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ipsita's review
4.0
The Devil’s Prayer
Author: Luke Gracias
Publishers: BEE Books, Australian eBook Publishers
Publication Date: 28 February, 2016
Genre: Historical Fiction, Horror, Thriller
Page Count: 360 (Paperback)
Source: Review copy sent by the author
mybookishvibes rates: 4.5/ 5 Stars
Review:
Set in a world full of mystery and to find the true cause behind her mother’s sudden disappearance for six years and then her suicide,
Siobhan Russo in hope of finding the truth and to unravel what her mother, Denise Russo who lived as Sister Benedictine in those last years becoming a nun, meant by urging her to go to Zamora in search answers through a priest finds a strange and far more terrifying yet quite unreal tale inside her mother’s confession to Siobhan, the only possession she left before dying.
After realizing the real trouble, she is in when a group of unknown priests come after her demanding of her mother’s diary, the run for her life starts. In the cat and mouse chase of life she reads through the book only to thrust into the story of her mother’s past; how she ended up bargaining with the devil and became his maiden and learns about her mother’s journey and her quest to find an anchor for her soul for all her mistakes and perhaps in search of some possible ways to undid those. She reads about the stories that her mother as Sister Benedictine uncovers, histories and of stated books on another world of ancient realm, of people fighting to own a book called The Devil’s Prayer (Codex Gigas), the largest extant medieval illuminated manuscript in the world
and finds her mother’s true motive behind abandoning her and Jess.
Siobhan after reading such clearly unrealistic stories her mother wrote about, doesn’t believe what her mother is trying to explain first but then soon she becomes aware of the strange truth behind all of them. And that makes her question her mother’s history more and more, failing to see the mother she had loved all those years before but as peculiar as all of it sounds reading the diary of her dead mother as a last wish, she couldn’t not accept what she was born to be.
So, does Siobhan’s quest to uncover the mystery behind her mother’s confessions ends there?
I really enjoyed reading this historical fiction with a slight taste of gothic and religious facts in the debut book of Luke Gracias, The Devils Prayer.
This book clearly stands out based upon a very unusual mystery behind a book called as the same name, I still don’t know if it was all just a story or some truth hidden after the dead centuries ago.
What I know is this book pulled me into the ancient world and to a whole new different time, where there is a recent terror engulfing the population near to destruction, where the devil finds his ways to create an abomination and is still lurking in the shadows tempting you to him.
But the true terror isn’t what the devil’s plays, but the humans who are bent on destroying the lands and the world thinking themselves as the real owners foolishly enough. I love how the author portrayed that through the story and picturing the terrifying outcome after the destruction.
“The human race will have no choice but to turn on itself in a flight to secure the morsels that remains…...
It is the perfect environment in which the Devil is blameless, and can reign supreme. In this situation, all evil can be justified in the name of survival…”
Some parts of the book made my toes curl in anticipation I just couldn’t read fast enough, really the book was addictive. The author gives a really brilliant and emphasized brief on the history and mixed it up with all the known facts himself making the whole story seems real and full of thrilling secrets to be unfolded. Most of all I admire how the author tried to share his belief on religion and put them as an example in the story, in the real hunt of belief.
“You are confusing God with religion. It is like water. Water is water, whether you drink it from the tap, or you get it from a bottle sparkling or still, it is always water, irrespective of the brand or packaging. God us like water and religion is the brand or packaging.”
“The problem is neither with religion nor with God. The problem is with man and what he does in the name of God. Religion is like a knife: in the hands of a surgeon, it heals, but in the hands of a murderer, it kills.”
Finally, the characters in the story were also very well written, I loved Denise’s story and how she developed so much through her struggles. Meanwhile there wasn’t much to speak for Siobhan as the story was mostly from her mother’s perspective. I really hope I’ll get to know more about her in the sequel (which I’m really waiting for now). The other characters in the story including Jess and the Devil, were described so well while the Perrys were manipulated into giving you terrors and chills all over.
And so, does the story, it will leave you gasping to know what happens next. I really can’t wait to discover either. To dive into the mesmerizing words of the author and the magnifying world he builds up.
Ratings:
So, if you want to read some really exciting and horrifying yet mysterious tale of history and some more, I’d definitely recommend you to pick this one and read through a world of demonic secrets and find the intriguing end to it too. As I really REALLY loved and lived the story I’m giving this book 4.5 magnificent stars while waiting for the sequel to come out rather anxiously.
[Thanks so much to the author for providing me with the book in exchange of an honest review]
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