I really enjoyed this book. It was well put together with an interesting range of characters and a strong plot. Great storyline which kept me engaged all the way through. I read this in an afternoon as every time I put it down I just wanted to pick it back up and find out what happened. Highly recommend this book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, wow, wow! Don’t want to put much, as I don’t want to give anything away, but will say it’s brutal, demented, and deliciously dark! Chilling, thrilling, and shocking, with phenomally developed characters! A must read for my fellow thriller lovers, as it’s sure to blow your mind! Highly, highly recommend!

Will buzz around platforms and use top Amazon reviewer number on release!

A rocking thriller by author Sharon Diering, it kept me at the edge of my seat. The book started off so innocously with Heather going back home after a couple of decades to get some answers about her estranged mother and herself

The story was completely atmospheric with the author building up a sense of impending danger with each page. Fast paced, the prose was banging with the scenes enmeshing seamlessly, secrets and lies along with old hidden memories joining them.

At some points, I had to hold my breath as the author put me through the wringer, keeping me enthralled. I loved how I was completely immersed in the twisty plotline with altered famuly dynamics and a death of a child .

I read it on one sitting over the afternoon. Wow

Confess to Me is a taut exciting thriller about lies, buried secrets from the past, murder, and complicated family relationships. Full of twists and turns and complex characters with scarred pasts, the plot unfolded at a good pace leading to an amazing and thrilling ending. I also found the writing to be sharp and descriptive which really pulled me into the story.

This is Sharon Doering’s sophmore novel and wow am I impressed!

Thanks to Titan Books and Netgalley for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This was a thrilling novel!

Heather Hornne returns to her hometown of Hunther, Wisconsin with her husband, Trevor, whose mother has fallen ill with cancer and only has a short time left to live. Here they rent a house with Trevor's teen son and their young daughter Emily. During her stay in Hunther, events begin to happen that bring up her family's shattered past and she remembers why she ran away from them to begin with. Discoveries are made about her mother and a death that occurred in Hunther when she was just a young girl.

I really enjoyed this book, it was very engaging. The author did a great job building up the suspense and left me with a satisfying ending. If you enjoy a good mystery/suspense, then this one is for you!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) on June 15, 2021.

Dark, twisty, sinister, chilling, mind-bending, thought-provoking, emotional, and raw!

A horrific unsolved murder...
Stories of satanic ritual abuse...
The exotic pet trade...
Misunderstood mental illness ...
A doctor with a strange practice...

Heather Hornne is going home. She came back from the dead once in Hunther, WI.

Master storyteller Sharon Doering wowed us last year with her smashing debut, She Lies Close. She returns with her sophomore novel, the latest spine-chilling thriller (with a Gothic vibe), weaving a dark and deliciously evil spell —CONFESS TO ME.

A harrowing tale of a world where little is what it first appears to be. The author skillfully builds suspense and adept at drawing believable characters and relationships. A masterful job of depicting small rural town claustrophobia, dysfunctional family dynamics, horrors, and the dark secrets that haunt the characters.

Haunted by a childhood tragedy and estranged from her family, Heather finds herself back in her hometown, after twenty years running from it.

She returns to finally put the past to rest but uncovers more tragedy and finds herself drawn to a young woman who knows more of her family secrets than Heather does.

Heather does not have many memories. She wants desperately to find someone who can help her sort out the past and, in particular, her mother. And family. Has she blocked out painful memories? A tragic childhood, she seeks to learn more about the past.

However, some people in this town may want to keep those dark secrets of the past buried. (and there are many!)

The family is driving from Chicago to the rural area where Trevor's mom is dying with cancer. They decided to rent a house nearby, and the entire family tags along. Trevor and Heather grew up in this small town even though she is much younger than her partner. Their children Emily (six) and Sawyer (sixteen) are getting a culture shock.

She was only six when they moved. Heather does not like this place and sees it as toxic and poisonous. She is also getting strange texts.

A young girl Dawn was murdered in '91 and gutted. They say it was her mom that was the killer. She also has siblings who died in mysterious ways.

She meets many creepy strange characters and animals as she desperately tries to piece together a toxic history that she long tried to forget. You do not know whom you can trust in the novel, from blackmail, manipulation, deception, cruelty, guilt, lies, and more.

Infused with chilling notes and transcripts from a psychologist regarding the childhood traumas, brainwashing, programming, murders, and manifestations added a bit of mystery, intrigue, and suspense.

WOW, there are many flawed characters in the book, so do not feel you will sit down, get cozy, and have coffee with them. Sharp and witty, there is a much bigger and more profound side to the novel, and I was blown away by the author's skill, research, and incredible insights into these highly charged, thought-provoking dark topics.

Thoughtful and compelling, Doering's psychological thrillers are characterized by their deeply wrought characters and objectively harrowing situations.

I loved the letter from the mom - very moving. I also enjoyed the author's note at the end of the book. (THANK YOU) I am a colossal research nut and always want to break down every book and learn the inspiration.

