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The Confessional

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She never killed anybody that didn't have it coming....

Six months before aging out of foster care, 17-year-old Tori meets a local hustler who makes her an offer she can't refuse. At first, she enjoys the benefits of being Ricky's "new girl," but it's not long before he's looking for a return on his investment. When Tori's first job goes horribly wrong, she finds herself more indebted to Ricky than ever.

After a confrontation with Ricky spirals out of control, Tori goes on the run. Halfway across the country, she meets Dana, a street-wise woman in a similarly desperate situation. The two become quick friends and hatch a plan to move to Reno. But sometimes those closest to you are the ones who hurt you the most, and soon Tori is on her own again - and out for revenge.

To survive in this live by the gun, die by the gun world, Tori must learn how to fend for herself. She'll need smarts the streets could never teach her. Enter Buck, an older man in possession of a certain set of skills that could help Tori. But as life has taught her, nothing comes free, or easy. Buck will teach her his ways, but he'll need something from her first....

In The Confessional, Ashley and JaQuavis, acclaimed authors of the New York Times best-selling Cartel series, introduce their most ruthless hero yet - a charismatic killing machine intent on purging a closet full of skeletons as the walls are closing in.

Audible Audio

First published September 26, 2019

14 people are currently reading
277 people want to read

About the author

Ashley Antoinette

77 books7,363 followers
ASHLEY ANTOINETTE COLEMAN is one of the most successful female writers of her time. The feminine half of the popular married duo, Ashley and JaQuavis, she has co-written over 40 novels, including the bestselling Cartel series. Several of her titles have hit The New York Times bestsellers list, but she is most widely regarded for her continuing racy saga, The Prada Plan. Born in Flint, MI, she was bred with an innate street sense that she uses as motivation in her crime filled writings.

Picking up a deal with publishing powerhouse St. Martin's Press while simultaneously inking deals at Warner Brothers Studios and NBC/Universal, Ashley shows no signs of slowing down. She is currently hard at work on a new book series and two television pilots.

To keep up with everything Ashley Antoinette follow her...
twitter @novelista
Instagram @ashleyantoinette

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5 stars
172 (48%)
4 stars
132 (37%)
3 stars
44 (12%)
2 stars
6 (1%)
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1 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
Profile Image for Denise Hicks.
45 reviews1 follower
December 4, 2019
I loved this story from first to the last word.
But, it was too short.
I purchased it with an earned audible credit. My expectation was a full length novel. Not a short, very short story.
So I feel cheated.
This short story and the next book in the series, should be a duo purchase.
Profile Image for lexiskat.
288 reviews5 followers
February 26, 2025
No this is a good short read. Tori Tori Tori, girl you fought hard to go out like that. This book has the drama, frenemy, gaslighting, fake love you name it. The fact that she had 2 bodies by the age 18 and was training for that life style is wild. I just wasn't expecting the end.
Profile Image for The Diva Den Reads .
102 reviews1 follower
June 30, 2025
This book was filled with sorrow, hurt , pain , revelation and confessional peace.

Tori spent her whole life trying to find herself but end up losing herself. Her Confessional was her final piece to her life.
Profile Image for Jessica French.
86 reviews3 followers
February 14, 2020
This book was really good. I enjoyed reading this book the story is different from the others but still very interesting. I love when people find love in dark places and overcome turmoil. Lesson, be careful when seeking revenge sometimes the innocent are affected by your decisions and you may regret your actions.
Profile Image for Reading_Utopia!.
259 reviews11 followers
March 22, 2025
The Confessional by Ashley Antoinette and JaQuavis Coleman was a dark and electrifying novella! After hearing a recommendation on TikTok I raced to Audible to download it. It begins with Tori, a former foster child, telling her chilling story of survival after aging out of the foster care system. Listening to Tori confess how the streets took her from a scared, neglected teen to a ruthless killer kept me in suspense and holding my breath in anticipation. The Confessional was a thrilling and unforgettable read!

Profile Image for Fatimah.
455 reviews1 follower
October 26, 2025
Was scrolling on audible & found this audiobook & glad I decided to listen to it. This was a quick easy listen, Tori had it rough! That ending……… WHATTTTTTT WHYYYYYYYYYYY WHOOOOOOOO WHEREEEEEEEE WHENNNNNNNNNN
Profile Image for Aurora.
363 reviews13 followers
June 24, 2025
I don’t know why I thought the ending would be different. I listened at speed 2.0. Tori had such a hard life!
Profile Image for Gracie N.
472 reviews1 follower
February 26, 2025
Tori has been bounced from house to house as a foster child. When she was only 6 months from aging out she was placed into what she hoped to be her final home.

