A successful British ghostwriter, The Ghost (Ewan McGregor), agrees to complete the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) after the assurance of his agent that it's the opportunity of a lifetime. However the project seems doomed from the start; not only does he discover the original writer on the project, Lang's long-term aide, died in an unfortunate accident, but the day after The Ghost arrives, a former British cabinet minister accuses Lang of authorizing the illegal seizure of suspected terrorists and handing them over for torture by the CIA - a war crime. The controversy brings reporters and protesters swarming to the island mansion where Lang is staying with his wife Ruth and his personal assistant Amelia. As The Ghost works, he begins to uncover clues suggesting his predecessor may have stumbled on a dark secret linking Lang to the CIA and that somehow this information is hidden in the manuscript he left behind. Was Lang in the service of the American intelligence agency while he was prime minister? And was The Ghost's predecessor murdered because of the appalling truth he uncovered?