“LLIAM, what do I want for dinner?
LLIAM, how can I get a better job?
LLIAM, should I kill my husband?

AI bot LLIAM powers society – but today, he went offline. Shops shut, planes were grounded, and Kaitlan Goss, CEO of LLIAM’s parent company, has to fix it.

Then letters from LLIAM arrive: identical white envelopes, confessing people’s darkest secrets to their loved ones.

Kaitlan races to find Maud Brookes, the only person who can bring LLIAM back online and stem the tide of societal breakdown. But Maud received a letter, too – about Kaitlan.

LLIAM, how do I save the world?”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of The Confessions by Paul Bradley Carr. The Confessions was published by Faber Books on 6th November 2025 and is available in paperback, audio and digital formats. I chose to read a free ARC of The Confessions but that has in no way influenced my review. My grateful thanks to Lily at Faber Books for sending me a finished copy.

How flipping scary does this book sound? Not the fact that LLIAM, the most popular AI bot has shared everyone’s secrets, not that it no longer seems to be working, but the fact that society has decided it’s easier to ask LLIAM than make a decision about their own life. We’re talking, ‘what shall I have for dinner?’, ‘what would my husband like for his birthday?’ and ‘shall I murder my next door neighbour? Will I get away with it?’. Near-future society has finally given up on decision making and now relies on LLIAM to answer all of its quandaries. Society has become THAT lazy, that reliant on tech and that stupid that it can’t make a decision. It’s terrifying stuff.

So when that highly advanced, much-relied-on tech goes offline, after sending detailed letters to all its users revealing their loved ones, and their colleagues, most personal secrets, society has a bit of a meltdown (to put it mildly). At the heart of the LLIAM network is Kaitlan Goss, ex-model turned CEO. It’s been a slow and tricky rise to the top for Kaitlan, and now she’s wondering if it was worth it. Because she’s a wanted woman. Everyone hates Kaitlan. But Kaitlan has a plan that can’t fail. All she needs to do is find Maud Brookes, the woman LLIAM thinks of as its mother, and get the reboot chip from her. But Kaitlan isn’t the only person searching for Maud. And Maud, living as a recluse in the California wilderness, doesn’t necessarily want to be found…

Meanwhile, chaos swiftly unfolds across the globe. People have to start making their own decisions, and it’s just too much for them. The letters reveal secrets about their loved ones that tear lives apart.

The Confessions is a tense, unnerving and dramatic thriller that follows Kaitlan as she locates the elusive Maud. Maud, however, has received a letter of her own. A letter about Kaitlan. There is a heck of a lot going on in this book, but it’s fairly easy to follow proceedings and keep tabs on who’s who. This is very much a tech thriller with lots of double-crossing, dramatic chases and races against time. The technical language (there really isn’t that much) lost me a little at times, but that’s more to do with me than the book. The characters are strong throughout. I thought Kaitlan was an interesting lead character. She’s an astute businesswoman who has risen to the top in a male-dominated environment. When everything goes wrong, she very much becomes the ‘fall gal’. Pressure comes from multiple directions, with The Board sending their own man, Simon Price, to make sure the outcome they want is achieved. That outcome doesn’t involve Kaitlan in any way, shape or form! With underhand dealings, half-truths and hostility aplenty, Kaitlan really doesn’t know which direction to turn.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. If you’re a thriller fan, and in particular a tech thriller fan, then you will enjoy this high-octane, AI-fuelled thrill ride. If you’re already a little nervous about the arrival of AI, you may want to give this one a miss! The Confessions felt very realistic, very near-near-future. It could happen. This time last year, I hadn’t heard of ChatGPT, now I use it for something-or-other most days (yes, it seems I am part of the problem 😂). The story flows well from start to finish with peaks and troughs throughout, keeping the reader immersed in the narrative. The characters are well-defined and feel believable. All in all, I enjoyed The Confessions and would read more from this author in the future. It’s been a while since I last read a tech thriller but it made a refreshing change. An intriguing, eye-opening book. Perhaps it’s time for us to reconsider the whole AI thing…? Recommended.

I chose to read and review a free ARC of The Confessions. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

The Confessions by Paul Bradley Carr was published in the UK by Faber Books on 6th November 2025 and is available in paperback, audio and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

Paul Bradley Carr is a journalist and author. He has written three memoirs about his adventures in and around Silicon Valley. He was the Silicon Valley columnist for The Guardian, senior editor at TechCrunch, cofounder of PandoDaily, and founder and editor-in-chief of the infamous NSFWCORP in Las Vegas. His writing has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, National Geographic, and much more. He lives in Palm Springs with his family and is the co-owner of The Best Bookstore in Palm Springs.