Having devoured Black Eyed Susans, I was thrilled to be offered the chance to read Paper Ghosts and was not disappointed. Julia Heaberlin keeps you in suspense right to the very end of the book and beyond. This isn’t a fast paced book but an extremely intense read. I would recommend it to all lovers of clever psychological thrillers

I was attracted to this book because of the pretty cover (yes, I truly am that shallow). I thought the premise was clever: the sister of a serial killer's victim kidnaps him, hoping to coerce him into telling her where he buried her sister.

Like the main character in Rebecca, our heroine doesn't have a name. Carl, the man she believes murdered her sister, was once a famous photographer but is now in a care home supposedly suffering from dementia. She begins to visit him, pretending to be his daughter, before taking him out on 'holiday'. In reality she's planned a road trip around Texas, visiting all the locations in his photography book - the last places his victims were seen alive.

The relationship between Carl and his 'daughter' reminded me of Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling, and the story itself a kind of cross between Silence of the Lambs and As Good As It Gets - even though no one falls in love, or gets eaten! I particularly loved Carl's dark sense of humour, and how the heroine's meticulously thought-out plan quickly unravels. They also meet a host of eccentric characters along the way - my favourite was Trudy, the gun-toting estate agent!

Although the subject matter is dark, there are no scenes of graphic or gratuitous violence. The story is mostly about the mystery of the missing girls and the relationship between Carl and his 'daughter'. The places mentioned are real and the book contains 'Carl's' photographs amongst the text, which add an eerie note. Towards the end there are perhaps a couple too many coincidences, but Paper Ghosts is one of my favourite books this year - possibly ever!


Thank you to Julia Heaberlin, Michael Joseph (Penguin), and NetGalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

Another unusual psychological thriller from the author of the excellent Black-eyed Susans. Not such a gripping story but the characters were brilliantly portrayed. Grace has been haunted by the sudden disappearance of her older sister and dedicated her life to tracking down the man she believes to be the serial killer who murdered her. She tracks number one suspect, famous photographer Carl, down to a secure care home where he claims that his dementia means he cannot remember whether he was guilty of the murder he was suspected of or not. Her decision to illegally take him on a road trip to the places where she believes he has murdered a series of women, ending in the spot where her sister was last seen, is a real “don’t do it” decision. Carl may or may not be a serial killer but he is seriously strange and heading off alone with him is definitely not a good idea. The pace is a little slow at times and I found the revelations concerning the victims came about a little too easily, especially her sister’s disappearance, but the characters more than made up for it. All the way through we know that Carl can’t be trusted and yet he seems to be protecting her. But is he only protecting her so he can do to her what he did to her sister? By the end I was really hoping the answer to that was no because there was actually something really likeable about him, underneath the craziness, but then if he turns out to be innocent then that wouldn’t be such a good story either!

I was drawn to this book by its intriguing premise, not to mention its stunning book cover. Since the murder of her elder sister, Grace has been obsessed with bringing justice upon the killer. Carl is a sixty-two year old, once famous photographer, who was trialled but acquitted of the murder of a young woman called Nicole. Following his acquittal, he disappeared until he was found rambling the highway with no idea as to who he was. After being identified through DNA, and a diagnosis of dementia, Carl was placed in the only half-way house that would take him, where the other residents are all old felons with dementia.

Grace has found something that makes her believe Carl is her sister’s killer (I won’t say what as I don’t want to spoil it) and tracks him down to the half-way house. She pretends to be his daughter, and after several visits says she wants to take him on holiday. Her plan is to take him on a road-trip, along with photographs he‘s taken, to places where he’s been suspected of killing women; in the hope this will jog his memory and make him confess to killing her sister. But just who has the upper-hand, and who is deceiving who?

This first person narrative is mostly written through a stream of inner consciousness from Grace’s perspective, particularly during the first part of the novel. The narrative has a literary feel and the writing style reminded me a little of Katherine Mansfield. Whilst sparse to begin with, there is some poignant dialogue: ‘ “I need to know if you’re a killer. As your daughter, I need to know what kind of blood runs in my veins. You owe it to me.” The first and last line, at least is true’. The narrative is rich in both imagery and analogy; and in parts, it did feel a little overwritten.

