The Confession

My goodness! What an absolutely breathless journey it was reading The Confession! The past year I've been rather disappointed with the psychological thriller - I've been able to predict too many times where the story was going and why, leaving me feeling really let down - so much so that I've cut back on reading them. Something about The Confession enticed me though, maybe it was the fact that we know who has done it on the very first page... I don't know, all I know is I'm so glad I read it. I think in this genre you need something really special and unique to stand out above the all rest and, The Confession has that!

I also believe this is a book where the less you know, the more you'll enjoy - so I'll keep it pretty brief. A brutal attack takes place on a man is his own home one evening, whilst his wife can't do anything but sit and watch on in shock. The attacker hands himself in straight away afterwards claiming he had a psychotic episode, had no idea what came over him and has no idea who the man he attacked is.
Turns out the man he attacked is Harry McNamara; millionaire banker, recently cleared of fraud charges and probably has an endless list of enemies!

The book is told in alternating chapters from 3 different perspectives. Julie (the wife) as she goes back and tells us her story from when she first met Harry. JP (the attacker) who shares his story right back from his childhood days. And Alice (detective in charge) who doesn't one bit believe this was just a random attack on a man, and believes there's something linking Harry, Julie and JP together.

The way this story is all weaved together is so enticing and well written. Harry, Julie and JP are all flawed characters, they're all unlikable, but surprisingly I found I actually had an air of sympathy with them all at one small time or another. When all their lives start to unravel you are left questioning who the actual victim is in all of this, as there seems to be a very thin line! Alice's character brings in a dash of humour; she's not your usual detective that you find in books, she's overweight, has lots of attitude and a pretty foul mouth - but you can't dislike her.

This book is a fantastically, twisted, domestic thriller! It will grab you from page one; throwing out all your theories by the many twists and turns, and slowly and cleverly revealing the pieces that led up to that one brutal attack - with a totally satisfying ending!

Jo Spain is setting the psychological thriller bar extremely high in 2018! You will not want to miss this one!

Well this was a book and a half!
A domestic thriller to die for. So a successful banker is bludgeoned half to death and a guy confessed but why does he confess, who is he, and how is he linked to the bankers wife? What secrets are they all keeping?

You’ll have to read it and find out!

A seriously good thriller that had me on the edge of my seat and so many occasions I lost counts and the twists and turns just don’t stop and then the final one will blow you away!!!!

My god I cannot wait to read more form this author!!

Uniquely captivating

This really is an innovative crime thriller that turns the usual formula on its head, revealing both the victim and the attacker in its opening pages.

The plot then journeys backwards and forwards as we piece together step by step the motive behind the opening event.

Told through three cleverly plotted narratives, each character has its own distinctive voice. The story slowly unfurling until we reach its finale, the breathtaking confession.

Reminiscent of Tana French at her best. This book is highly recommended.

Thank you so much to the Publisher and to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Jo Spain uses the human stories at the heart of recent Irish history to provide a bang on trend psychologial thriller, with plenty of twists and turns

The Confession by Jo Spain is a terrific psychological thriller and a true page turner. Thanks to his immediate confession we know from the beginning who Harry McNamara's killer is. But why has JP Carney, a complete stranger, broken into the McNamara's luxury home and brutally killed the wealthy Irish businessman in front of his shocked wife Julie?

Harry has many enemies and has recently been cleared of fraud. But is it one of his business colleagues who has plotted revenge or is there someone else who bears a grudge against him? The police can find no link between Harry and his killer. The story is told against the background of the Irish Celtic Tiger era and the main characters, in particular Julie McNamara, while generally dislikable by their actions, are well portrayed,

I am sure that The Confession will be a huge success when it is published in the New Year. Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for the opportunity to read and review this book.

5* Confession Stars

This thriller is told in 3 voices, 2 of them alternating between the past and the present and this contributed to a great thought-out plot full of suspense and mystery. Harry and JP were so devious and cunning that they kept me hooked as well as made me dislike them intensely. Julie, the wife of Harry was far too trusting and naive and this was intimately her downfall. Alice Moody, the Senior Detective Sergeant was a very likable character and bought a bit of humor to this fast paced story.

This book was very well written and will captivate you from the first page until the end and will not disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed this read.

Thanks to Quercus Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC for an honest opinion.

