Book Review – Confession by Michael Cordell

By Gini Rainey

It’s been a while since I jumped on the ‘book-review’ bandwagon, but when the author personally requests his book be read and reviewed, it’s difficult to turn him down! I must say, Mr. Cordell, thank you for requesting I read your book. I am so very glad you did!

Confession is the third book in Mr. Cordell’s Contempt series of legal thrillers that feature attorney Thane Banning and is most definitely a worthy read for just about anyone who is interested in the good and not so good characteristics in the legal system and big-name community leaders. This book follows Thane as he prepares a defense for his client Boo and in the process uncovers some unsavory details of the fictitious Los Angeles university’s winning coach and other highly respected people. Thane discovers the popular leaders are all connected through a sex ring operation.

Boo, who was pushed to the edge, is arrested for the shooting death of the high-profile football coach.  Unfortunately, she is knee deep in a sex ring from which there is no apparent escape and pleading her case to prove her innocence or to even get a reduced sentence is daunting. While preparing Boo’s defense, Thane uncovers the unsavory practices employed by the university that not only involved the Coach, but also the athletes and a certain on-campus sorority. What follows is the courtroom battle to prove Boo’s innocence.

Once I got past the beginning of the book that left me wanting a white board to help keep all the characters straight, I found I was totally unable to put this book down. As straight forward as the main plot might initially seem, the many side plots and conflicts introduced definitely keep the intrigue on a high level. I found there were times I literally could not turn the pages fast enough.

Unlike a lot of books that tend to wrap the story up on one page with basically a “and they lived happily ever after” closing, something about the ending of this book hooked me. Cordell took the time to address a lot of the other characters’ life issues, and not in a neat, little one sentence resolution you find with other suspense books. The way he semi-closed a lot of the issues at hand cleverly left the door open for yet another highly intriguing book in the Contempt series…if we are lucky!

If you are a lover of suspenseful novels involving crime, the law, and family relationships, I urge you to pick up a copy of this book for immersion into the life and times of Thane Banning.