However, despite the promising synopsis, after reading 30% of this book, I was none the wiser as to what it was really about. Nothing had really happened, and I felt like I’d missed something. I wasn’t connecting with either of the characters, and for me, the literary feel made it a bit dull. Under Literature Love’s rating system, books I’m not able to finish are awarded just one star, and I really didn’t want to do that. I’d already fallen in love with the gorgeous red cover and really wanted to like this book. So I plodded on in the hope it would pick up. After 40%, I still couldn’t connect; so I started from the beginning again. Things were better this time. I slowed down my usual reading pace, and re-read any parts that threw me.

By the end of the book, I wouldn’t say I’d connected with the characters, but the relationship that grew between them was interesting. I still felt not a lot had happened regarding plot; this novel is definitely more character driven. There were a few twists near the end, although the final ending was a bit disappointing.

This book has been given 3 out of 5 stars: This book was okay. It’s recommended but with reservation.
• I found the narrative confusing in one or more areas such as characterisation, plot, style, or structure.

Thank you to Julia Haeberlin, Penguin UK (Michael Joseph), and Netgalley, for this ARC copy in return for an honest and unbiased review.

This is an unusual tale about a serial killer, and the ending was much better than the one I expected! The author shows understanding and compassion when dealing with symptoms of dementia. Grace is convinced that Carl abducted and murdered her sister, and takes him from his care home on a road trip to get the truth out of him. The ensuing journey is full of hidden twists and turns. This book kept me gripped form start to finish.

My thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book. I requested it having enjoyed Julia Heaberlin’s previous novel, “The Black Eyed Susans” and I felt that I would be in safe hands. It’s the tale of the heroine’s long researched quest to find the killer of her beloved sister Rachel many years before. Obsessive research leads her to narrow down the suspect to one person ,Carl, now an older man with a type of dementia living in a care home. Posing as his daughter, she takes him away on a “holiday”. This is in fact a trip to places that she has identified as key locations in her sister’s story in an attempt to jog something that might still be in Carl’s memory , prove that he did it and find where the body is buried.. It’s a tale of their adventures which ends up with the protagonist, that we only learn at the end is called Grace and is twenty four years old., finding herself and eventual peace with the situation.. In the end , I felt that it turned out to be not quite what you thought it was going to be about.

This is a tale of a road trip with a big difference and for me was a bit of a slow burner. Certainly not a page turner. At the beginning I found it difficult to empathies with this tale or it’s characters but I was slowly drawn in. We are often given fleeting backward glimpses of the narrators past in order to enlighten the story. In her previous book the author rocked backwards and forwards with whole chapters devoted to past and present. This book makes for easier reading. I found the descriptions of the Texas countryside and geographical points difficult. I couldn’t visualise them from the description and never having been there they meant nothing to me. We are sixty percent into the tale before a new vital element in the heroine’s life is revealed, which makes a vast difference to the outcome of the story.

The thing that I really loved are the beautiful illustrative photos that help to set the tone. Being black and white prints they work well in a digital format but are probably even more striking in the printed form.. Over all a well written book that I did enjoy with a few reservations.

Grace is on the hunt to find her sister. She thinks she's found the man who killed her but dementia got him first. Taking him on a road trip to many different locations she hopes to learn the truth but life is never that simple.

This was quite the read. It's an interesting premise and executed well. Lots of drama happening and many twists until you finally reach the end. It was interesting but the big reveal felt a little rushed. That being said the story was good and I enjoyed it. The dementia added a deeper level to the story.

Grace is a complicated character who stays quite mysterious throughout the book. Carl is a tricky character but you kind of start to like him which twists the story further.

Paper Ghosts is a road movie for obsessives. Grace was 12 when her older sister Rachel left one bright morning to go on a routine babysitting appointment. She never got there and has never been heard of since.

In a beautifully written, artfully crafted narrative, Julia Heaberlin gives us a portrait of a young girl whose family was destroyed by this event and who has ever since, dedicated herself to being as brave as she can possibly be in order to find out what happened to her sister.

