’re characters ‘you love to hate’ but I genuinely didn’t like either one of them. And that made it hard for me to feel anything towards Grace’s paranoia, mostly I just thought her actions did not match all this training she talked about having prior to this escapade, she didn’t appear sharp or calculating or really show any cleverness beyond the norm, at all.

I did really like the photos included in this book, along and with the pages taken from Grace’s survival notebook, which she wrote when she was younger. I read an eBook edition of this book and I think in print form, they would really help bring the story to life. If you do read this book, be sure to read the Afterword, it does contain spoilers for the book so make sure you read it last, but I thought it contained some really interesting information.

Overall, I’m sad to say, this was not the book for me. I think Paper Ghosts could be a good fit for fans of Paul Cleave’s Trust No One. I loved Heaberlin’s previous novel, Black-Eyed Susans, so if you want to try her novels, that’s the one I’d recommend. While Paper Ghosts didn’t work for me, I would read another of her novels, in fact, I have one of her backlist books on my shelf, Lie Still, so hopefully I’ll have better luck with that one.

Side Note: I’m wondering if crime/thriller books with dementia as a theme aren’t for me… I’ve read this one, Trust No One by Paul Cleave and Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey, and I didn’t enjoy any of them. I think if dementia is going to be incorporated as a theme, it needs to be outside of crime fiction, for me anyway 🤔

Review: This book intrigued me, you only have to read the blurb and you interested straight away.  However, I think it was over written and has a plot that is a little to busy. It has good story telling in the fact that the story is told from different view points which I like in this kind of book. Overall, however I was not satisfied.

Grace takes Carl on a road trip. Carl has dementia and used to take photographs. Grace thinks that he murdered her sister. He has also been a suspect in other missing girls cases. The road trip throws up many questions and answers some as well. I was drawn to this book as I thought the concept was fascinating. This story is really well put together and had me on the edge of my seat for most of it. I would definitely recommend reading it.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I loved Paper Ghosts by the author of Black Eyed Susan’s. I was hooked from the first few pages and could not put it down.
How far would you go to find out what happened to a loved one? Grace is determined to find out what happened to her sister who disappeared a few years ago. Some years later she finds the person who she thinks is responsible, Carl was tried for murder and later acquitted.
A great story.

A disturbing but strangely compelling story.

I kept not wanting to read further, but yet I did, because I could not stop myself.

The narrator is seriously flawed/damaged from the disappearance of her older sister and her journey with the man she believed killed her sister is such a strange thing to do. she is truly paranoid - but who does she think is following her?

Yes, we do find out the truth - but which truth? And as for Carl, well he has a lot of truths doesn't he?

Hugely sinister and dark, this novel really had me gripped! Searching for the truth behind her sister's disappearance, the narrator embarks on a twisted road trip with the man she suspects is a serial killer. Stylish and a real page-turner. Highly recommended.

enjoyed this book but I found it difficult to read in parts. There was an impending sense of doom throughout which I found quite unnerving.

Very well written.

Gripping thriller unlike any other I've read recently , the author definitely knows how to write a novel that gets under your skin. If you like a novel with twists and turns then please read this and see for yourself if Grace has found her sisters missing killer !!