First I’d like to thank my Lord and savior Jesus Christ, who snatched me off the streets and gave me a second chance at life. I’m grateful to my wife, LaVeta, for being drop-dead gorgeous and for sharing the brilliant ideas behind this and so many of my other stories. I appreciate my children, Adrianne, Eve, and Solomon, for helping me learn the true meaning of manhood. I’m indebted to my parents, Carolyn and Solomon Jones, for life and love, and to my aunt, Juanita Bryant, and my grandmother, Lula Richards, for their loving guidance. I thank my late grandfather, Gerald Richards, for passing his work ethic down to me, and I’d also like to thank another special man who passed on as I was finishing this book. Mr. Rudolph Davenport believed in my work and was drawn to the wisdom I was able to share in my spoken word. Mr. Rudy, as we called him, often told me I should be on Oprah. He understood the power of encouragement, and he shared that power not only with me but also with many others. He will be missed. I thank my agent, Manie Barron, and my editor, Monique Patterson, for lending their considerable talents to mine. I thank Congressman Chaka Fattah for his support and encouragement. I thank Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell for her kindness in the days when I was one of thousands of nameless, faceless men on the street. I thank Philadelphia for being the place where my stories are born, and I thank you, the reader, for allowing me to share these stories with you.

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

THE LAST CONFESSION. Copyright © 2010 by Solomon Jones. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

ISBN: 978-0-312-58020-9