Paper Ghosts was an interesting read for me, but I’m not sure how I feel about it.

There were some strong points - I loved the whole road trip idea and visiting the graves and crime scenes of Carl’s victims is a chilling if fascinating premise albeit unbelievable but it was this which attracted me. Waco is on the list and some places mentioned were done so with aplomb - places you might have heard of, but not in the way Julia writes about them! I’ve been on a road trip in Texas and much of the sense of space, empty roads going nowhere were very atmospheric.

The rest of it - A bit strange - someone taking a man on a road trip by saying she’s his daughter when she’s not, just to see if a trip around Texas will jog his memory about a possible murder....and the fact he has dementia...not sure which character had the worst mental state to be fair.

This unreliable narrator is probably what drives the book but it just got me lost .

To end on a high note however, the use of the photographs - the illustrations throughout the novel and their role in the novel gave this a really nice edge.

It wasn’t for me, but I’m sure others will find the elements I didn’t.

I personally found this a difficult read, but well worth the perseverance to reach the end which turned out to be a surprisingly good story line..

A really good, descriptive, well written novel. Characters with great depth and layers. This was a really enjoyable and interesting book, easy to read and containing all the things you expect from a mystery and a lot of unanticipated connections throughout. If you're looking for something different and refreshing then this is the book for you.

I found paper ghosts a very confusing book to read. The story idea was interesting and drew me in, but unfortunately in reality I didn’t enjoy it that much and found certain parts very bizarre and uncomfortably odd. Throughout the book I felt like I was waiting for something to happen, which just didn’t.

Told from the viewpoint of a girl who is searching for answers to what happened to her older sister who was abducted year before, on her way to a babysitting job. The main character (we don't find out her name until near the end) abducts the man she feels is responsible by posing as his daughter wanting to take him on a trip. Carl, a former photographer, has dementia and claims he can't remember, but is this the truth?

I knew I was either going to love this one or hate it, and I loved it. It was well-written and the author keeps you wondering just how much Carl does remember and what he has planned. It did become a little meandering in a couple of places, but it always pulled things around very quickly. I would put it in my top ten reads of this year so far and would probably reread this at some point.

Thanks to Netgalley and publishers, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph, for the opportunity to review an ARC.

I liked this one, but didn't love it. I felt the concept was extremely interesting but the execution didn't work as much as I had hoped. And that might be due to high expectations from the author's previous book mixed with the idea of the story sounding.
With that said, I was interested the whole way through and found it did keep me guessing. I still enjoy the author's writing style and look forward to the next release. 4 Stars.

I'm afraid I had to give up on this. I'd struggled, but persevered, with 'Black Eyed Susans' but this was even more confused and muddled and once I ended up feeling somewhat the same after several chapters, I decided to move on to something I was actually going to enjoy. Reading should be a pleasure. This was not. Sorry.

Paper Ghosts is an interesting one for me, in that I really don’t know how I feel about it.

Set in the State of Texas, it follows the story of a young woman who convinces a man to take a trip with her. After convincing the state guardian at his halfway house she is his daughter, they leave on a 10 day journey of discovery. What they don’t know is that she isn’t his daughter. In fact she’s not related at all. What’s more she is convinced he is her sisters murder. A man whose mind she is determined to unlock and find out the truth once and for all. Unfortunately for her though, he has dementia.

Wonderfully written, Paper Ghosts is a winding tale that follows a tightrope of mental health. Not only does Carl have dementia, but our narrator is completely unbalanced. This left for a rather uncomfortable reading experience as the story often lost its fluidity.

To say Paper Ghosts keeps you guessing is an understatement. I had no idea throughout whether Carl would turn out to be a murderer or even whether either of them would survive their experience together. On the one hand a book that keeps you guessing is a good thing, but added to the instability throughout, it just struggled to hold my attention. I felt more of a connection and sympathy to Carl – a potential murder – than to our narrator. The ‘training’ sub-theme I felt was unnecessary and created more questions for me that anything else. Something that the ending just took one step too far and moved it into the realm of the ridiculous. It seems no one in this woman's life cares enough about her to question (and then do something about) her mental state and repeated physical injuries...something I find hard to believe.

However, I must say that I love the dementia theme weaving it’s way throughout Paper Ghosts. It brought a realistic context in that it is a cruel condition that brings laughter, tears and immeasurable frustration to so many people.

I also loved how integral photography is to the story and is something that will say with me personally. As someone who views the world regularly through a lens, I found the passion and consideration given to photography in the book to be both beautiful and inspiring. It made we want to pick up my camera and take a closer look at the extraordinary moments in the ordinary world around me.

In summary I loved the idea and the writing style of Paper Ghosts, and the story kept me turning page after page to understand who killed Rachel and what exactly is Carl guilty of. Overall though, something about it just fell a little short for me.

Didn't manage to get to grips with this book. Found it very frustrating.

I absolutely loved this book. I read a lot of thrillers but Paper Ghosts is one of my favourites this year. The idea of taking an alleged serial killer on a trip to find the truth is brilliant and like nothing I've read before. I highly recommend this book.

I love love LOVED this book! Grace is searching for her sister's killer and thinks she's found him in Carl, an acquitted murderer suffering from dementia. She bluffs her way into taking him on a road trip, but what she uncovers with him isn't what you'd expect.

Moving, unexpected and multi-layered, the ending both ties up loose ends and leaves plenty of unanswered questions, just like in life. This is a thriller that's original and thought provoking, a cut above the rest. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy with no obligation.

A road trip with a difference! My interest was captured by the originality of this novel: a woman drives off with her sister’s suspected killer, who has dementia, to try and jog his memory and find out the truth. The characters were credible and there were enough twists in the plot to keep me hooked. Well worth a read for anyone who enjoys murder, mystery or thriller type novels, but wants a new take on the genre.

Paper Ghosts is the perfect example of why we need half stars on Goodreads! Having found a good deal of the first half a slog, and at times being tempted to give up, somehow around the halfway mark I found myself completely gripped. As much a road trip novel and a paean to the state of Texas - some of the descriptions of place are stunning - as a thriller, this is definitely a slow-burner of a book and one that rewards close reading.

One thing, though, that infuriated me throughout was the narrator's habit of leaving her gun, wallet and car keys out of her reach and/or with Carl. I'm sorry, but if you're taking a road trip with a serial killer surely the first rule is don't lose sight of your money and weapon? She's had all this intensive training on how to survive and they never taught her "don't give a psychopath access to a gun"?

I really loved this book! Excellent story with brilliant main characters. I would recommend this book.

Verdict in a nutshell: not as good as Heaberlin' s earlier books but far more intelligent than many other psychological thrillers out there.

Heaberlin reinvents the road trip novel, skewing it darkly as this time the protagonists are a grieving young woman and the dementia-stricken old man who might have killed her sister. The characterisation is nicely ambiguous, and the writing wonderful as ever. But somehow this lacked both the sharpness and the humour of the previous books. The final revelation, especially, is extreme left-field, unsatisfyingly so.

Heaberlin is my go-to for acute, clever, commercial fiction: this one didn't quite pull it all together - 3.5 stars.

I was so excited to get this book and wasn't disappointed in the least. The story is so different and engaging. You never know what's going to happen and Carl can be so creepy one moment then almost kind the next. I really didn't see the final twists coming which always makes it satisfying. 5/5