The Confessor
by
Mark Allen Smith
Order:
USA
Can
Simon & Schuster, 2015 (2015)
Softcover
Reviewed by Hilary Williamson
M
ark Allen Smith's
The Confessor
is the sequel to his
The Inquisitor
, which introduced a most unusual antihero, a professional torturer! Geiger was one of two top information retrieval practitioners in the business, his methods being more psychological while Dalton's were physical and brutal. Geiger never killed his subjects.
I
n the first book, instead of the adult subject Geiger expected, the man's twelve-year-old son Ezra was delivered to him, and Geiger would never harm a child. He and Ezra, his partner Harry (who handled the business end) and his catatonic schizophrenic sister Lily ended up on the run from sinister black ops agents with seemingly infinite resources. Lily died and Geiger ended up being tortured by Dalton.
O
f course you know he survived, as this is the sequel. And he did serious damage to Dalton in the process. Now, in
The Confessor
, after undergoing major reconstructive surgery, the latter is obsessed with revenge - '
Geiger had become the center of his universe
'. Harry is still around but believes that Geiger died and is lost without him. But he keeps in touch with Ezra.
Z
anni Soames is a member of Deep Red, a secret organization that has used both Geiger's and Dalton's services. Her job is to locate Geiger - why? Meanwhile Harry meets Geiger again and learns that he's quit his previous profession and is now making custom furniture. Of course, as we expect, all the players in this drama will converge in a violent confrontation, with betrayal at every turn. It's a most unusual series and I wonder where its author will take Geiger and associates next.
Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons.
Find more Mystery books on our
Shelves
or in our book
Reviews