Having come of age on the mob-controlled streets of 1960’s South Philly, Detective Mike Coletti learned early to walk the fine line between cops and criminals. That skill served him well during his thirty-one years in homicide. But it never stopped the nightmares. The screams in the sanctuary still haunt him, the sound of the gunshots still torment him, and the truth of the Confessional Murders still speaks to him, if only in his dreams. Now, on the eve of Coletti’s retirement, the priest whom he arrested for the decade-old crime is about to be put to death, and in one final nightmare, Coletti clearly sees the truth. The priest is innocent, and it all comes to light when the real killer reemerges and embarks on a killing spree that turns Philadelphia upside down. To set things right and stop the execution of an innocent man, Coletti must catch a mysterious killer who now calls himself the Angel of Death. As the chase winds through art galleries and gritty streets, ancient prophecies and holy ground, the game intensifies, cultures collide, and Philly’s best detective is forced to face his nightmarish past—a past that could very well destroy him.
About Solomon Jones
Solomon Jones is an Essence bestselling author whose novels include The Last Confession, Pipe Dream, The Bridge, Ride Or Die, C.R.E.A.M., and Payback. Jones is the creator of a TV pilot that was optioned by NBC’s Peacock Productions. A seasoned public speaker, Jones is also the creator of Words On The Street, a literacy program for at-risk youth. His latest novel, The Gravedigger’s Ball, was released on Oct. 11, 2011. Jones lives in Philadelphia with his family.
Editorial Review
Father O’Reilly, convicted of committing a triple homicide in his church sanctuary a decade ago, is to be executed in three days. Mike Coletti, the Philadelphia cop who arrested him, is set to retire in three days. Then a new series of homicides begin, and a note is left at an art gallery exhibit titled “Confessions”—a note signed by the Angel of Death, the wraithlike figure Father O’Reilly has long sworn was the original confessional killer. Coletti is paired with young hotshot Charlie Mann to resolve matters while the O’Reilly execution is stayed. Mary Smithson, who seems fascinated by Coletti, is detailed to help them out. More murders follow, along with many sightings of the Angel of Death and clues from the biblical prophecy in Daniel 10 suggesting a major confrontation between good and evil. – Kirkus Reviews
Philly Author’s ‘Confession’: I Lived These Stories
NPR Book Review – July 2, 2012 (Excerpt)
Philadelphia may be called the City of Brotherly Love, but author Solomon Jones sees the sadder, more complex side of the city.
Jones’ books feature Philly police detective Mike Coletti. When we meet him in The Last Confession, he’s on the verge of retirement, but before he can head off into the sunset, he’s got to confront some demons from his past and catch a serial killer calling himself the Angel of Death.
Angels are a repeating motif in The Last Confession, which kicks off with the discovery of a body in Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, right underneath a giant statue known as the Angel of the Resurrection. The dead man is a priest who witnessed a murder, “so at this point, my antagonist, the Angel of Death, is killing off people and setting up this final confrontation,” Jones says.
Without giving away too much of the story, we can say that it’s young men doing most of the killing, young men who get drawn into addiction and crime. “Philadelphia for a long time had some of the purest heroin on the East Coast,” Jones says, “and I think as we go around the city today, we might see some of these same young people.”
Sirens wail in the background as Jones walks along the streets of the Center City neighborhood. “Center City is the place where all of this stuff meets,” he says. “The killers in the book are all people who are strung out on heroin, and this is the place where I first noticed the pattern of these young, white suburban kids who come to Philadelphia and are kind of stuck here because of that drug habit.” [Read the full article...]
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I have fought a good fight,
I have finished my course,
I have kept the faith. - 2 Timothy iv. 7
The Irish War is officially a part of history, but not for Finnean Whelan, an IRA veteran of almost 40 years. British Intelligence has produced evidence that he is the mastermind behind a conspiracy to assassinate the First Minister of Northern Ireland. For Whelan this is not only a mission of revenge, but marks the beginning of a journey into the past and the return to the one true love: Ireland. [More...]
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THE BLEEDING HILLS
