The novel features three confessions: Donté’s false confession after being interrogated by police, Travis Boyette’s confession to Schroeder and Flak about his murder of Nicole Yarber, and Schroeder’s confession in court about aiding in the intra-state flight of a career felon on parole. None of these confessions has its intended effect; in the novel, the act of confession symbolizes the depths of failure of the US justice system.

Donté’s confession is a travesty. Without legal counsel and after 15 hours of interrogation and a series of illegal maneuverings by an overzealous, racist cop who presumes Donté’s guilt before investigating the murder, Donté signs this document in the hopes of being released and with the conviction that Nicole will soon be found alive. This confession is the opposite of an unburdening of conscience and the willingness to accept responsibility; instead, it is the result of torture: “Because he could not leave until he gave them back their story, and since he would, at that moment, confess to killing his own mother, why not play along?” (97). This bogus, illegally obtained confession becomes the justification for a gross miscarriage of justice: Donté’s conviction and death sentence.

Boyette’s confession is indeed an admission of guilt.