THE LAST CONFESSION

An execution is delayed when a new killing spree begins.

Father O’Reilly, convicted of committing a triple homicide in his church sanctuary a decade ago, is to be executed in three days. Mike Coletti, the Philadelphia cop who arrested him, is set to retire in three days. Then a new series of homicides begin, and a note is left at an art gallery exhibit titled “Confessions”—a note signed by the Angel of Death, the wraithlike figure Father O’Reilly has long sworn was the original confessional killer. Coletti is paired with young hotshot Charlie Mann to resolve matters while the O’Reilly execution is stayed. Mary Smithson, who seems fascinated by Coletti, is detailed to help them out. More murders follow, along with many sightings of the Angel of Death and clues from the biblical prophecy in Daniel 10 suggesting a major confrontation between good and evil.

Behind the eschatological rumblings is a routine police procedure with a single effective scene, a step-by-step autopsy. Otherwise, the results are more plodding than proficient—and a decided letdown from the early promise Jones (Ride or Die, 2004, etc.) displayed.