The Confessional by Reiny Pierson is labeled a mystery. However, the only mystery present in this novel is the mystery of why the reader should continue reading. While the writing style is crisp, the plot flows all together too quickly. The main character enters the scene as a strong-willed, self-reliant woman who has no problem quitting her teaching job when she realizes that she's been passed over for tenure again because of her "psychic" abilities.
When the story progresses, however, we learn that Sarah isn't self reliant or strong willed at all. She falls apart and appears to the reader as a fragile character until nearly the end of the story. Her husband David, nearly as two-dimensional as Sarah, comes across as the level headed one of the pair and he rarely talks sense into his hysterical wife.
The killer in the novel is labeled a serial killer, and the reader finds themselves presented with a few possible suspects, but when the reader realizes that two of the suspects were discussed by the killer it becomes clear who the killer is early on in the novel. While the killer murders victims, the scenes are brief and unimaginative. Like the other characters in the novel, this reader found it difficult to become emotionally engaged by the killer. He remained apparently illogical and chaotic under the surface while managing to trick the other characters, including the supposed psychic of the group.
The story does have a few redeeming qualities. The plot is fast paced, but at the same time detracts from any real ability to imagine the characters and surroundings due to lack of detail provided. The idea that Sarah Tazewell could be continued as a heroine in further novels is complicated because, as a reader, it is difficult to imagine her recovering fully from the trauma of this event in particular. The author has a good grasp of the chronological events and does keep the reader oriented in time through the novel, but the alternating points of view of the character Professor Jeremy, who could be the killer, end up being all together a ruse to misdirect the reader until they realize that Jeremy was discussed by the killer early on in the book.
The Confessional is not a novel for readers of detailed mystery. The characters are flat and seem unrealistic, while the killer remains a shadowy, ill-defined character for most of the novel. While the ideas that are the basis of the novel are interesting and unique, the presentation of the story is not.
- Amy Riddle-DeClerck
Publisher - Koehler Books
Date of Publication - 2013