I was drawn to this book as I *embarrassingly* really like the Dan Brown inspired films, especially Angels vs Demons and this book sounded similar and it definitely was but I had quite a few problems with it sadly. The book follows Denise aka. Sister Benedictine on a mystery that pulls in all of those around her as well as secrets, religious mysteries and murderous monks...it sounds incredible doesn't it?

The first third or so of the book was amazing, so engaging and such a quick read to the point where I thought it was going to be one of my favourite books of the month but then...oh, boy. While I liked the religious mystery aspect of this book, what I didn't enjoy was all of the rape (lots of rape), torture (lots of torture), murder/crime, drug abuse and just so many vile and completely unbelievable characters that bordered on the completely ridiculous!

This is the process and my feelings of the book as I was reading it: it felt like an amazing historical fiction, then a contemporary mystery thriller followed by a ridiculous slasher gore fest then a boring travel guide and to top it off, a environmental and philosophical lecture about how human are destroying the plant...then back to the mystery - it almost gave me whiplash. Don't get me wrong, there were some good points (it was a quick read, I loved the first part and the mystery as well as the setting in Spain) but on the whole I feel as though it was written for the over the top shock factor and it felt very info dumpy towards the end. It's a book I've seen good ratings for but for me, it was such a let down and I had so many problems with it personally.

The Devil's Prayer by Luke Gracias takes you into a world of mystery and horror. The book is thrilling and horrifying at the same time. The book begins in a small Spanish town. A nun is copying the Devils Prayer from a book, a prayer that is important. Before she finishes she is chased by a group of sword wielding monks and ends up trapped in a bell tower. The only way out is death, an apparent suicide to people watching.

In Australia, Siobhan Russo recognises the nun as her mother who had disappeared six years earlier. Siobhan goes on a journey to find out what happened to her mother. A journey that takes her to the secluded monastery where she receives some documents her mother left her. Reading these documents Siobhan becomes aware of the horrors her mother faced in the past. Horrors that led her to make a pact with the devil. By possessing the diary Siobhan's life is in danger from the very monks who drove her mother to her death. She needs to find the book of the devil before they can and goes on a quest to find this.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a twisting thriller which keeps you turning the pages to the end wanting to know what will happen. There has obviously been a lot of research put into the book. A lot of historical background was evident that helped to bring the story to life. The book can be graphic and horrific as well which will appeal to any horror lovers. The book is full of surprises and the characters linger in the mind. The ending is a cliff hanger and I hope that there is a sequel soon.

Luke Gracias has a book comparable to Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code
Full of intrigue from the beginning as the story unfolds it keeps you spellbound as you held in suspense all the way through and even on the last page the sight of the man in the fedora leaves you wondering what will become of the two sisters.

Gripping read from the start. Real page turner! Highly recommended

I am currently exactly half-way through this book and don't know that I will be finishing it. I picked it out because of the description - a book about the Devil's Prayer, "an ancient text with the power to unleash apocalyptic horrors". The opening few chapters were intriguing. A nun running from red-clad monks. An apparent suicide in the middle of a crowded festival. Fantastic!

But then you get to the daughter's story - where she finds her mother's diary/confessional and proceeds to read it while being almost-caught by monks dressed in red at the end or beginning of every chapter. Let me say that I am totally fine with novels that have scenes of graphic violence, kinky sex, and out-of-the-ordinary, bloody disgusting murders if they are well written. This is not. (What mother would include graphic descriptions of her rape and attempted murder in something she leaves specifically to her daughter?!?) From what I can tell, the next 100 pages will be exactly the same as the last 150 pages - a horrific revenge tale where a supposedly normal woman takes revenge on her ex-friends with saws, knives, home-made explosives, fire, and anything other tool or shock-device the author thinks will stun the reader into loving this book.

This is not a historical horror thriller, as promised. After the opening chapters, there is no further mention of the evil monks or an apocalyptic threat to the world except as a literary device to move this woman's daughter to whatever is going to happen to her in the last few chapters of the story. But then again, I'm only half-way through so perhaps there is more/better intrigue as you get further into the story. I guess I'll never find out.

The book is written out of sequence, beginning with the present day; initially it’s about the story of a silent nun breaking into a concealed room hidden deep within a monastry whilst some weird creepy ritual goes on outside. This first part (alas – it only lasts a few chapters) reads a bit like a Dan Brown novel and immediately had me gripped. Unfortunately, it went downhill from there.

