This is a good read.
Emilia comes across The Confession Room online and is intrigued by the posts on there. She’d even put her own confession on there.
The posts start off as run of the mill confessions but then it says the word ‘murder.’
Emilia alerts her ex boyfriend Ciaran who is a Detective, but they are too late to save the person named on the online forum.
Soon the word Murder is posted again and they try and save the people named.
When Emilia is taken she faces a very difficult choice.
I won’t say anymore as it will spoil it, but this is a good read.
Thanks to Michael Joseph and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Such a fast paced book full of tension. Chilling and horrific this book had me racing through to see where it was leading. The end was a disappointment and I felt very unrealistic. But then came the epilogue which Ive had to read more than once and leaves the book on a “Woah!” moment.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

3.5 stars rounded up.

WELCOME TO THE CONFESSION ROOM: An online forum for anonymous atonement.

Some people confess to affairs, others to stealing. Some admit deep. dark wishes. But one day a confession is posted that nobody expects: murder. And not just one named victim, but two. As more victims are named, and more bodies are found, people begin to fear who could be next. Because it seems if you have a secret, they'll find you.

Despite promising confessions without consequences, this is not what happens at all. Confessions of murder start appearing on the online forum, and members on the site start getting nervous. As ex=police officer, Emilia, is trying to find out who is responsible for the murders, but then she's named as a victim. This is a dark and unpredictable read, although I did think it showed the potential to be a much better read. The pace is fast, and I liked Emilia's character. I did find the ending to be a little disappointing, so I took of half a star for that reason.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #MichaelJoseph #PenguinRandomHouse and the author #LiaMiddleton for my ARC of #TheConfessionRoom in exchange for an honest review.

After a chilling opening scene that sets the reader’s mind racing, we meet our protagonist, Emilia Haines. Emilia used to be a police officer – and a good one by all accounts. But after the murder of her sister, Sophie, over which she feels a lot of misplaced guilt, she found she couldn’t continue. So she severed her relationship with her policeman boyfriend, Ciaran and left the force, setting up instead as a Private Detective, specialising in infidelity cases.

As a substitute for leisure time, she becomes more than a bit addicted to a new online forum called The Confession Room; a place where people confess their sins, or offer up their guilt. It’s a way for Emilia to spill her grief onto the page.

Most of the posts are pretty mundane; affairs, petty theft, small acts of revenge. But one day one posts two names alongside one word: murder.

What follows is both chilling and horrific and pulls Emilia into a dark investigation that will ultimately have her fighting for her life.

Lia Middleton’s book starts off with a chilling scene and she does well in keeping up the tempo to draw the reader deeper into to Emilia’s turmoil. The plot opener actually resembles another book I have read, but then there’s very little that is completely new and this book goes off in a different direction and has a twist or two that the other did not.

I did like the different points of view from those who were the chosen victims to the murderer and through to Emilia who always seems to be working against the police. The setting of The Confession Room works really well as we find ourselves in the blood chilling dark web and this increases the fear factor hugely. Lia Middleton writes fluidly and she knows how to create pace and dynamism.

Where The Confession Room didn’t really work for me though was in the character of Emilia. She wasn’t really sympathetic enough for me and I’d have liked to have seen a deeper exploration of her relationship with both her family and her ex, Ciaran.

Because I couldn’t really engage with her character, I found the storyline lost pace and with it some credibility and I was not at all persuaded by the ending.

Verdict: Overall this is a good story with a strong premise that just doesn’t quite pull it off for me.

This book starts with a bang and the beginning was a dark, chilly and twisty story that kept me on the edge and made me feel nervous. Then it was like a souffle that POUF that started to rise and the stopped.
I wasn't a fan of Emilia that I found a bit underdeveloped. I kept on read as I liked the storytelling and I wanted to know who-did-what-and-why.
The end was satisfying but I was expecting something more.
There's a lot of potential and I think this author will write excellent novels.
3.5 upped to 4
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I'm afraid this wasn't for me. I liked the idea of an online confession room but it wasn't quite as gossipy or exciting as I thought or hoped. Not sure about the ending and looking back it wasn't a novel I particularly enjoyed. Sorry.

This is an absolutely incredible thriller that will keep you guessing and up all night, wide awake, unable to put it down as you need to get to the last page and end the terror! This is definitely a book to rival any horror movie in building tension and just not letting go.
It is very easy to read and I found myself caught up in the story very early on. The first maybe 1/4 is setting the scene and getting us to know the main players in this, especially Emilia. After that, it's full throttle most of the way to the end and believe me, when you get to the end, you'll be turning the page too, like I did, hoping for more but also slightly fearful that there may be more too!
As soon as I finished this I jumped on Social media as I know one of my friends would love this, I described it to her as "It’s dark, slightly twisty, extremely squirmy & absolutely terrifying! It reminds me of a Chris Carter book!" and that is just about the best way I could ever describe this book without giving any spoilers. It's one I heartily recommend to every thriller reader just be aware, I love very dark thrillers and there were times when I had to steel myself before turning the page!

