Rating: 
Summary: Life is what you make of it...
Review:
Although ostensibly a "mystery", the crime/detective backdrop in this story is clearly secondary to the ongoing musings in Herbert White's journal - which revolve around how we perceive ourselves in the world and the nature of the past, the future, reality, memories, and happiness. The crime caper part of this story is pretty thin and has to do with a homocide detective (Wesley Horner) in 1930s Minnesota trying to solve the murders of two dance-hall girls. At the same time we watch as this character wrestles with lonliness and a search for meaning in his life. Horner, although possessing a place in the world, seems a lost soul - a castaway in his own life, looking for salvation outside of himself. His character is contrasted with Herbert White, a naive oddball who although rejected by the world finds a salvation of sorts because of the lens through which he views life. The characters are well-written, and the story while somewhat bleak contains an uplifting message for those who want to find it.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: A truly different type of mystery in which the characters are richly drawn and unforgettable. Mr. White "seems" to be a rather pitiful fellow, but all is not what it seems to be. In this novel, the good guys can turn out bad and vice versa. Told from each character's perspective, the story weaves not so much a mystery thriller, but rather an insight on personal pains, demons, and redemption.
Rating:
Summary: A murder mystery without much mystery
Review: After spending the morning reading this novel I feel rather ambigious as to my reaction. On one hand, the prose of Robert Clark flows off the page like music from a nicely tuned piano and is a joy to read. The elegent word choices run the plot along nicely so that you feel each point being hit upon is germane and building up to the final zenith (which I will abstain from reveiling as a spoiler). Those who have read the book will understanding that by the end of page 200, you have a pretty good understanding of who did what and who DIDN'T do what. Unlike most other novels of a similar nature, the main character in this novel are tragically flawed in terms of their own wanton ways. Not exactly forgiving in the wake of 7/11 so be forewarned that the police reveil themselves as human and perhaps even less than that in certain instances. On the other hand, the novel really leaves you feeling as though the judicial system is innately flawed beyond hope. Overall this novel serves as a quick read by an author who has continued on a path of literary excellence to this point. You won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Fans of the Edgar, forget this one
Review: As a great believer in the Edgars for good, hard mystery stories, this one must have gotten the award because the judges were overwhelmed by the overwhelming praise from the literatti and assorted critickeratti. Pretentious writing. Little reader involvement in the characters. By the time you get to the end and are trying to figure out if Mr. White really did it, you really no longer care. Give me back Robert Crais, Michael Connelly, et al, dear Edgar. You've lost your compass.
Rating:
Summary: Not a "murder mystery" -- just a *very* impressive novel
Review: At first you think this is going to be a 'noir' crime story. Then it becomes a character study of four very different people and their interactions. And then it becomes a sort of philosophical/psychological investigation of the meaning of "past" and "future." Actually, it's all those things, written in a way that will make you lie in bed and think about what you've read each time you quit for the night. The setting is St. Paul, Minnesota, August 1939 to April 1940, more or less -- a nine-month period in which at least two dime-a-dance girls are murdered, in which Lt. Wesley Horner of Homicide tries to convince himself he has solved the crimes, in which Wesley (whose wife has died after their daughter left home) also falls in love with a wise sixteen-year-old vagrant girl who saves him from despair, and in which Herbert White goes from being an large but inoffensive middle-aged man with a very poor memory and a fondness for amateur photography to being a lifer at Stillwater State Prison. You keep waiting for things to turn out "right," for Lt. Horner to turn up the bit of evidence that will get Herbert off. But, as Lt. Welshinger, a vice cop who believes in evil (and he should know) says to a number of characters, "That's not how the world is." I sort of expected to be depressed when I finished the book, but I wasn't. And I'm very impressed with Clark's writing. (. . . and I'm wondering about the intellectual capacities of previous reviewers who were upset because the Edgar wasn't awarded to an Ed McBain-type routine procedural. . . .)
Rating:
Summary: The metaphysics of love and memory wrapped in a mystery.
Review: Clark's dark but lyrical "Confession" is a treatise on love, memory and spirituality wrapped in a mystery. It resides in the hinterland of perception, somewhere between reality and fantasy. Ultimately, it is about how love informs that perception. The book contains many rewarding moments, particularly as it relates to the world of ideas. Clark's send-up of the psychoanalytic theory of memory and repression in the context of a forced confession is an example. In three or four pages, he gets to the heart of the paradox of psychoanalytic thinking and does so while providing one of the novel's few truly humorous moments. Clark explores the nature of freedom and its connection to spirituality, without being pedantic and while remaining "secular". White is portrayed effectively as a Christ-like figure; in the eye of most other characters, the "Fool on the Hill". Through his spiritual resources, White remains free while his enslaver rots in his own private hell. Clark also provides some gut-wrenching moments in his description of the "bad-cop" character as evil incarnate. Likewise this sense of foreboding is captured in his description of place. The plot, while not incidental, is primarily a vehicle to explore metaphysical issues. Still, the story line itself is compelling. It's a difficult book to put down. Clark's originality in putting forth ideas is second to none in contemporary fiction. Mr. White's Confession long with Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain are my choices for the best fiction I've read this year.