The next part of the book was written as a letter being read by the nun’s daughter, which alternated between the present day (when the daughter was reading it) and the past (when the letter was obviously set). The letter explained the events that led up to the nun abandoning her family, joining a convent and trying to track down some centuries old religious documents. Unlike a Dan Brown book, there was no attempt at plausibility when the reason for this was revealed. Seriously, it’s ridiculous. I won’t say too much in case you’re some kind of masochist who actually still wants to read this book, but it really is a stupid premise.

Anyway, the book then goes on to explain that the quest was never completed and in order to save the world, the daughter must pick up where her mother left off. Which she does. Without question.

Cue an awful lot of pointless travel around Europe while the daughter continues to read what her mother had been up to. She’s being chased by some evil monks (all wearing bright red robes, luckily. I mean, surely they would have disguised themselves? Anyway…) so she literally arrives in one place, reads a bit of the letter, a monk turns up, she gets on a train, they follow, she goes somewhere else…pointless.

The story ends completely arbitrarily after literally nothing is resolved and it looks like the whole thing was a waste of time. I couldn’t believe that the story just stopped in the way it did. I mean, I was thankful that it was over, but it made no sense. Is there a sequel? (please God don’t let there be a sequel).

Apart from the storyline, there were many, many other things that I disliked about the Devil’s Prayer. It’s incredibly simplistically written and the grammer is terrible; really clunky and awkward. I think that the book has either been edited by a child or the author simply bypassed this stage altogether. It looks like it hasn’t been proof read either – at one point something is described as spartan but it’s written ‘Spartan’ (noun) like the inhabitants of Sparta.

The characters are either completely, unequivicably good or downright evil. There are no shades of grey. Everything is completely black and white. If someone is jealous, they say ‘I always hated you, with your perfect life’. If they’re rich (female) they buy designer clothes and handbags. If they are rich (male) they have a bright red sports car. If they’re good, they fail to notice these glaringly obvious, stereotypical signals of wealth and struggle on to pay the medical bills, never once questioning whether anyone could help them out. At one point, the devil appears and just in case you were in any doubt, utters the phrase ‘Hello? I am the devil’. Aaaargh! Quite why he is talking like a California Valley girl is anyone’s guess.

The story itself, apart from being utterly unbelievable, is terribly written. It’s obvious what has basically happened from the beginning (you’re literally given this information as a recollection) and the only vaguely intriguing part is trying to work out which of the poorly outlined characters were responsible for which bit. You know they’re all in it together and you know why, so this held little interest for me. This endless interrogation of each character took the vast majority of the book, and was extremely tedious.

There were also huge, gaping, obvious holes in the story as it emerged. The main character massively implicates herself in various crime scenes; her car is found by the police, she has visible marks on her body like she’s been in a fight, a woman matching her description is seen, the scenes involve all of her friends – but the police just keep confirming that it can’t be her because she’s a bed bound quadraplegic. Plausible, you might think – until the next day when she makes a miraculous recovery and starts walking around as though nothing has happened and the police still don’t think to question her (or, you know, arrest her immediately).

There are other, appalling incidents in the book that are frankly ridiculous – the main character appears to have been chosen by the devil for no discernible reason, she has consensual sex the day after she is brutally raped, she decides that someone she has known forever is the love of her life just because she sees some good in him. Nonsense.

I came to this book with no preconceived ideas as I had never heard of the author. I imagined it as a "better" version of the Da Vinci Code with some horror and had read the trigger warnings. The surprise was how quickly I was swept up in the story. Who was this nun running through buried tunnels? Why was she estranged from her family? What would her daughter find out when she travels to the convent? There is a lot going on here and it is obvious the author is well versed in arcane information. But he wears his learning lightly. This is a fictional roller coaster ride not a lecture. but the knowledge adds to the story by making it seem "real". Recommended if you enjoy a good page turner with a bit of depth.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I was instantly grabbed when I started this book, though unfortunately, the pacing and structure resulted in a story I was much less engaged with than I had hoped.

When a nun commits suicide in Spain and is identified as the missing mother of Australian Siobhan Russo, Siobhan travels to Europe to try to find out what happened to her mother. As she reads the confession written by her mother in the last months of her life, she is pursued by monks in red robes, who are after vital information that Siobhan’s mother was determined to take to her grave.

