Paper Ghosts

A Texas map marked with three red dots like drops of blood. A serial killer who claims to have dementia. A mysterious young woman who wants answers. What could go wrong?

FINALIST FOR THE ITW THRILLER AWARD • “Fast and furious . . . You’ll never see what’s coming.”—The Washington Post
 
Years ago, her sister Rachel vanished. Now she is almost certain the man who took Rachel sits in the passenger seat beside her. He claims to have dementia and 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.
 
Praise for Paper Ghosts
 
“Paper Ghosts is a riveting summer read that shows Texas in a powerfully intimate light.” —The Austin Chronicle
 
“[An] artful and elegiac psychological thriller . . . riveting.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
 
“[Paper Ghosts] elevates the often tawdry genre of the serial killer novel to a work of art.”—Sunday Express (UK)
  
“Texas has yet again bred a major American noir writer.”—D Magazine
 
“[Heaberlin has] developed a distinctive literary voice, one that is on full display in Paper Ghosts.”—Houston Chronicle
 
“Entertainingly unnerving.”—The Dallas Morning News

“Strong characterisation, haunting images, a wonderful sense of place, and some dark comedy make this travelogue-cum-psychological thriller well worth the read.”—The Guardian

Genre: Mystery

"Paper Ghosts is the spellbinding, brilliantly original story of a young woman desperate to find her missing sister and the man who she suspects knows the truth, joined together on a perilous journey as elusive and mysterious as the paper ghosts that lure them. Julia Heaberlin’s love for Texas spills across every page." - Carla Buckley

"A stunner: a creepy, complicated thriller that crawls under your skin from the outset and burrows deeper with every page; the kind of ‘there’s no way this is going to end well’ story in which you know that what the character is doing is a very, very bad idea, but you can’t look away. It’s a chilling, nuanced, just-one-more-page novel from a master of psychological suspense. Highly recommended!" - Karen Dionne

"An exceptional read, with a deftly woven plot—a book to devour in one sitting. This is breathless storytelling at its very best, with a deeply satisfying ending that will give book groups—and all your friends, when you recommend it—much to discuss." - Elizabeth Haynes

"With prose as sharp and flinty as the book’s protagonist, Paper Ghosts takes a deep dive into the murky well of moral ambiguity, as one woman’s obsession with her missing sister collides with a serial killer’s dementia over the course of a thrill-packed road trip deep into the heart of Texas. This novel brilliantly asks you to question everything you see (and don’t see) around you." - Nina Sadowsky

"Engrossing, tense, and tightly written, with a luminous sense of place." - Emily Winslow