Review: The Confession by Jo Spain

Late one night a man walks into the luxurious home of disgraced banker Harry McNamara and his wife Julie. The man launches an unspeakably brutal attack on Harry as a horror-struck Julie watches, frozen by fear.

Just an hour later the attacker, JP Carney, has handed himself in to the police. He confesses to beating Harry to death, but JP claims that the assault was not premeditated and that he didn’t know the identity of his victim. With a man as notorious as Harry McNamara, the detectives cannot help wondering, was this really a random act of violence or is it linked to one of Harry’s many sins: corruption, greed, betrayal?

This gripping psychological thriller will have you questioning, who – of Harry, Julie and JP – is really the guilty one? And is Carney’s surrender driven by a guilty conscience or is his confession a calculated move in a deadly game?

Review

What a clever plot! The story begins with the attack on Harry McNamara. Harry and his wife were at home enjoying a quiet evening, watching TV. Suddenly, a man walked in and attacked Harry with golf clubs. Julie watches in stunned silence as the man beats her husband before disappearing back into the night. The attacker turned himself in but tells the police that he didn’t know Harry and can’t even explain why he attacked him.

Right from the start, I had so many questions about JP. Why did he attack Harry? Was he under some kind of influence? Was someone else pulling the strings behind the scenes? Through the chapter, we follow narratives by Julie, JP and the detective, Alice. Of the three narratives, I really liked the past narrations by Julie and JP. For once, I wasn’t really keen on the investigator’s story-line. The real answers lay with the other two characters and I completely devoured the book, chapter after chapter, in search of answers.

This story ended up being better than I expected. What surprised me most is how emotional it got. A major, unexpected twist took place surrounding one of my favorite characters and I was devastated.

I like how Jo Spain maintained the pace in the story with a number of chapters ending with cliffhangers and the suspense going on until the last page.

I couldn’t have predicted the final twist. However, it is not a twist that I liked. I wanted a certain character to have a different ending so I am still not sure how I feel about how things ended. That doesn’t mean that the ending wasn’t good though. It was the perfect way to end the thrilling ride that this book is. I just wish it was different but we don’t always get what we want in life or books, right?

The Confession by Jo Spain is a brilliant, well-paced thriller with twists and suspense up to the last page.