In fact, I wish that I had read the author's note first, which further enhanced the overall reading experience. Highly impressive. Not only is this an excellent thriller with the creep vibe, but it also is a deep dive into the evils and complexities of humanity (even more so, based on a true story).

The disgusting and shocking malignancy, manipulations, and toxicity of these psychologists, doctors, priests, and law officials will haunt you.

As she mentions: The inspiration was based on The Search for Satan documentary (1995) and the women's horror stories. As we see firsthand in the novel, the cruelties due to professionals (or ones that practiced as such). They held so much control, and many were victims of their greed.

FRONTLINE untangles the mysterious web of satanic ritual abuse, psychiatric treatment, and insurance claims that escalated into millions of dollars. Were these professed victims of secret satanic cults really helped by the psychiatric care they received?

Like brainwashing and cults, dangerous psychiatry, making people puppets controlling their thoughts and actions from conspiracy, manipulation, and multiple personalities. As Doering reiterates, truth is typically stranger than fiction.

"This is widespread folks. It is systemic and organized. The brainwashing, the programming, the murders, it no joke."

There are many topics and themes discussed in the novel and, importantly, self-identity. The author does a great job of breaking out other documentaries that were part of her inspiration, including animals, exotic pets, PTSD, memory loss, and more.

A thought-provoking powerful read. I enjoyed her notes and found myself doing more online research into these topics. She not only shows the dark side of humanity but their journey with her lyrical writing, metaphors, and symbolisms and the light from the troubled places of abuse and darkness, and how they shape and define our lives as adults. Giving it life and healing from the character's experiences while confronting their past with courage and forgiveness.

There is so much more to discuss, but I must stop since I appear to be all over the board here with my thoughts. I really enjoyed the mom's character with her artistic talent and tormented life while trying to balance motherhood in a misunderstood world and treated unfairly with cruelty. (great character development).

Sharon Doering's writing is spellbinding. She also blends literary suspense with psychological thriller, which is something I enjoy reading.

If you are a fan of Jennifer Hillier, Laura McHugh, Ron Rash, David Joy, Randall Silvis, and Lisa Unger (notably her Hollows series) and most recently, The House of Crows, you must read this author. You will also think of Ozark (where the Chicago family relocate to the Ozarks.)

You may find yourself turning the page with one eye closed, afraid of what will jump out at you because the writing is so vivid and descriptive. I love how the author uses humor to balance her darker writing. CONFESS TO ME is a perfect title and would make for a chilling movie or TV series.

Get CONFESS TO ME on your summer thriller list and an ideal for book clubs and further discussions. An author to get on your RADAR now! Well done.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for the much-appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

REVIEW BLOG POST: #JDCMustReadBooks
@JudithDCollins
www.JudithDCollins.com
Pub Date: 6/15/21
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I really wanted to love this one as I adored the authors last book! It didn’t quite live up to my (probably too high!) expectations though. A good storyline and complex characters with some great twists but it just didn’t set me on fire.

Confess to me, is a gripping thriller that will leave you begging for more.

Centered around Heather, haunted from a tragedy from her childhood taking a trip back home. Heather has been running from her past for the last 20 years. Thrown into yet another tragedy, Heather is forced to face her past.

This book is filled with twists, turns, and plenty of secrets!

If you love a good psychological thriller, this book is for you!

3.5 ⭐️. I’m not really sure how I feel about this one. Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. It definitely kept my interest from start to finish. There were some things in the book that I did find odd and they didn’t seem to fit with the storyline, like they were just thrown in there....mainly the sexual references and cougars (yes, actual animals). I also wasn’t a fan of the Satanic and exorcism chapters. There wasn’t much, but it was just weird the way it was added. I think there was just too much going on, and the book was written almost like they wanted you to think every single person was guilty of the murder. Like I said it wasn’t great but it wasn’t horrible either. I also think the first half of the book was better than the second half.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

To see my other reviews check out my Instagram and Goodreads pages:
*Instagram (bookworm_traveler808)
*Goodreads (Cherihy808)

Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy of this book. This was definitely an un-put-downable novel. I was pretty much glued to the page from the get go. But it was a little bit disturbing for me in some parts and kind of made me uncomfortable. I did like the authors writing style though, and will definitely be interested in reading more by her in the future. But this book was just a little too dark for me.

I found the story to be slow and anticlimactic. I almost gave up, but pushed through because of all the great reviews…and wish I hadn’t. I didn’t really like any of the characters, nor was there any real character development for any of them. Overall, not impressed with this one.

Heather returns to her hometown with her husband and children. Her hometown is the source of childhood trauma and Heather wants to figure out what exactly happened. Many twists and turns, plenty of drama and characters that I loved. 4 starts. Quick read. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a quick read with an interesting story line. The story pulls you in with some vagueness and you’re not sure who to trust!
The kind of book that leaves you satisfied ! Thanks NetGalley!

