With the depth, maturity, and audacity of one past his age, Jason Vanderlaan addresses in fine verse the love/sexual dimension of human beings. He constructs the psychological profile of the “sinner after flesh”, reproving altogether the thought and action, while unveiling the conniving thread that guilt, shame, aloneness, disgust, and despair weave on the inside of his being, warning to tip off any hope for reinstatement.
“We choke your heart
With our deviant hands
And drown your love
With our shallow souls.” (To The Wives That Are Yet To Be).

“Despair is thus defined:
To hold a treasure
In the palm of your hand
Only to have it slip away
Down through the fingers like sand.” – (Double Deception).

After exposing the decadence of the human beings, the author brings up consequences of “what our eyes have seen”, “what our hands have done”, and “what our hearts have betrayed”.
“These lonely memories
Of white faces smeared red
Area eating away at the home
That I have yet to build.” – (Termites).

Following the awareness of a morally wrong course of action, an almost overwhelming appeal for forgiveness blossoms in sincere and weighty language.
“We are not all
Poets with epic hearts.
We are all
Less than we wish to be.
We are all
Broken and afraid
Forgive us.” – (Confessions).

Vanderlaan finally brings us to the realization that only God can change the condition we’ve fallen into, and addresses a strong appeal and encouragement to integrity.
“I’ve been trying to climb
With the strength of my broken bones,
But it’s only the rope of Your love
That can pull me out again.” – (Love Must Come First).

“Never again
Will I place myself
On this altar of emptiness.” – (The Tables Have Turned).

“Unspoken Confessions” is a journey from sin to restoration. It is a journey that we all undertake, at one level or another. Although it is written on behalf of men, a good number of poems apply equally to women, all in an unsusceptible and urgent sense of self-evaluation. You might find consolation in understanding that you are not alone in this battle. You may feel disgusted, disappointed, and discouraged at the reality of sin. Whether you’re on one side of the threshold or the other, it is a matter that concerns you, and the book provides not only the mirror, but the comb as well.

This book was more than an attempt at honesty and hope; it was a success.

Each poem is genuine and open, leaving no doubt in your mind that what you've just read is from the heart. I enjoyed seeing the transformation from being overcome by sin and temptation to a deliberate defiance and a stand against impurity and the power of darkness. But most of all, I think it was inspiring to see in these poems that there is something better than the counterfeit love the world has sold us: a true, pure love that can be reached only by accepting God's hand and allowing Him to pull us all out of darkness.

This book is a calling to a higher standard and a better life- for both men and women.

This book was incredible. Every poem was candid and honest about what men struggle with, the temptations they have, and the desire to overcome. It is exactly what Jason said it to be -- an attempt at honesty, at hope, and and attempt to find light in the darkness.

Initially when I started reading it, I thought, "Certainly every man can't be this bad..." It was a bit discouraging. But you must keep reading, because this isn't a poetic story of failure, but of hope and of faith and of strength. By the end of the book, I had fallen in love with the speaker in the poems -- a man who struggles with temptation, a man who wants to do good, and a man of strength and character. A man any woman would be lucky to have.