“Paper Ghosts” is a Twisted Road-Trip Thriller | Misty Aldrich, Library Assistant

As the Summer Reading Program comes to an end, I want to tell you about one of the books I read during the program. It is called “Paper Ghosts” by Julia Heaberlin. It is an International Thriller Writers Award finalist and a great work of fiction. I wanted to try out a new author and I am glad that I chose her. This was a great book.

It features a man named Carl Feldman. He was once a celebrated photographer and was acquitted for the murder of a young woman. He also suffers from dementia. The other character is an unknown female who visits Carl in the care home and pretends to be his daughter. She is convinced Carl is guilty of the murder of her sister and she seeks revenge for her death.

Years ago, the woman’s sister, Rachel, vanished. Now, she is almost certain the man who took Rachel sits beside her. He claims to have no memory of murdering girls across Texas in a string of places where he shot eerie pictures. To find the truth, she proposes a dangerous idea: a ten-day road trip with a possible serial killer to examine cold cases linked to his haunting photographs. Is he a liar or a broken old man? Is he a pathological con artist, or is she? You won’t see the final, terrifying twist spinning your way until the very last mile.

I liked this book because it had a twist in it that comes at you without warning and makes you wonder whether Carl is acting or he really does have dementia. The unknown girl is very patient and waits for the right moment to fulfill her plan. It was slow at the beginning, but after one chapter it picked up and I was hooked. I have decided that I will be reading Julia Heaberlin’s other book from our collection, “We Are All the Same in the Dark.” I am hoping that it is as good as this one was.

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