The following reviews have been posted on Amazon.com of Sin & Contrition:

by Kittty “Book Lover” (5 stars)

What is sin and what is contrition? In exploring these issues, Bill Peace has written a page turner in his new novel Sin and Contrition, as he follows the lives of three males and three females from early adolescence through middle age. As with all of us, these characters confront life’s issues – schooling, relationships, families, faith, careers all requiring choices. An additional character in the form of the pastor of a local church injects questions humans deal with throughout their lives – is there a God, does He act in our lives, and for Christians, what is the meaning of Jesus? A most intriguing and unique device is the “epilogue” where Mr. Peace interviews each one of the characters and asks them to examine their consciences, so to speak. As they look back on their lives, do they have any regrets? What would they do differently? What would they say about some of the moral choices they made? The reader reacts to the justifications presented by the characters, but also considers the responses in terms of his/her own life choices. The book is compelling and thought provoking at the same time. I look forward to Mr. Peace’s next book.

by Book Review (5 stars):

In his novel Sin & Contrition, William Peace follows the lives of six Americans, three male and three female, from a small town near Pittsburgh. We meet them at age 14, when their concerns are still those of very early adolescence: popularity, pecking order, awakening sexuality and, perhaps surprisingly to most of us, right and wrong. As they develop through their teen years, young adulthood and middle age, we grow more and more involved with the sometimes predictable, sometimes very surprising but always plausible ways in which their lives progress.

There is a lot of sex in this book — and a lot of religion. It is up to the reader to decide how comfortable he is with either. Peace seems to be totally comfortable everywhere, whether he is writing about the Marine Corps., lingerie manufacturing in Taiwan, tax fraud, drug abuse or political maneuvering. And, of course, he has the luxury of six different lives — and many very valid and fascinating minor characters — to play with.

He has also mastered the secret of the docu-drama. We know we are reading fiction, but we totally believe in these characters to the degree that when he chooses to close his account as an author interviewing them, we shake our heads but buy it. Or, perhaps it’s the soap opera that Peace has mastered. In either case, we want to tune in again tomorrow.

(For more information about my novels, see www.williampeace.net.