The guilt within the novel comes from two sources: 1) Jack feels guilty about the nature of his desires; and 2) he feels guilty because he may have killed one of his lovers, Cassidy Blanque, but he's not quite sure if he has or not.

Jack's guilt about his sexuality stems from a religious upbringing: Jack's attraction to Jesus is purely sexual. He laments being raised a Protestant, a faith in which "you're just guilty," instead of a Catholic, where you can confess and be forgiven. The book refers to confession as the "major contribution of Catholicism to modern religion" and embraces the confessional in tone and style. In fact, the narrator warns us of this fact at the very outset: "this is not a novel… It's an exploration of my guilt."

While he is tempted with confession for the murder of his ex-lover, his resistance provides the novel with its one Noir moment. Throughout the novel, Jack is racked with anxiety, self-doubt and guilt. As Jack describes the circumstance surrounding the murder, the evidence stacks up against him. Jack is nervous when a police officer arranges to meet him at a restaurant to question him about Cassidy's death. The officer manages to "trick" Jack into giving more details about the circumstances of the murder than the officer has offered. The detective suddenly confronts Jack: "All the evidence points to you, Jack. So you might as well make a confession."

After an entire novel of confession, Jack reacts with the resolve that drives the conflict of noir. In that instant Jack seems to realize the chasm between what the world wants us to be and how world really is, but he is guided by his own sense of how it should be: "I wasn't having any of it. Fuck this…I stood up. 'Sorry Buddy. No confession. You want to take me to court? Go ahead, arrest me. Are you going to arrest me? Well?' "

Instead of arresting Jack, the officer turns smart: "We have your number, Jack."

Jack finds this response amusing: "Did he mean my goddamn phone number? Of course they had my phone number. He had fucking phoned me. Big deal. I walked out of the restaurant."

The sentiment doesn't last, however. Before we turn the page, Jack is racked with guilt and almost runs back to confess to the cop. Jack finds himself attracted to the officer and it stirs up his confessional impulse. He rationalizes his desire to run back to the cop: "Because things had changed in a major way. It was like, now, the cop and me, we had a sort of relationship."

Sexualizing the world when you are racked by guilt over your sexuality reduces you to fantasy and confession, instead of action. And that seems to be Jack's fate.