Rating:
Summary: If you're looking for entertainment, don't read this book.
Review: Don't read this book. If you're looking for a good, solid entertaining mystery, don't read this book. It definitely has the standard ingredients : murdered girl(s), detectives but that is where it stops being standard. So be forewarned. The book is not standard; it is superlative. Following on the shirttails of The Great Depression in the 1930s, we are introduced to St. Paul, Minnesota, in the middle of the farming country which the Depression hit pretty hard. Money is still very tight and the Second World War has captured most of the headlines. The United States is not yet involved but the war is heating up. It is a time in the life of the world when a great amnesia has fallen on the world. Just a short while ago, the War to end all Wars was fought and now the only way to deal with the conlficts seems to be to fight another world war. A young woman is found murdered. St. Paul city detectives begin to investigate and Detective Wesley Horner heads the investigation. A broken man, late middle age, having lost his wife to cancer and his daughter to love, he is adrift on a flood of missed opportunities and memories. His home is filled with phantoms and ghosts who belabour his every hour. The case provides a welcome focus and he quickly finds a plausible suspect for the killing in an eccentric clerk by the name of Herbert White. But there is one major problem with Herbert White -- he has a memory problem. Long-term memory is fine and so is short-term but not the middle ground. Yesterday is a fog. He can only assert that he believes he would not do such a thing. But when the second woman is killed and Herbert White not only knows her but knows her well, Detective Horner believes that he is the murderer and looks no further. With the aid of a police associate from Vice, a confession is extracted which seals Mr. White's fate. It is during the course of this investigation that the Detective has met a girl who brings him back from the dead. She cares for him, loves him, feeds him, breathes life into his home and exorcises the ghosts which have haunted his house. His career takes an upswing and life seems worth living. But there is one drawback to her ministrations. As long as he works at forgetting the problem, the fantasy continues. But when the girl reads Herbert White's journal, she motivates Detective Horner to re-examine the case. And in so doing, Detective Horner has to re-evaluate himself and his life and the current problems in his life. And it is to this vulnerable point that one of his fellow officers gravitates attempting to use it for his own ends. It is this framework that is used to deliver Mr. Herbert White's thoughtful, philosophical discourse and ruminations. Without the glue of memory, the fabric of truth and falsehood, the definition of one's life and self falls apart. For in the end, if one cannot remember the details of one's life, then who is that self? Do you accept other people's definitions of your self? If so, what if the definition is one of monster? Mr. White rebuilds his self in the utter solitary of mind and body. Ultimately, for the detective, there is no way for him to remember himself but to risk everything he has gained to free the convicted murderer, Mr. Herbert White, who he now believes is innocent. And what of the third participant, the cop from Vice? Is is left untouched? After all the baggage of society has been stripped away; after the illusions are gone, after the maya is recognized for what it is, we have men who remember themselves, drastically changed by the experience.
Rating:
Summary: An unnerving novel
Review: Herbert White lives a strange life in Saint Paul in 1939. He's a very lonely man, has no friends, is profoundly attached to his daily routines and is an amateur photographer. He particularly likes taking pictures of taxi dancers working at the Aragon Ballroom where Herbert occasionally goes. And so he met Charlie Mortensen - also called Carla Marie LaBreque - and Ruby Fahey. Due to Herbert's eccentric way of life as a recluse, he doesn't feel very comfortable in the presence of women. All the photography sessions taking place at his apartment, Herbert's behaviour is always uneasy whenever a woman comes for posing. When Charlie Mortensen is found dead by strangulation on 30 Sptember 1939 and Ruby Fahey (killed in the same manner) on 22 October, the police suspect Herbert White and arrest him. Slowly White will be drawn into signing a confession stating that he killed the two women. But Lieutenant Wesley Horner becomes suspicious: why did Hebert White state in his confession that he killed the women "by battery to the head" when both of them died from strangulation?
Truth vs. fiction, past vs. present, love vs. hatred, faith and memory are the themes illuminated masterfully by Robert Clark. This is not a mystery story in the classic sense but rather a complex, intriguing and fascinating journey into the human psyche. A beautiful book.
Philippe Horak / phorak@gibz.ch
Rating:
Summary: A great novel
Review: I am not fan of the mystery novel genre but the article about Mr. White's Confession in last month's Esquire made me curious - I was not disapponited. Mr White is sort of a cross between Ignatius J. Riley and the Rainman. The characters in the book are all well developed and it is interesting to watch their personal lives become intertwined with the main question of the plot. The ending -although a good idea to bring things together with the passing of years - is a little choppy. This is a minor flaw,though. This is a book that is hard to put down. The suspense provided in the description of a scene between the book's creep and young Maggie are a narrative marvel. This is the finest novel I've read in some time.
Rating:
Summary: Great book -- so-so mystery
Review: I can sympathize with the reviewers that didn't like this book because, in a nutshell, it's not standard mystery fare. It isn't. It is something much more in my opinion. I love great mysteries, but I love great books even more. This is a great book. If you're limited to want only the same old mystery formula, don't buy this book. If you want something more, give it a try.
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