"Sometimes, I close my eyes and imagine myself at the top of Mt. Tamalpais, the jagged peak that overlooks Marin."

Set in Marin County, California - where I live! Actually, the first four paragraphs of the preface are really good descriptions of the area surrounding Mt. Tam! "The roads spiderweb down the hills...", man that's right on point! And my hometown gets a mention on page 45! “... rumors, unsubstantiated, about secret liaisons in a hotel in Novato.” Woot woot!

The blurb on the front says it all: "Was he an innocent man... or a depraved killer?" Well, read it and find out! Some of the psychological pieces were a little boring for me, but the crime(s) and the doubt shed on them kept my interest throughout! And all of the Marin County mentions just tickled me! I'm glad I picked this up! ( )

3.5. The book is 200 pages, but the murder doesn’t take place until halfway through the book. ( )

First-person psychological thriller. Quick read. ( )

Confession. Domenic Stansberry. 2004. Chilling. The suspense builds slowly as Danser, the main character, tells his story. Danser is a lawyer who has been accused of murder. As he relates his story, we realize that he is off kilter, but it takes a while to realize he is a psychopath or a sociopath who is explaining why he is not guilty. He drops hints during the narrative that gradually leads us to believe he is guilty then he throws in hints that the lawyer who is and friend of his wife is framing him. Suspenseful and violent. ( )

Beautifully echoing the pulp fiction paperbacks of old with its small size and with a truly wonderful OTT cover (as are all the Hard case series) this is a book to pick up and proudly read on the tube. Well thats the reason I bought it. It's a shame the story wasn't a good fit. I mean the plot seems up to scratch, I could ignore the slightly suspect sex scenes (to be honest that can sometimes be part of the amusement!) but I didn’t really get on the with the main protagonist.

The problem was to make this unreliable narrator, this selfish, misogynist actually work he had to be guilty. The mystery didn’t quite manage to balance is he or isn’t it question and its simply just not interesting if he is innocent. I dont care about his fate, but I care he might be a murderer who got away.

Which is a shame because I like idea of the series I am definitely going to give it another go, with a different author. I just can't recommend this one. ( )