She has followed numerous leads, stalked many a potential killer in her quest for the truth and her best suspect is a photographer. Carl Louis Feldman, was acquitted of the murder of Nicole Lakinski, but she has studied his photographs and is convinced that he is the killer.

Carl is suffering from dementia, and though Grace suspects that he is by no means as frail as he pretends, he claims to be unable to remember the past. So Grace springs him from his half way house /care home by posing as a relative and takes him on a trip to see if she can jog his memory through revisiting the scenes of murders she has assigned to him and showing him his own photographs.

This is a road trip like no other. There are both physical and metaphorical twists and turns. Grace has been training herself by going to combat and fitness classes. She has assembled a toolkit for all eventualities, but in reality she is barely mentally or physically equipped for this trip.

Haeberlin makes it work despite, or perhaps because, neither Grace nor Carl are entirely rational. In many ways this is really a very sad story, yet the trip is laced with humour and wit and the collection of strays they amass on the way is downright laugh out loud funny.

The characterisation has depth and layers, and it is good to meet characters who are neither totally black nor white in their morality. The rhythm of their journey is reflected by the sometimes slow, sometimes fast pace of the book as they delve into the past and recall is mixed with the present to bring together a picture of what happened.

The sense of place is very well done; you know those diners and motels, and the descriptions give you a real flavour of Texas even if, like me, you have never been there. Fort Worth, the scene of the devastation at Waco, Calvert, Galveston, Austin, Houston, Marfa, the deep Piney Woods all add their own smells and tales to come alive on the page.

On the road they will encounter some dubious characters; some deliberately, others less so. This really is an adventure trip writ large. As they travel, so they get to understand each other a little better, but the sense of suspense and danger that Heaberlin weaves into her writing never quite leaves the reader. That uncertainty of what Carl really is and what he will do next is as chilling a thing as you can hope to read.

You do have to suspend some disbelief, but the richness of the writing and the sheer inventiveness of the plot and structure make that effort worthwhile. I am left with a haunting sense that will stay with me for a while

Firstly I need to say that I read this on the suggestion of a blogger I follow and I didn’t actually read the blurb before reading the book and I haven’t read Julia Heaberlin’s first book Black Eyed Susans either.

So, my thoughts… well reading through the various comments and reviews it appears this is a marmite book, which is great as I love marmite, but did I love this book? Having now read the book and finally reading the blurb above I have to say it’s slightly misleading in my opinion as the description suggests a thriller with a psychological twist and Paper Ghosts wasn’t really either of those to me.

Paper Ghosts is a beautifully constructed, well written character driven plot. This is NOT a fast paced, page turner, it’s a very slow burner with an edge of discomfort throughout.

Our main character (unnamed until the end) is convinced that the infamous but never convicted serial killer Carl Feldman killed her sister Rachel and many other young women fifteen years ago and finds him in a care home suffering with dementia. She convinces the Carl to take a road trip with her to discover the truth about her sister.

At times I was genuinely more concerned for Carl’s safety than our unnamed girl, who seemed determined, obsessed and slightly unhinged. If you enjoy slow burners with a cleverly structured plot, characters with depth and tension simmering throughout then you may enjoy this book.

If you enjoy fast paced, page-turners with twists – then this probably isn’t the book for you.

This is my first Julia Heaberlin novel and as such what an introduction to such clever and evocative writing. I've enjoyed many books I've read recently but usually you always know, within a few twists, where the story is going.
With this one, I didn't have a clue. And I found it all the more absorbing for that.
Julia's writing just flows off the page and into your mind like lots of little Peter Pans, some amusing, some naughty, some very worrying but always memorable. Unusually, I didn't skip a single word on the page, such was my enjoyment.
Beautifully constructed, as I got further into the book, I did start to worry that the ending would be a huge, Hollywood-style disappointment, but no. I even had tears in my eyes as I read the last page. Both for fondness of the characters and the author.
The story also brings to life the inconsolable pain and obsession that grief can lead otherwise happy, healthy individuals to embrace, taking their lives completely off track.
Mundane details are left out completely, others are revealed only after you've been reading for a long time and don't even realise they haven't been filled in - I loved that too. Real life rarely gives us the whole story and almost never when we're expecting it, so why should fiction.
Billed as a chilling thriller, I'd recommend it to anyone who loves good writing, as at its heart, this is a story of believable, hurting, human people and certainly not a run-of-the-mill whodunnit.

