#BlogTour! #Review – #TheConfession by Jo Spain (@spainjoanne) @QuercusFiction @AnneCater @QuercusBooks

I am SO, SO, SO excited to be sharing my review of Jo Spain’s highly anticipated novel, ‘The Confession’ (out in e-book now, hardcover 25/01, paperback 9/08), as part of the blog tour! I hope you enjoy reading my review as much as I enjoyed reading the book. Huge thanks to Anne Cater for the blog tour invite, and a huge thank you to Quercus books for the ARC. Here is my review:

SOMETIMES PEOPLE ARE NOT ALL THEY SEEM…
SOMETIMES THE TRUTH HIDES A SECRET…
SOMETIMES A CONFESSION IS THE BEGINNING… NOT THE END

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. It looks like Harry’s many sins – corruption, greed, betrayal – have finally caught up with him.

An hour later the intruder, JP Carney, hands himself in, confessing to the assault. The police have a victim, a suspect in custody and an eye-witness account, but Julie remains troubled.

Has Carney’s surrender really been driven by a guilty conscience or is this confession the first calculated move in a deadly game?

What does TWG think?

Can I get away with just writing ‘OMG JUST GO AND BUY THIS BOOK LIKE, RIGHT NOW!’ as my review?

No?

Such a spoilsport!

Fine!

If you have ever sat there questioning prologues, or thinking that they’re a waste of time, then you clearly haven’t read this type of prologue! ‘The Confession’ has one of the most powerful prologues I think I have ever read, as it pulls readers into the storyline by telling them what happened, right at the very start. Now you’re probably thinking ‘what’s the point in telling us the ‘ending’ before we have even begun the beginning?’. Of course that is a good question, but what if I told you that the beginning to an end wasn’t even the end? What if I told you that there is always more to a situation that meets the eye. Sounds self-explanatory really, doesn’t it? Trust me, I thought that too, but that was before I had even scratched the surface of ‘The Confession’.

Highly publicised businessman, Harry McNamara, finds himself watching his life flash before his eyes after a man casually enters his home one evening, laughing himself on a man who has always deemed himself to be ‘untouchable’. Who is this man? What need did he have to enter a strangers house and beat them to a pulp in front of his wife? I confess, I didn’t have the answers to those questions either, yet all I knew was that the truth wasn’t going to be pretty…

If I were to tell you that I was on the edge of my seat whilst reading this book, it would be the truth but highly predictable. If I were to tell you that my heart decided to go on an early camping trip in my mouth, that would also be the truth and also predictable of me to say so.

I have to confess something else though, seeing as this book is about confessions…..

I have never, ever read a book which was able to charge my brain with excitement, whilst also making me feel as though I was mentally and physically involved in the fictional situation. I have never read a book which, if anyone dared to disturb me whilst reading it, made me feel as though I could turn into a serial killer at any moment (book lovers, you’ll know what I mean when I say that…I wouldn’t really but y’know).

Cliche but true; I was hooked line and sinker by every single page of ‘The Confession’, thus making me mentally unprepared for the book to end. There were moments where I felt like I knew what had happened, but then as soon as the character viewpoint changed and the story was told via a different character, it didn’t take me long to completely change my mind. When the truth finally came out my jaw dropped. I had led myself to believe certain things due to how they were told in the story, yet I hadn’t begun to think about any of the other ‘what if’s’ because they weren’t made out to be a ‘big deal’ so to speak (well, from my eyes anyway).

Another confession…but I didn’t feel sorry for Harry at all, for reason which will become evident the further you read. That said, everyone will interpret ‘The Confession’ differently. Who knows, you might find yourself sympathising with Harry’s situation. You might also find yourself reaching the truth before other people, and that doesn’t matter. You want to know why? Because the truth has already been told…

‘The Confession’ is a phenomenal, powerful and highly addictive read – I honestly have never read a book like this and if I’m being perfectly honest, I don’t think I ever will again. Jo Spain has written such a complex, dark and severely questionable storyline which will leave you questioning absolutely anything. If you thought a toddler asked a lot of questions, you just wait! You’ll find yourself asking so many questions that a toddler’s list of daily ‘why’s? will be nothing compared to yours.

This book has taken a high jump into the list my most favourite books ever and, despite still only being January, ‘The Confession’ is a top contender for my most favourite books of 2018. Jo Spain has blown me away and I am absolutely devastated that ‘The Confession’ had to come to an end.

I cannot recommend this book enough, you really will not be disappointed. THIS is the sort of book which I have been waiting for an author to write.

Absolutely outstanding.

Buy now from Amazon UK