Austin, TX. — Everything is going Gabe Russell’s way. He’s successful in his new job, he’s a martial arts expert, his novel’s about to be published, and he’s got a crush on a woman at work that appears to be reciprocated.
There’s just one
problem: Gabe is a priest. And he’s coming undone.
In the gripping new
book from Tom Hogan, The Empty Confessional, a newly minted priest finds
release for his religious and sexual frustration through violent penance —
retribution against abusers and rapists he discovers through the confessional
and the pedophilic priests within his own ranks.
The Empty
Confessional plunges readers into the dark workings of the Catholic church and
its tacit policy of protecting pedophilic priests as told through the eyes of
Gabe, who, at just 27 years old, already has his own parish in working-class
Pittsburgh. But he is in crisis. He is sexually attracted to Michelle, a
teacher at the seminary where he works, and he is growing increasingly
frustrated by the church’s lack of ownership of the pedophilic priests within its
own diocese.
Skilled in Krav Maga,
a violent Israeli form of self-defense, Gabe can easily disable — and kill —
with his bare hands. And as Gabe hears confessions from battered and raped
women, he decides he can no longer just sit and listen. As he targets the
attackers one by one, his taste for violent retribution escalates, and he
eventually turns his attention to the pedophilic priests in surrounding
parishes.
Enter Carla Jessup, a
jaded detective assigned to investigate the attacks. Carla turns to Gabe for
his insights on the church and the pedophilia within its ranks, unaware that he
is the actual assailant.
When a shocking truth
is revealed, Gabe takes his vigilantism too far. Meanwhile, Carla has put the
pieces together, and she is ready to confront Gabe.
In the final scene,
readers are treated to a brilliant kabuki dance, with Carla visiting Gabe as he
is hearing confessions, but neither one acknowledges the other by name. Will
Gabe answer to his crimes? Or will his secrets be protected by the seal of the
confessional?
Tom Hogan is the
author of two novels: Left for Alive (2019) and The Devil’s Breath (2021); as
well as the co-author of The Ultimate Startup Guide, published in 2017. His
screenplays have won awards (PAGE competition and the Austin Film Festival). He
has also written for Newsweek and a number of political and travel
publications, including The Jerusalem Post and The Bulwark. Prior to joining
Silicon Valley, where his agency, Crowded Ocean, launched over 50 startups, he
was a Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Santa Clara University and
UC Santa Cruz.