'I bang with my fist this time. "Carl, are you OK?"
No answer.
The knob twists easily.
The room is empty.
The faucet is running.
So, I realize, is Carl.'

This book is full of smart, laugh-out-loud moments.

I was sent an uncorrected advance proof of Paper Ghosts by Julia Heaberlin to read and review by NetGalley.
This novel is compelling. It gives a totally different slant to the more traditional genre of the thriller. The characters are well rounded, and you somehow end up feeling for both the protagonist and the man who she believes to have killed her sister… and possibly many others.
The author is quite masterful in the way she evokes images in your mind, using as a foil the photographs taken by potential serial killer Carl.
Beautifully written, this book is an alternative road trip journeying through both the state of Texas and the mysteries surrounding the murdered girls.
I love the photographic element. I love the connections, however tentative, made to weave the yarn. I love how evocative the writing is. In fact, I just love this book!

I thought the concept of this was intriguing but found it difficult to accept that a young woman would travel alone with a man she believes is her sister's killer, however desperate she is to get him to reveal the facts.
I found the story too drawn-out at times but very much wanted to see how it would end. The ending was probably the best part.

I loved this amazing novel. The author managed to fill it with menace but also a feeling of deep loss and had huge empathy with her characters. It made me want to hug my family and friends while encouraging them to read the book!

Paper Ghosts Julia Heaberlin

I was hooked on this book after I read two of the first paragraphs in the first chapter.

“Old killers who roam free have to land somewhere”

And

“The Killers who publicly beat the system and the unseen monsters, where do they go”

Have you ever wondered that?

What happens to those serial killers go who don’t get caught?

Where do they go?

Do they just grow tiered of what they are doing, get fed up, and just stop?

If it’s a sexually driven crime do they lose the urges?

This is one of the most original stories I have read for many years.

The main character is a woman, she’s in her mid 20’s and her big sister went missing years ago.

Since her sister went missing she has been running an unofficial hunt for whoever took her. As a 12-year-old girl she started building a murder wall on the back of her wardrobe. Building a list of suspects, linking her sister’s disappearance with others, eliminating suspects where she could.

But now, as an adult, she has found the person she thinks is responsible. Carl

Carl is in a home for offenders who have been released and are suffering from dementia. He has been tried and acquitted of one crime, and he claims not to remember anything of the other crimes he is being accused of.

Our girl takes him out of the home, under the false pretence that she is his daughter, and embarks on a road trip to some of the destinations she has identified as places where he took and killed other girls and women.

Will it jog his memory, if he has even lost it.

Is she putting herself in danger, or will she get her answers?

The story of the relationship between the woman and Carl is fascinating. Why do I keep calling her the woman? Because we don’t find out her name for a long time and I don’t want to spoil a cracking story.
Their journey across a map of murder and disappearance is gripping.

There are a lot of questions in this review. There was a lot of questions raised in my head whilst I was reading the book. As far as the story went, all of the questions were answered, and answered in style.

As for the questions the story raised in my mind, well they may never get answered.

In the States who was, or is, the Zodiac Killer and what happened to them.

In the UK Peter Sutcliff was caught purely by chance. Would he have carried on killing, probably. Would he have been caught, maybe. But what if he hadn’t.

I love books that get me thinking, and boy did this book get me thinking.

Pages: 368
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Publish Date: 19th April 2018

"...there is this terrible, wonderful novel in every human being."

I was really excited to read Julia Heaberlin's new book as I loved Black-Eyed Susans. Paper Ghosts is both recognisably Heaberlin and also very different. It's not like anything I've ever read, it's a road trip, character exploration and serial killer thriller whirlwind, one which I enjoyed.