Oooooh this was such a chilling horror story and not what I expected at all! I was delightfully scared!

From the first scene, I couldn’t help being hooked in and having a thousand questions going round my head. Introduced by an unknown narrator, a man wakes up dazed in a small dingy room, his leg chained to the wall. Our narrator is waiting to see how he will react and what he will do next.

We then quickly move away from the scene to meet Emilia - a former police detective who gave up her job after her sister died and is now working as a private detective. She is addicted to a website called The Confession Room - an online forum where people post anonymous confessions, from hidden feelings to guilty secrets. Then one day a confession appears that chills Emilia - the murder of two people.

Now Emilia cannot ignore what she’s seen and she becomes embroiled in the investigation, getting back in touch with her ex, Ciaran and doing some private detective work of her own.

Next follow more posts - more names, and graphic videos. Emilia cannot step away and is determined to stop anyone else getting hurt.

This was so much more than an average thriller - the scenes in the Confession Room itself were really scary, and some of the situations Emilia finds herself in! And I enjoyed the moral questioning aspect of the story - would I watch those videos? What would I do in the victims’ situation? I found myself pondering it whenever I wasn’t reading! And the twists and turns did not disappoint - I didn’t expect any of what happens and the ending - so good!

Absolutely gripping and a really enjoyable read. A little reminiscent of the Saw movies at times - but sufficiently different to move past it! Definitely a more clever story!

This, initially, really intrigued me; A confession room, shown on the internet where individuals anonymously confess their darkest secrets, an ex police officer, still grieving for her murdered sister. Then, someone confesses murders before they happen.

Unfortunately, very quickly I lost interest in the characters and the plot. It’s very likely this is due to the writing style and characters just not grabbing me, so, I’m sure many will love it, but, I struggled to finish it.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview but not for me.

The Confession Room by Lia Middleton is a fast paced thriller that feels really current because of it's use of social media in the plot. Many social media platforms have "Confession Rooms" where people can go to confess their wrong doings both light hearted and more serious , and this is what the author has based her story on - a website where someone has begun confessing to murders. The protagonist of the story is Emilia Haines, a former police officer who left the force following the murder of her sister, and who regularly visits the confession room site, though she has not yet confessed her own dark secret- the guilt she feels that she ignored her sister's calls on the night she died. When a video is posted and the body of the person making the confession is found, Emilia finds her self drawn into a personal quest to uncover the murder, but as the bodies begin to stack up and her involvement comes to the attention of her former colleagues in the police , she is putting her own safety and freedom in danger if she continues the investigation.
Obviously I can't reveal anything more without spoiling the book, but I can say that the author does her best to keep the reader engaged and I really liked Emilia as a character, I found the ending a little disappointing but overall this was a fast paced and fun read.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own

Ahhhh the confession room 🙂 what a book! I loved it!!! An online forum for people to go onto and post their confessions. Seems simple enough and many people have done this and continue to do this, until one day the darkest of confessions is confessed. Murder.

Emilia Haines is an ex police officer, she left after her sister was murdered and made a confession on the forum saying if she ever found the person who killed her sister she would kill him. Emilia often goes on the confession room forum and one day she is shocked to discover that someone has confessed to murder, however it wasn’t just one murder it was two, and as time goes on many more people are taken and are murdered.

This keeps on going and the police have no idea who is behind this, and they have no leads to follow. Whoever is behind these murders clearly knows how to cover their tracks.

Emilia makes it her personal mission to get to the bottom of who is behind this and becomes obsessed with the confession rooms, she soon discovers that people who have made a confession on the forum are the ones who are being taken. People begin to panic as they have no idea who will be taken next and they soon start to panic. Will Emilia be able to get to the bottom of this or will more lives be lost before she can put a stop to this.

I loved the confession rooms, I was hooked right from the start of this book and every chance I had I was picking up my kindle wanting to know more, and what was going to happen next. At one point I found the book a little creepy, I even had to get up in the night to shut my balcony door whilst reading and turn the light on 😂

A brilliant read with plenty of twists I didn’t see coming. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for this review.

I’d like to thank Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Confession Room’ written by Lia Middleton in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

The Confession Room is a forum on the dark web where people can visit and give their confessions without fear of consequences. Emilia Haines is a private investigator who left the police force when her sister Sophie was murdered and while she’s browsing online a new confession is posted giving the names of two victims. Emilia can’t help herself but become involved despite being warned off by the police and soon finds herself caught up in a web of danger, lies and omissions.

Although ‘The Confession Room’ is classed as mystery & thriller and true crime I do hope this book isn’t based on a true story in any shape or form as I’ve found it quite chilling with an underlying atmosphere of suspense and horror. The concept of the story is excellent with characters that are well-described, and although it slows down in the middle there are enough twists and turns to keep me involved as Emilia continues with her amateur sleuthing. But just as I think the story is going to end with Emilia settling down to a quiet life, I reach the last chapter and final massive twist and realise that I’m totally wrong.