This was a compelling read that had me hooked from beginning to end. The book begins with a violent attack on a notorious local man that is witnessed by his wife; the attacker than hands himself in to the police so the intrigue in this book is not the 'who' but the 'why'. This slowly unfolds through the viewpoints of the victim's wife, his self-confessed attacker and a detective on the case who is determined to understand what happened and won't accept that things are as straightforward as they appear.
The lines between antagonist and protagonist are clearly blurred so that we must question who or what is really the victim. The story also visits the past of our narrators and we begin to see who they are; these characters were intriguing and you are very deliberately led to have quite mixed feelings about them.
This is a great book and will have you entranced, nothing else can get in the way until you know...

Late one night a man walks into the luxurious home of disgraced Banker Harry McNamara and his wife Julie.The man starts bashing Harry`s skull in with a golf club while Julie watches frozen by fear.

An hour later the attacker JP Carney has handed himself into the police.He admits that he attacked Harry but insists that the attack was premeditated and he had no idea of the identity of his victim.With a man as notorious as Harry,was this attack really just a random act of violence or is it linked to Harry`s many sins?.And is Carney`s surrender driven by a guilty conscience or is his confession a calculated move in a deadly game?

We know from the start of this riveting story who bashed Harry`s skull in with a golf club,the big question is why? and why did the man hand himself into the police?.As we uncover the shocking truth,we follow the paths of three characters Julie ( Harry`s wife) JP ( the man who bashed Harry`s skull in ) and Alice Moody ( the policewoman who is in charge of the investigation ).Julie takes us back through her life,from when she met Harry and through the toxic battlefield that was their marriage.JP takes us back through his childhood,growing up in poverty with a alcoholic father.His struggles to make something of himself and prove that he isn't the waste of space that his father always said he was.Alice Moody was a brilliant character,she wasn't your stereotypical cop,she was a overweight,plain Jane with a bad attitude.She didn't have a drinking problem,or man issues or family issues,none of the usual issues that cops usually have in thrillers.I loved Alice and felt a lot of sympathy for JP despite some of his actions.I thought Julie was a very unlikable character,I found her so frustrating that at times I could have quite happily bashed her over the head with a golf club.

This thought providing,gripping mystery had me hooked from the very first page,enthralled by the riveting drama that was unfolding before my eyes.Realistic,believable characters,a well written story that keeps you guessing throughout,a jaw dropping final twist and a satisfying ending.I loved this book,highly recommended

Loved this book ! Believable characters and a well though out plot . I love how it begins with us knowing who committed the murder and then snakes back through alternate chapters of why ! Cleverly written I look forward to more from this author . My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read

I first discovered Jo Spain’s heartbreaking read “With Our Blessing” about the child orphanages in Ireland and that really stayed in my mind so I was keen to read her first foray into the world of psychological thrillers. It’s set in Ireland although place and setting aren’t the draw - it’s the insides of people’s homes and heads which really drags you in.

Well, blow me down, if she hasn’t gone and totally made that genre her new home. It’s like a high speed, fast energy Columbo case where you know the killer early on before the whole thing unravels before your eyes to reveal the why dunnit and the truth. Smoke and Mirrors comes to mind.

The writing here is what stood out for me - sharp, deadly and takes no punches. It’s self assured and confidant and the characters, although not likeable are in fact hideously fascinating

Reading it is like unravelling a really tightly pulled plait - slowly, with a few tangles to work out and a few shouts as you are pulled one way and then another and yet you’re still trapped in the plot. The final denouement is the raggedy aftermath of secrets and lies.

5/5 - I need to find new words for GRIPPING because I don't think "Gripping" does this book justice - The Confession by Jo Spain was not only gripping it was "riveting, thrilling, unputdownable and overall captivating throughout."  (Thank you Google for your help!).

We start the book with a vicious attack on a man in front of his wife by a complete stranger - or do we?  We then begin the tense journey to find out who is this random attacker, why did he attack Harry and then turn himself in to the police and what does his wife Julia have to do with the attack?  We are taken back to the beginning of each character's life through alternating chapters and just when you think you've worked out why, when, who the author throws in a humdinger of a twist and you are left dumbstruck and bemused.

Julie - the wife tells us her story from the moment she first met and fell in love with the enigmatic and successful Harry to the moment she watched a random attack beat him senseless with a golf club.  JP - the attacker tells us his life story - warts and all, full of heartbreak and determination and how he finds himself confessing to attempted murder, but my favourite character is Alice Moody the policewoman in charge of this investigation - she was absolutely WONDERFUL and deserves her own book.

A thoroughly brilliant, page turning, tense and exceptional psychological thriller that is definitely 100% GRIPPING.