Ghosted

A Novel

By: Rosie Walsh

Narrated by: Katherine Press

Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's Summary

"I absolutely loved this book and didn't want it to end." (Liane Moriarty, number-one New York Times best-selling author of Big Little Lies) 

Seven perfect days. Then he disappeared. A love story with a secret at its heart.  

When Sarah meets Eddie, they connect instantly and fall in love. To Sarah, it seems as though her life has finally begun. And it's mutual: It's as though Eddie has been waiting for her, too. 

Sarah has never been so certain of anything. So when Eddie leaves for a long-booked vacation and promises to call from the airport, she has no cause to doubt him. But he doesn't call.  

Sarah's friends tell her to forget about him, but she can't. She knows something's happened - there must be an explanation.

Minutes, days, weeks go by as Sarah becomes increasingly worried. But then she discovers she's right. There is a reason for Eddie's disappearance, and it's the one thing they didn't share with each other: the truth.

©2018 Rosie Walsh (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

“Riveting.” (Cosmopolitan)

“Walsh has a good ear for dialogue, and the mystery behind Eddie’s disappearance is a particularly satisfying one.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“A gripping and surprising romantic suspense story. . . . You won't want to put it down.” (NPR)

Boring, tedious, not worth my time. I am so aggravated that I preordered this book. It was absurd. Much ado about nothing!

Weak and very tedious characters. I only listened all the way through because I couldn’t believe anyone would publish a book that just simply went nowhere. This was a waste of my time and money.

Glad I stuck with it . . .

From the title and description of this book, I truly expected a bit more mystery/action/suspense than what it is: a deep psychological study of old guilt, family ties, and emotional insecurities. For anyone looking for a fast-paced read, this book is not for you. The story concept, however, is brilliant.

Recently divorced Sarah is forging forward on a rocky, uncertain path in her life. Originally from the UK, she relocated to California to escape the memory of her losing her younger sister almost twenty years ago. She returns there, though, every year, on the anniversary of her sister's death. On this day she meets Eddie, who is sitting there on this same spot, seemingly waiting for her. They immediately click, spend the day together, and then the next two weeks.

But Sarah's Cinderella story ends when they separate--her to go back to the U.S., and he to go on holiday in Spain. He'll call, he promises. They will make this work. He never does.

The first third of this book reminded me very much of "The Girl on the Train," all the "action" taking place inside the protagonist's head. Sarah agonizes over what went wrong, whether it really was just a fling, or if perhaps something has happened to Eddie. The emotional turmoil, and her obsessive behavior, convince the reader she's gone mad.

This is the point at which I almost gave up. I persisted, however, and I was glad I did.

A deeply emotional study of tragedy, loss, guilt, insecurities, and hope, "Ghosted" was very deep. Unfortunately, there were a lot of loose ends left untied or dropped altogether, and the pacing of the first half of the book was frustratingly slow. Without giving away any spoilers, I will say that the story does have a very satisfying ending, and, if you are a patient and tenacious reader, is definitely worth the ride.

I feel ghosted by the author...

There is no premise here. There is no way to connect with this overhyped “love story” to keep me going past chapter 1. Had to return it.

Slow pace

Such a slow read for my taste! I couldn't get into it, because a whole lot of nothing was happening.

So boring!

I only listened to an hour and it was so tedious, I couldn't even finish.

A book about nothing that goes nowhere...

I always feel badly giving negative reviews, but in some cases (like this one), I just feel it’s my duty. Don’t bother wasting your credit. The book is over 9 hours, and I gave it a solid effort of over 4 hours. And then I just couldn’t go any further. Nothing happens. This gal Sarah meets a guy Eddie, and they fall magically, perfectly in love during the 7days they had spent together. They both promise to meet up again immediately after Eddie comes back from his holiday vacation trip, but he never calls or writes again. The premise sounds interesting, but endless chapter after chapter is just a dull monotony of Sarah sending him unanswered texts, and stalking his Facebook page, and crying, and trying to figure out why he didn’t get in touch when she was sure he was the love of her life. A connection begins to emerge about Eddie and the car crash her sister died in when they were younger, but it’s not even a compelling or mysterious connection that makes you want to keep reading. When I got to the part where Eddie secretly followed Sarah to L.A. and she kept spotting him and hearing he was looking for her, it alljust seemed so silly. None of the characters were likeable, and I honestly didn’t really care what happened to any of them.

I always say that a great author has to be both a fantastic storyteller and a fantastic writer. This author is pretty good at writing, but the storytelling part needs work.

Whhhhy???

Why are there so many 5 star reviews - this was terrible, drawn out and predictable. I’m so disappointed.

Unfulfilled potential

The premise of the story was good, and the book started off very well, nice discriptions of scenic English countryside and an instant-attraction encounter. But after Sarah is "ghosted", there are just too many implausibilities and plot coincidences for the plot to hold up to scrutiny. And oh, was the story dragged out ! I kept wanting to skip ahead because there were just endless minutes of emotional waffling and distress. For me, the narrator elevated this into a moderately compelling read; without her excellent narration, I might not have finished.

Emotionally tugs at the heartstrings!

My heart is heavy! One, because the book ended but two, because I’m overwhelmed by this story. This book details very flawed humans that come to terms with their flaws as a part of this beautifully written novel. I loved it! It’s slow- but on purpose!

Beautiful story!

I was hesitant to buy because I thought it might be your typical romance. Then I finally purchased the book and put it on the back burner. Wow, am I glad I didn't miss this one. Flawed heroine. Beyond surprising. Incredibly poignant. Could not stop listening and yet I dreaded coming to the end. I won't say more. Just listen now.

Lovely narration too.