Penitent
by A.W. Hammond
Allen & Unwin
Father Tom Morgan was a foreign correspondent in a former life. It was in Myanmar that he witnessed atrocities and war crimes committed by various armed groups. It was also in Myanmar that he was arrested, and had to make a decision that came at a price.
Haunted by his decision to save the life of one person by sacrificing the life of another, and full of regret for the impossible decision, Tom sought answers in the scriptures, and became a Catholic priest.
It was nine years after returning from Myanmar that he found himself presiding on the other side of the confessional box at Saint Dominic’s Church. The man, wanting forgiveness for his sins, confessed that he was doing God’s work by “slaying the demons among us”.
Tom’s training at the seminary had included looking at ecclesiastical challenges, but nothing had prepared him for the challenge of hearing a confession that sought forgiveness for having killed someone.
While Detective Atalia Reid is hunting a killer who is staging bodies of the victims to resemble religious tableaus, she believes that the priest knows more that he is letting on.
It becomes a case of 500 year-old Canon Law versus civil law, and there doesn’t seem to be a loophole in the sanctity of the confessional.
As the killings continue, it becomes harder for Tom to justify his silence, especially when his life seems to be in danger. In order to appease his religious commitment and his conscience, and face up to past mistakes, Tom decides to set about taking justice into his own hands.
The tension escalates and the Australian author explains, “I wanted to balance the suspense with bigger questions – about morality, responsibility, and what it really means to do the right thing when every decision comes with its own price.”
Lezly Herbert