The relationship between Carl and the woman posing as his daughter (whose name you only learn at the end) is at the heart of the book, as is the question of whether Carl is really guilty or not. It starts off with the girl simply hating him but works into something a lot more complex as secrets are revealed and difficulties overcome. That makes it sound a bit schmaltzy, but it's not, I don't think Paper Ghosts is quite as dark as Black-Eyed Susans but there is an unease and sometimes an even spooky feeling running through it.

The theme of sisters is one that is very popular at the moment in the thriller world and I was a bit wary of reading yet another story of an awkward little sister trying to find the murderer of her more popular sister. However, Paper Ghosts, while it is based on this premise, goes beyond it and is a lot more mature in tackling the subject than some books. It is also only one of many themes twisting through the book.

The setting is another theme. The book is an ode to Texas, both the good and the bad and seedy side. It's also a road trip novel which is done well and allows the characters to really stew and develop.

The two main characters are strong, Carl being my favourite. He is twisty and difficult to pin down, even at the end. Heaberlin is also good at writing secondary charcaters, infusing life into brief appearances, like Mrs T, owner of the home that Carl lives in.

In some places the story does get slightly unbelievable, I suppose some would argue that the whole premise is unbelievable. I particularly found some parts of the girl's background and preparation for this trip hard to swallow.

However, embrace the crazy elements and this is a great read, backed up by excellent writing and characterisation.

My Rating: 4 Stars

I received a copy of Paper Ghosts, via NetGalley, in return for an honest review. My thanks to the author and publisher.

This book was different to what I expected and even though it was a slow burner, I really enjoyed it.
Grace is searching for answers to what happened to her sister and needs to know if she’s dead or alive. The man who can help her with this is in a home suffering with Dementia.
She poses as his daughter and after gaining the trust of the home, says she wants to take him away for a few days.
She persuades Carl to come by agreeing to some of his conditions and she is determined to find out what happened to her sister.
Carl was a photographer and using photos they visit places that Grace is sure are places where he’s killed somebody, but Carl will admit nothing.
It leads to quite a frustrating trip at first but soon they come across some very unfriendly people and the pace kicks up a gear.
This is really a game of cat and mouse and both characters seem to lead the other on the wrong path several times.
The relationship develops during the trip and even though she’s playing the role of his daughter to get what she wants, I think she forms an alliance with him in the end.
This is not my usual type of book but I did enjoy it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the opportunity to read this book.

I’m not sure what I think of the book anymore, it seemed like an interesting read from its outer appearance, but I was certainly left confused during the book. It wasn’t an easy ready and completing it was quiet a task which I failed to do so.
I’m not quiet sure whose crazy anymore in the book and whether it is happening or whether it’s a fragment of her imagination. Disappointed to be honest.

I loved Paper Ghosts. When I finished it I wanted to cry and I wasn’t sure why or who for. It’s interesting that this is a crime novel that ends up, to my mind, being about nearly everything but the crime.

Paper Ghosts is a dual-edged character drama, two people caught up in a mental game of cat and mouse, in Grace’s case not only with Carl but with herself. She believes he killed her sister, she is not sure if his illness is real or an attempt to hide, for Carl’s part he’s not saying. The interactions and relationship that grows between these two forms the backbone of the novel – it is fascinating, emotional, haunting and occasionally somewhat beautiful.

Grace is obsessed, determined, Carl is…well what is Carl exactly? Julia Heaberlin captures the sense of dementia pitch perfectly – my Mother is declining with every day so I know – that jumpy, unpredictable behaviour, the flashes of coherence within a maelstrom of unconnected memories and comments, never knowing how they’ll be not only from one day to the next but from one moment to the next. As these two move ever onward on their twisted road trip, they have a kind of psychological battle of wills, I just couldn’t look away.

Paper Ghosts is not a thriller, it is a slow burner, it builds the tension with every page. The photography angle is eerily ingrained into the wider narrative, giving the whole thing a strangely nostalgic feel, I shall definitely be buying a copy of this, the visual sense of it with the added pictures is a clever feature that just involves you further.

In the end we have resolution, possibly not in the way you would expect – it left me feeling edgy and slightly disconnected, like I said earlier wanting to cry but not sure why.