A gripping read about Emilia, whose world shuts down after the murder of her sister…..then suddenly she becomes entangled in the emergence of the Confession room, where murders are happening….couldn’t put it down….

WELCOME TO THE CONFESSION ROOM: An online forum for anonymous atonement.

Emilia Haines is an ex police officer turned private detective, one day she stumbles across an online forum, The Confession Room, where people are sharing their deepest darkest secrets with anyone that cares to listen, someone has just confessed to murder, the first of many incidents posted where two victims are named each time, but why are these people being targeted and should people be admitting their misdemeanours if there are consequences involved. Can Emilia help track down those responsible or is she just putting herself at risk with her obsession?

The Confession Room is an intriguing read, with a plot that, at times, suspended belief but isn't that what fiction is all about, to broaden the readers mind and stretch the imagination? I was drawn into this story from the outset, with the whole online confession aspect leaving me wondering where this tale was heading and what part Emilia would play with the perpetrators and, whilst the ending was unexpected, I did feel it was just a little bit too out there, even for the broadest of minds. This is the third book I've read by this author and, whilst I thought it was a great read, I did enjoy her others more.

I'd like to thank Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House and Netgalley for inviting me to read this, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

Another tense thriller from Lia Middleton- she sure knows how to write them.

Emilia was a complex character with demons of her own after the loss of her sister and the ‘what ifs’ that surrounded her murder.

Her police background actually hindered her in some respects when she went through what she did as she knew procedure but couldn’t - or wouldn’t- stick to it to protect her family.

Well thought out with a fantastic twist at the end; this was one that I devoured in 24 hours

Sorry but I couldn't get on with this.
The murders were very weird and overly complex, and the motive of the perpetrators no way strong enough to come up with such a convoluted method of killing complete strangers, after being completely normal people.
The problem with the serial killer novels coming out now is everyone is competing to come up with the most strange and unusual MO, which means a lot of realism, authenticty and characterisation is left behind.
I cared little for the people involved and I didn't believe in the lacklustre love story running alongside.
And the twist at the end rather limp, because again - why? I just didn't believe such a strong leap from supposedly normal human to outrageous murderer.

The Confession Room was marketed as a ‘psychological thriller with a dose of horror’ and I really should have taken note of ‘horror’ element as this book had too much of it for my liking.

In the plot the Confession Room is an online forum where people can confess anything they have done in an anonymous space. It’s mostly things like affairs and petty crime until one day someone confesses to murder giving two names and a location. This is followed by a disturbing video and soon after two bodies are found. This pattern repeats and the narrative gets more and more chilling.

Meanwhile, Emilia Haines is doing surveillance work as a private detective trying to spot unfaithful spouses for her clients. Emilia used to be a police officer but following the murder of her sister, Sophia, has left the force and split up with her boyfriend, Ciaran, who is still a police officer. Emilia has been watching posts in the online Confession Room as she spends a lot of time trying to work out who murdered her sister.

Emilia gets more and more involved with the online confessions until things get even more horrific for her. Apart from the unpleasant horror side, I found it a little repetitive and did some speed reading as I really just wanted to finish the book and know how it ended. It was not a great book choice for me.

With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What I liked:
• The reader getting each perspective - the victims, the detective and the murderer.
• The suspense and intensity.
• The twists.

The Confession Room has rendered me speechless. This was such an intense and suspenseful read that had me perched on the edge of my seat. Just when you think you know everything, it takes another turn.
I find that some thrillers can fall a little flat at the end, but this book left my jaw on the floor!

I loved how the reader was able to get perspectives from not just Emelia as the main character, but also the other victims and the murderer themselves. All the characters were phenomenal in their own right and each had me feeling something different towards them.

As a thriller, it contributed to me feeling all that I should while reading one - thrilled, anxious, tense and shocked.

This is a book that will stay with me for a long time and I urge everyone to pick up a copy of this upon release! This is easily one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long time.

Thank you to Netgalley, Lia Middleton and Penguin for allowing me to be an arc reader in exchange for an honest review.

A gripping read that gets you from the first page, kill or be killed….what would you do ? A thought provoking story that isn’t that unbelievable given the horrors that happen in the world today.

This is a creepy, terrifyingly eerie book that will keep you up at night and that won't be to read!!!
It follows a former police officer (Emilia), whose sister is murdered and she blames herself. She lives with this guilt every day. It blew her world apart. She discovers a forum online, where you can share your confession about things that have happened to you, and how you feel about it.. Usually bad, very bad. This forum takes on a life of it's own, and people who have commented on there are turning up dead, with the video evidence being shared on this forum too.
Emilia's life becomes horrific, and the way this is written really plays with your mind and stays on your mind!! No gore needed!!!.
I love books like this, so I was loving every second!!! The twist at the end will blow your mind!!!!
I received this free arc book for an honest review.
#aNetgalley, #michaeljbooks, #liamiddletonauthor.