On night her foster parents friends were over and he placed a large bet during their card game, and when her foster parents could pay the let him take Tori.

She moved in with Ricky, and quickly realized he was a pimp. She let him know she was not going to have sex for money and he promised her she didn’t have too.

But he groomed her for months to love him so much that she would do anything for him, and then he flipped on her.

On her first night of work, it got a little too frisky for her and she ended up killing him. Once back at Ricky’s house he slapped her for messing up his money. That was they day she decided she needed out.

She was so popular with the johns that she was getting tips, she was hiding away the tips to leave. She slipped something in Ricky’s food and used that as her attempt to leave. But when she was about to leave ricky let her know what his plan was. They get into it, then she ends up killing him.

She runs away and bumps into another call girl when her pimp was beating in her. She helped her escape. They came up with a plan to save up some money, but lo girl was on some BS the whole time. Tori walked in on them trying to dip with the money. But her pimp had a gun and told her stay out his way or he will kill her.

Tori down on her luck returns to the bar they used for business and runs into a gentleman and offer her services. He took her home but didn’t use her services. He instead to her under his wing.

Apparently he was a contract killer, but he was dying. He gained trust in Tori and wanted to leave the business to her, so he started training her.

While out she ran into the bitch that stole her money, followed her back to her house, lit up her car, killed her, but didn’t realize her daughter was in the car who also got hit.

This book is written from her POV telling an interviewer. She offs herself after she tells her story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for ChloeShondra Robertson.
163 reviews3 followers
December 10, 2024
Tori started out with a confessional with a producer about how she started with killing. Tori lived a rough life, a white mother and a black father that she never met cause left before her birth. Eventually, her mother left that lead Tori from one foster home to another were that cause mentally and physically abused. Tori finally found a foster home were she felt it was OK to stay, but eventually her foster dad lost a bet and gave her to a pimp name Richard which was 15 years older than her. Tori was sick of everything and eventually killed Richard and went on a run coming across a redhead girl named Dana that was getting beat by her pimp so Tori defended Dana and they both live to make their own money come to find out Dana said Tori up with her pimp to rob her, which Tori didn’t even know he was still alive so she lost everything and had to start over. Tori came across an Italian hitman name Bucky who has stage 3 cancer that took her in show her the ropes of being a hit woman which she became successful in doing that after Bucky died one his associate came to her to finish any jobs that he had doing one of her jobs. She spotted Dana the one that betrayed her and she wants revenge. She got revenge, but didn’t know that she killed Dana daughter in the process. After Tori finish her confessional with the producer she off herself. Tori was finally free!
Profile Image for Tiffany Tynes-Gonzales.
55 reviews1 follower
October 19, 2025
I wanted to LOVE this one BUT...⭐⭐⭐

Okay y'all this one had me in the beginning! Tori's story pulled me in - 17, aging out of foster care, gets involved with this hustler Ricky who seems like her way out. Of course it goes sideways fast. Her first job was a Disaster. Now she's in debt to him and things get dark.
When she finally runs and meets Dana, I thought we were going somewhere good. They plan to head to Reno together but yeah... "trust no one" was remembered real quick! Then Buck comes in to teach her how to survive in his "way of life", but nothing's free. I was not a fan of the reader's voice for this character but you may like it!

The tagline "she never killed anybody that didn't have it coming" really fits. Tori becomes this ruthless character and I was here for it at first.

BUT, the ending felt so rushed. In my opinion, the pacing was completely off and after being so invested, the way it ended was disappointing.
If you like street lit and anti-heroes, give it a try!

Overall Rating: Solid 3 Stars
Profile Image for Lala.
287 reviews10 followers
December 26, 2024
Coming into this Audible Original it's set up in an interview style and Tori is telling the story of her life which includes the murders she committed starting at the age of 17. Tori may not have thought that Ricky had bad intentions for her, but I am glad that she did realize she was being groomed and started planning accordingly. Once Dana enters the story that's where it all goes to even further problems for Tori than what she already had. I don't even fault Tori for helping Dana out. Nope, if anything I'm looking at Dana like wow. Thank goodness for Buck not being like Ricky!
Profile Image for Monique.
369 reviews22 followers
December 5, 2020
I enjoyed The Confessional. It tells the story about a young girl who grew up going from Foster home to foster home.

The last foster home she went to is where everything started to spiral out of control. She was going to be 18 soon and age out of foster care.

