Ghostwright

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

``Someone can't come back from the dead.'' Hamilton Speke, world-renowned playwright and protagonist of this compelling, lyrically written thriller, is sure of it. But what is he to make of the mysterious reappearance of his old drinking chum and creative cohort Timothy Asquith, who, Speke believed, died 20 years earlier of an alcohol or drug overdose? As Speke works on his ``masterpiece'' at his vast wooded estate outside San Francisco, Asquith surprises him and declares that he wants ``it all. Everything that you have become.'' He insists that Speke's fame--attained for works based on Asquith's life--rightly belongs to him, and threatens to expose the playwright as a charlatan and plagiarist. Amidst murder and artful misdirection, Cadnum ( St. Peter's Wolf ) splices the narrative by introducing the thoughts and actions of Sarah, Speke's loyal assistant; Christopher Bell, his would-be biographer; and, most important, his enigmatic wife, Maria. Just when most readers will believe they've figured out the puzzle, another twist surprises. From start to astonishing finish, this good old-fashioned thriller delivers. (July)

Library Journal

This fine novel of psychological horror places readers squarely in the middle of playwright Hamilton Speke's nightmare. Never sure himself how much of his work is original and how much borrowed from long-vanished pal Timothy Asquith, the writer feels guilt and rage when Asquith turns up, determined to claim Speke's success as his own. Speke kills and buries the intruder, but Asquith is still there, haunting him--and Asquith is a madman and a serial killer. The elliptical style keeps readers as uncertain as Speke about what is real, what only imagined, maintaining the suspense at a high level. Cadnum's highly praised previous novels ( Saint Peter's Wolf , LJ 5/15/91; Sleepwalker , LJ 2/15/91) have built an audience. Recommended for horror collections.-- Marylaine Block, St. Ambrose Univ. Lib., Davenport, Ia.