You wait ages for one book about a ghostwriter, and then two come along at once...Of the two - Mil Millington's A Certain Chemistry and Robert Harris' Ghost - it's clear which one was the bigger publishing 'event'. The former is a quietly humorous fictional tale which, without meaning to be unkind, will not have troubled the bestselling list overmuch. The latter was by a writing behemoth, a disillusioned acquaintance of Tony Blair and concerned a British prime minister being tried for war crimes. You can guess which one garnered more column inches in the national newspapers.
Not that there is a great deal between the two in quality, however. Ghost starts in fine fashion, and the first 100 pages or so are really riveting as the ghostwriter is hired for the mysterious project and he meets his subject.
Unfortunately, I didn't like the direction the book took and, without revealing any of the plot twists, I just found the central conspiracy - which is pretty evident halfway through - far from convincing.
At times, you feel Harris is trying too hard to make parallels. A prime minister beholden to American interests? Check. A prime minster whose talents lie in style rather than substance? Check. A prime minister whose wife has the greater intelligence (political or otherwise)? Check. Harris might as well have taken out a full-page advert in Tribune.
It might have been better for the book had he done so, because it feels like Harris is trying so hard to make his points on wider issues that he forgets to concentrate on his primary job; writing something believable.
As things near a climax, everything happens at once and the ghostwriter has a sudden, bizarre, code-cracking revelation that stretches credibility to the limit. And it's that impression that remains after finishing Ghost, rather than the impressive start that made you want to read more.
So, rating time:
#15 Ghost, by Robert Harris (Hutchinson) - 6/10
Next up: Travels in the Scriptorium, by Paul Auster
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