The Confessions by Paul Bradley Carr

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✦ BLURB ✦

Millions of letters arrive in the mail. Murders are uncovered, affairs revealed, family secrets exposed. These are the first Confessions. This is our last chance. 

LLIAM is the world’s most powerful supercomputer, built to make the toughest decisions for its users. Where to work, who to marry, and even who should live or die. But when LLIAM suddenly goes offline with no explanation, the world is thrust into chaos, paralyzed by indecision. Stocks plummet, stores are shuttered, planes sit grounded on runways as humanity scrambles to re-adapt to an uncertain, analog world. Then the first letters arrive…

On every continent, in every language, mysterious envelopes arrive in the mail, exposing people’s darkest secrets, and most shocking crimes. All beginning with the same chilling “We must confess.” 

With millions of people suddenly made to confront their past transgressions, and society fast unraveling, CEO Kaitlan Goss must track down the only person who can help undo the resulting violent Maud Brookes, an ex-nun who taught LLIAM what it means to be human. But when Maud receives a letter herself, revealing Kaitlan’s own unforgivable sin, the two women are forced into a deadly game of deceit as the world teeters on the brink.

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✶ PRE-READING ✶

I went in expecting something more philosophical and reflective, in the vein of The Measure by Nikki Erlick - one strange element (letters, again!) sparking quiet personal reckonings. Instead, this was more like The Circle or Black Mirror on an energy drink binge: fast-paced, violent, but still brimming with ethical tension. An excellent surprise.

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✶ POST-READING ✶

As I thought... Big questions about technology, morality, control, and culpability abound - no easy answers, but no lazy hand-waving either. And Maud? Maud is magnificent: prickly, grounded, and layered.

It surprised me by... Being so much more of a thriller than I expected! Think running through crumbling buildings, global panic, corporate sabotage, secret bunkers. My only gripe? It ends right at the climax - no epilogue, no consequences, just a breathless full stop. I’m still thinking about what could have followed, which I suppose is a compliment… but I like a little aftermath in my apocalypse.

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✦ RECOMMENDATIONS ✦

Book Recommendation: The Circle by Dave Eggers – For another tech-ethics page-turner, though this one is faster and leaner.

TV or Movie Recommendation: False Memory by Dean Koontz – For AI dread, identity uncertainty, and the question of what makes a human human.

✦ MUSIC PAIRING ✦

Because sometimes, the heart of a story plays out like a song.

🎵 Featured Song: "No Choir" by Florence + The Machine — quiet devastation and unspoken reckoning.

🎶 Vibe Album: Hunger by LUNIR — smooth, digital soul that blends synthetic gloss with emotional edge.

🎧 Artist Recommendation: Zola Jesus — perfect for the existential dread of being governed by code and conscience.

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✧ VIBE CHECK ✧

🎨 Colour Palette: Deep indigo, stark ivory, jarring blood-red accents.

🎬 Soundtrack: Ex Machina meets Children of Men, with a synth-heavy score pulsing beneath.

🌦 Season: Late autumn. The air is sharp, the leaves are gone, and the future’s coming in cold.

😶 Mood: “What if your browser history had a soul and started making choices for you?”

🕯 Scent: Metallic circuitry, burned coffee, and the dry, dusty smell of old paper truths.

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★ TAROT CARD PULLED ★

Two cards for a world unraveling from the inside out.

• The Moon (Transient Light Tarot) – The truth warps in the moonlight. Secrets rise, the landscape shifts, and nothing is quite what it seems. This card speaks to the paranoia and moral ambiguity that ripple through The Confessions—a world where you’re never quite sure what’s guiding you... or why.

• The Tower (Unfolding Path Tarot) – A system collapse on a global scale. LLIAM’s sudden silence topples the world’s illusions of control, and a lone figure falls—maybe Kaitlan, maybe Maud, maybe all of us. The destruction is brutal, but it clears the way for something new... if anyone survives it.

📅 The Confessions publishes on the 22nd of July, 2025. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.