Book blurb...
The breathtaking debut psychological thriller from bestselling author Jo Spain.

YOU FIND OUT WHO DID IT ON THE VERY FIRST PAGE. ON THE LAST PAGE, YOU'LL FIND OUT WHY.

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?

THE MOST GRIPPING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER OF 2018: PERFECT FOR FANS OF HE SAID, SHE SAID AND THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR.

My thoughts…
I agree with the book’s blurb. The Confession is indeed a thriller: cleverly written with the use of a Prologue and Epilogue that tells the reader in graphic detail what happens and 'who done it’.

You might ask, “So what else is there to the story?"

And my answer would be “ A LOT!”

This book is riveting.

Told from 3 points of view (wife, murderer, police detective) I felt involved in the plot and read with haste to find out the story behind the grizzly crime. I am used to stories written using deep point of view. I find I get more invested in the characters and I enjoy feeling the impact of those emotional swings. This is not so obvious when the first person narration is telling me a story.

That said, The Confession (another domestic noir type read) remains one of the best books I’ve read.

Highly recommended reading for your thriller lovers.

EXCERPT: It's the first spray of my husband's blood hitting the television screen that will haunt me in the weeks to come - a perfect diagonal splash, each droplet descending like a vivid red tear.

That and the sound of his skull cracking as the blows from the golf club rain down.

THE BLURB: 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?

MY THOUGHTS: I was excited by the first third of The Confession by Jo Spain. After that point, the novel seemed to lose some impetus and I began to struggle to maintain my interest. I found myself skimming large parts of the characters back stories, which were mainly irrelevant, in parts downright depressing, and far too long. And it never really picked up again. I never regained that feeling of excitement and by 70% in I had figured out what was going on, which is not necessarily a problem, as it could have been clever, but I found the ending to be somewhat clumsily executed and too drawn out.

The story is told from three points of view: that of Julie, the victim’s wife; JP, the victim’s killer; and Alice, the investigating officer. Don't expect to like any of the characters, not even the murder victim.
They are all thoroughly unlikeable, but quite realistic, so full marks to Jo Spain for her characterisation. She has a good grasp of human relationships, the petty jealousies and games of oneupmanship.

Instead of just being an okay read, The Confession could be a really good book. It just needs a bit more judicious editing. Having said that, a lot of people will love this book, and you may be one of them. So if you enjoyed the excerpt and like the sound of the blurb, please go ahead and get a copy of The Confession and let me know what you think of it.

The Confession by Jo Spain will be published by Hachette Australia 11 January, 2018.

Thank you to Hachette Australia via Netgalley for providing a digital copy of The Confession by Jo Spain for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions. Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

The Confession by Jo Spain is an outstanding story that held me spellbound.

The reader is thrown into the story with the violent attack on Harry McNamara in his home, sitting with his wife Julie, watching television. The description is very explicit and frightening.

From this start the story is told via three perspectives Julie McNamara, the victim’s wife, JP the man who confesses to killing Harry McNamara and DC Alice Moody, the detective who won’t let go of the case as she doesn’t believe the killer’s confession that the killing was random. Gradually the threads of the story are interwoven as we follow the progress of the murder investigation with flash backs to Julie’s life with Harry being an incredibly rich banker but with marital problems and JP’s life with an unwell mother who abandons the family, a dysfunctional father and a baby sister, Charlie. I found myself caught up with the characters and the story as the truth of what happened and why unfolds.

The complexity of the characters gives them depth, making them realistic and believable.
The writing style is relaxed making it very easy to read and the sequence of the story was clever, gradually unraveling the truth.

Although not a lot was made of the location being Ireland, I would have loved to hear the accents of those in the story - several comments were made to JP that he still had a London accent and wasn’t fully Irish. A few expressions popped up to show the Irish setting which I found interesting.

This was an unusual story with twists that captivated me right from the start to the end!

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher Hachette Australia and Quercus for a e-copy to read and review.

Sure, it kept me interested throughout - although some bits did get flogged to death, however the characters were insufferable and I was struggling to find a connection through the whole thing and wondering whether I was just reading a book about marriage woes. Whilst I understand that was entirely the point, finding out why this person did what they did, I then felt robbed when it ended so abruptly. Come on! Where did the characters end up after that?!

A man walks into the house of a wealthy businessman and brutally beats him to death in front of his wife. He then hands himself over to police and confesses to the crime, claiming it was a random act of violence. Seems straight forward enough. We now have a crime and a killer. So why are DC Alice Moody’s alarm bells ringing that there is more to the story than it first seems?

The Confession is a thriller written in reverse – we know from the start who the killer is, but the question is: why? Spain explores this mystery through the eyes of her three narrators: JP Delaney, the killer; Julie, the victim’s wife; and DC Alice Moody, who is trying to solve the case. Not everyone is a reliable narrator, so readers have their work cut out for them trying to decipher the clues that lead to the final answer.

Warning – if you want characters you can like, admire and bond with, this may not be the right book for you, as each and every one of the people featuring in The Confession are thoroughly unlikeable. Even DC Moody, who was the only one that seemed sane, was depicted in the most unflattering light and played quite a peripheral role. So whilst Spain tells her story well, and offers a solid background story to the murder, I floundered a little bit reading this book. I admit being a reader who needs to be able to bond with at least one character, and in this case the only person who sounded remotely likeable was already dead. What followed was a glimpse into the lives of the other highly dysfunctional characters, which left me feeling slightly depressed and miserable. Some passages seemed to add little to the story except more misery, and I admit I struggled to finish the story despite the author’s skill in evoking an atmospheric setting and an overall intriguing plot. Whilst I liked the theme of innocence corrupted by power, and its ultimate consequences, I concede that I am probably not the right audience for this book, needing a glimpse of hope or at least a character I can root for in my stories.

The Confession will appeal to readers who will not let a cast of unlikeable characters get in the way of a good story, without the need to bond with a protagonist in order to enjoy the read. Written in reverse, The Confession offers a thriller with a difference that stands out from a lot of “been there, done that” books in the genre. Spain tells a good story, so even though this might not have been exactly my cup of tea, I look forward to reading more from this author in future.

*thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Australia for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

2.5 stars
I don't really know how I'm left feeling about this. I can't say that I enjoyed it, but I can't say that I didn't like it. It was just OK. I wasn't gripped by it, my attention did wave, but some parts were rather good. Such as, the fact that I liked JP and Charlie. I liked their relationship as big brother, little sister. But this just wasnt good enough to make me like this overall. I did not like the sexual details or the swearing. There was just a bit too much for me. Those are the last things I want to be reading in books with stories about crime etc. I don't have much to say about this. It wasn't for me and I'm left with it not having left much of an impression.