Even after an unsuspecting turn of events that led her into a whirlwind of drama that she wasn’t prepared for. She thought that the life that had a grasp on her would just let her loose when she reached 18.

Tori trusted the wrong people. Payback is a Mother Fucker though. Best believe everyone who fucked with Tori foul will get dealt with.


Profile Image for Nevada.
189 reviews1 follower
January 26, 2021
Never ends the way you imagine, which is a good thing. It keeps you guessing.
I'm not certain if I missed a part, but didn't get why or how Toni was even placed in the position to tell her story, to a jpurnalist.
Revenge is a monster that although may be inevitable, it's also bittersweet.
I feel bad for Toni because her life was fucked up because no one showed her love. The people in social services should be held accountable. They place vulnerable lives with predators. As long as they get to cross a human being off their to-do list, they count it as a success.
Great Book, I definitely recommend this great read.
Profile Image for Brandi.
468 reviews3 followers
November 17, 2025
I would have given this one 3 stars if I knew what the point was.
Torey is young and gets sucked into the life of prostitution. She makes a plan to leave her pimp but that goes haywire and she ends of killing him. Then she goes on the Run and meet another prostitute Dana who she Teams up with to turn tricks and keep all their money. Dana turns on her for her pimp and takes off with all the money they have been saving.
She then meets Buck, a dying hit man who takes her under his wing. He dies and she replaces him as a hired hand. She eventually finds Dana and sets out to kill her which she does along with Dana's little girl then Torey kills herself 😐
WHY!?!?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Michael Johnson.
Author 3 books4 followers
March 11, 2024
Tori’s life was a chaos to say the least. She lived a horrid life that. What happened the second half of the book was unexpected, but it worked because of the initial set up.

There was a jarring POV change when the story began to shift that I didn’t see coming. Otherwise Ashley and JaQuavis did a great job with an emotional story that had us rooting for Tori who showed some serious perseverance. A really solid easy read drama with a twist a high 3.5/4 stars.
Profile Image for Kay Scott.
248 reviews1 follower
September 2, 2025
Tori's life was an obstacle course -- mostly downhill, lots of manipulation, and death around so many corners. Tori was literally thrown to the wolves before she was legal or could consent. From her crazy pimp to being a hired assassin and caretaker in the end, Tori fought every step of the way to take care of herself. The ending and the reason behind her confession were sad! Rough life but good depiction by the authors
Profile Image for Amber  Jackson.
17 reviews
November 20, 2025
Ashley and Jaquavis are the OG's of Urban Fiction. This audiobook did not fall short of anything. It had drama, action, suspense, revenge and a surprising ending. I endjoyed everything about this book. Tori had it hard but at the end she found her way and sense of some control over her life. We never can predict the life we will have and Tori is an example of getting if from the mud. I need to find more audiobooks like this. The narration was good also.
Profile Image for Tiara.
11 reviews3 followers
August 29, 2025
Naaaah Tori baby, this was traumatic lmao. I’m not sure what I was expecting. I couldn’t stop until it was over but wooow. I’m not sure if the detail in the way it was written is a pro or a con in the grand scheme of things, but my goodness I feel traumatized. Tori lived such a hard life in such a short time frame.
Profile Image for Ericka.
787 reviews1 follower
January 3, 2025
Well, I be damn! That was an awesome listen! Only Ashley and JaQuavis can tell such an awesome tale! Was not expecting that ending! Truly thought the crew was going to get a Tory surprise, just not that surprise! Wow!
Profile Image for Dominique Louis.
12 reviews
March 14, 2025
This was such a good one, I knew that biii was setting Tori up. It made me mad she didn’t peep it but she was young . She had so much more potential I was rooting for her She went through so frickin much in her life i hated to see her go out like that . Damn whew heavy read/listen but good!
Profile Image for Anna Mullings.
182 reviews2 followers
January 28, 2021
This book was soo good, Tori has been through so much is like things constantly fall in her place leading her down the wrong path.
It was a quick and spicy read.
Profile Image for Rellim.
1,676 reviews44 followers
Want to read
November 29, 2021
11/29/2021 - $1 on Audible. Looks creepy/twisted good.
Profile Image for Keshia B..
176 reviews1 follower
June 16, 2024
This story was tragic. It was so well written that I didn't want it to end.
1,058 reviews1 follower
November 19, 2024
Damn this was an excellent short story. I was completely enthralled. I wanted Tori to win so badly. The ending took my breath away.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews

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