The writing is beautiful, the story is both beautiful and eerily sinister, if you are looking for those huge twist moments then you won’t find those here – what you will find is an elegantly constructed mystery, the mystery being one of character rather than event in it’s heart – I thought it was beautifully different, cleverly emotive and completely addictive.

Highly Recommended.

Book is about a road trip with a difference. Carl a celebrated photographer who was once suspected of being a serial killer is taken on a trip through the back woods of Texas by someone purporting to be his daughter. Grace, whose sister Rachael disappeared is convinced Carl killed her .Armed with a map a box of Carl’s photos and a host of disguises she takes him from the dementia home he is now living in on a trip to find the truth. Lovely descriptive writing ,the book twists and turns and at times you wonder who is the mad one - Carl,Grace and sometimes even yourself. The epilogue ties it all together nicely , it’s not an easy read but certainly an interesting one.

Paper Ghosts is a compelling read about a young girl’s struggle to be brave in the wake of her older sisters being missing and presumed dead.

The unnamed protagonist believes her sister was killed by Carl Feldman a fine art photographer and suspected serial killer living out his days in a halfway house. Does he really have early onset dementia and no memory of the supposed killings he was once accused of or is he pretending? Was he wrongly accused of those murders or is she putting her life in danger by driving around remote Texas with a serial killer?

This was the first book I had read by Julia Heaberlin and if Paper Ghosts is any indication of the standard of her books then I can declare myself a fan.

The layout of the book contributes to the story as it is interspersed with eerie photos mentioned within the book and pages from a notebook of fears written by the protagonist in an attempt to conquer her numerous fears.

The prologue is designed to pull the reader in right from the start and had the effect of making me connect with the unnamed protagonist from an early stage.

“When she was twelve, my sister fell into a grave…my sister climbed out of that grave by herself without a scratch on her.

I look back and think that’s the day, the moment, she was cursed. When she was nineteen, she disappeared, like a lasso dropped from the clouds and snatched her up.

I know it was the day I became afraid of things.”

In the present unnamed girl Is sat in a halfway house playing chess with the man she suspects of killing her sister. Carl claims not to remember her each time she visits and questions her about who she is. She tells him she is his daughter and she wants to take him on a road trip of his suspected kill sites in the hope it will jog his memory and she can discover if she has the blood of a killer in her veins.

She was 12 when her sister disappeared on her way to a babysitting job.

Carl was found by a police officer wandering around and that is how he ended up at this halfway house run by a woman named Mrs T who suspects the girl is lying but is annoyingly willing to let her drive off with a serial killer.

“The famous documentary and fine-art photographer Carl Louis Feldman, suspected of stalking young women and stealing them for years, said he couldn’t remember his own name. It took fingerprints and a sample of DNA to do that. A local hospital guessed a diagnosis of early onset dementia and sent him back out into the world.”

Carl has a list of conditions he wants the girl to fulfil if he is going to come with her including some ominous requests like a shovel that would have any normal person running for the hills. The girl is clearly not normal though and that is one of the things I love about her character. She is outwardly tough and highly skilled but inside she is the same young and vulnerable girl she was when her sister first disappeared.

The girl plans to follow her own map of places associated with women she believes Carl has killed. Her hope is that she will be able to discover once and for all what happened to her sister. She also uses a series of photos of the victims in an attempt to get him to remember something.

“These girls – these cold cases – are my insistent, beating hope, the only way I know to jog Carl’s conscience. I have to follow their stories, because in Rachel’s case, there is no story to tell, no dot. No one remembers a girl on a silver mountain bike that morning. No one saw anything. She was simply gone.”

Along the way she forms an uneasy alliance with Carl and discovers to her horror that there are parts of him she could almost like.

“Bad people are to be found everywhere, but even among the worst there may be something good.”

Paper Ghosts is definitely a character led novel and the characters in it are outstanding and part of what makes it such a compulsive read. I can’t remember the last time I got so deeply drawn into a psychological thriller. It made me mad every time I had to put it down for other lesser things like work or eating and drinking.

The sense of anticipation built up throughout Paper Ghosts is immense and this book haunted me long after I finished it. I have been recommending it to everyone I speak to. Fantastic book, in fact it was so good that after finishing it I ordered more of the authors books.