It’s hard to describe the premise of this book without giving too much away—and that’s a good thing. The bit-by-bit discovery of the main character’s past is such an exciting and delicious part of the story, but I can safely say this: Heather Bishop returns to her hometown, the setting of a trauma that still haunts her, with her husband and children in tow, and she’s determined to piece together the bits of her childhood she no longer remembers, including a local girl’s murder and her family’s possible involvement. In the process, though, she learns so much more than she ever bargained for, and finds herself in more danger than she ever could have imagined. After I read her debut, SHE LIES CLOSE, I knew Sharon Doering was a writer to watch, and her sophomore novel, CONFESS TO ME, has made me even more of a fan. It’s enticing and exhilarating, how Sharon unspools Heather’s history for the reader—and for Heather herself—giving us just a bit more to hold onto by the end of each chapter. The twists surprised me every time (in fact, my jaw dropped open more than once), and the story is infused with palpable atmosphere, making it easy to lose yourself in its pages. I loved the exploration of a multitude of family dynamics, and the ways in which Heather has to reconsider everything she thought she knew about her mother, her siblings, and even herself. The writing is sharp, witty, and thrillingly fast-paced, and the story, with all its dark secrets and suspicious characters, is one you can’t help but devour.

‘It’s no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then’ says Alice. ‘We’re all mad here ... you must be ... or you wouldn’t have come here’. The Cheshire Cat.

Heather Horne, husband Trevor Bishop, their six year old daughter Emily and her stepson Sawyer are temporarily renting in Hunther, Wisconsin in order to care for Trevor’s dying mother. Heather left the town when she was six years old. This book is about confronting a traumatic past and that’s all I’m going to say as this is one to dive into blind. Trevor and Heather narrate alternately which works extremely well as their insights illuminate each other’s past and present.

There are so many things you could comment on in this powerful novel but one of the aspects that comes across strongly is the sense of place. Hunther is weird, it’s rotten in a multitude of ways even down to the mouldering home they rent (Moldy Mildred) which reinforces the smell of something festering at its core. It’s full of characters that back that up (can you hear the twanging ‘Deliverance’ banjos?), their strangeness even down to their ‘pets’, their out of kilter actions that builds an atmosphere of unease, of waiting for something awful to happen which of course, it does. It has a dreamlike quality to it and I’m talking nightmares, hallucinatory ones that are macabre and surreal and like Alice I feel like I’ve dropped down a rabbit hole into an alien world that makes no sense. Let’s add another layer in of debunked, highly dangerous psychiatry and mislabelling, of manipulation and control which is so evil it beggars belief and this lies at the heart of the premise as it allows more evil to flourish. Little by little we get the backstories and see the truth and it’s shocking in the depth of the malignancy and toxicity of people in Hunther. The novel is a very well written and pacy thriller with unbelievably big secrets and lies, buried memories and tragedies that are confronted and laid to rest. It’s chilling in places, it’s seriously messed up, there’s breathtaking suspense and some very good plot twists.

Overall, it’s an excellent, clever read, yes, it’s dark but also absolutely compelling and I found it and to put it down. It would make a brilliant film but I may peep from behind the sofa on occasions!

Ps. It’s a tad steamy in places too!! 😳

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Titan Books for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Some memories are better left untouched.

This book is a page turner. Very in gaming with a host of characters to analyze and connect with even if the encounter is brief.

I found myself reading page after page in a fever just trying to get to the bottom of this story.

Definitely an engaging read. One that will leave you dumbfounded.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

This book was DENSE. Layers upon layers of dysfunctional family dynamics and dead kids. Enjoyable but hard work.

Four Stars

First, thank you to the publishers at Titan Books via Netgalley and Sharon Doering for providing me with an advanced Kindle copy of Confess to Me.

What an amazing thrill ride of a book! I was instantly sucked in. Doering has a way with words. Her descriptions were flawless, her sentences flowed. Sometimes it takes me some time to really get into a book. Not here. I was instantly enthralled.

The premise of the book is about a young mother, Heather, 37, who returns to her hometown with her husband to care for his sick and dying mother. There’s another reason she’s there though - to figure out her own troubled past. Her memory is fragmented, a sea of trees that have been partially chopped down as she so puts it. So what from her scattered memories is real and what’s not? That’s what she plans on finding out.

Some people may not find it realistic that Heather is able to get so many strangers to open up to her about her and her mother’s past, but I think it was believable. She’s in a tiny town, she’s well known because of her family history, and people love to gossip. The ride Heather takes to get to the bottom of her wretched past is nothing short of crazy, and completely full of, wow, I did not see that coming! Near the end, it was a little obvious of how it might end, but nearly the entire story had me on my toes, wanting to read more. I finished this in less than two days. It truly is a book you can’t put down.

Doering’s prose, her pacing, and her descriptions will have you on the edge of your seat. 5/5 stars. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in thrillers based in small towns.

This is the definition of a unputdownable thriller. This dark stunning crazy read seriously was amazing and I had the hardest time putting my Kindle down!
I was sucked into this story after reading page one...... And that's what I love about s good writer!
This book was explosive and you won't see a dang thing coming

A lot of thrillers these days claim to be “unputdownable,” but this one really lives up to the term! I refused to watch tv with my husband because I wanted to read more and more of this story! What a thriller! I thought I had it figured out, but I was SO wrong. Loved this!