This book really tells four stories: Siobhan’s, her mother Denise’s, the story of a priest in the 1970s, and the story of a medieval priest. I felt that the scenes from Siobhan’s POV were the strongest; however, these scenes were actually in the minority.

The majority of the book is in the form of Siobhan’s mother’s confessional, in which she details the deal she made with the Devil and its aftermath. Perhaps this is due to it being in diary format, but I felt that there was far more telling than showing, which affected how easily I connected to the characters. The two stories set in the 1970s and further back in medieval times are only introduced in the last 20% of the story, and for the most part, consisted of rather a lot of historical info-dumping that slowed the story right down at the point where it was supposed to reaching the climax.

Having said that, even though I didn’t find the story engaging all the time, the writing style was easy to read and I got through it much faster than I expected.

To finish, I just want to give a content warning for some rather gruesome murder scenes. They certainly aren’t for the faint of heart.

This reminded me a lot of The DaVinci Code but for various many reasons. It is completely different but the plot does keep you wondering through the mystery if it is going to be solved or not. Much like DaVinci Code there must have been a TON of research done for this. The actual historical facts that are interwoven are spectacular and make the book fantastic.

The plot starts immediately and I was taken aback by many things that happened just in the first chapter. The entire rest of the book is used to explain what happened in the first chapter and why.

I enjoyed how the plot was written. It is written through letters that are a confession to her oldest daughter. Most of it is surrounding a mother and her feelings for her children and her findings in the time she has been away from her children.

The characterization is fantastic. The story is categorized under horror and there are some horrific elements involved. Very horrific in some cases. There are cases of rape, death (lots of death) but in the normal category of horror, as in compared to something like the Exorcist, I didn't think this was very horrific. I had thoughts that this would be super scary and leave me with nightmares but really it was pretty tame, in that aspect.

I did, however, leave me with a lot of thoughts while reading and after I finished! It was so well done, and the imagery was so vivid that I felt like I was a part of the story. The phone would ring or my dogs would bark and I was shaken back into reality. While, some of the story line was a little slow, and there was a bit at the end that will definitely be a bit annoying to those that do not want to listen to liberal rhetoric, I thought the entire of it was so well done that I could not put it down. Only in times of necessity.

The ending was a bit weird. I searched and searched for a part two but found nothing. I think this is how it is supposed to end with leaves questions but also leaves answers. It's not how I would have wanted it to end but it was GREAT.

In short: Absolutely fantastic. I loved nearly every word.

My review has been placed on Goodreads and Amazon.

The Devil's Prayer is a historical fiction meets thriller/mystery. On the one hand, you have a horrific incident fueled by greed which ends with quadriplegia and on the other hand, you have a biblical mystery. The pin that holds both sides together is the Devil himself. Can our main character Siobhan find out why her mother left her 6 years ago without a good bye. Why her mother became a nun and why she committed suicide in front of thousands? Will Siobhan believe in what she finds out and will she choose the right course to take once she has all the answers. This book was a thrilling ride. If you like Dan Brown you will love Luke Gracias.

If you love historical fiction, mysteries, religious conspiracies and Umberto Eco then you will love The Devil's Prayer.
I don't want to spoil much but this book is definitely worth the read but the action revolves around the suicide of a nun and her two children whom she abandoned suddenly when the oldest was in her teens. The mystery of her demise becomes the main focus of her oldest daughter and a diary the explains most everything. Most of this novel moves quickly and is super entertaining.
I highly recommend this unique and well-written tale!
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

First of all I want to say thank you to the author and NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Secondly, I want to apologise to the author because I just didn’t like it. I found it boring, boring, boring with way too much information that didn’t add anything at all. It was hard to read, it felt awkward and didn’t flow. I can overlook this a little if the story is engaging but, for me, this just wasn’t and I ended up skipping large amounts of the historical information (I tried to get into it, really I did) and finished (yes, I did manage to) rolling my eyes. If it had been a real, physical book (I was reading an e-copy), there is no doubt in my mind that I would have thrown it across the room and then promptly into the bin. Again, I apologise to the author because I know it must have taken ages to write this book and you will have put your heart and soul into it but you can't please everyone.

I don’t know what else to say to be honest, I don’t want to go into everything I didn’t like about it but let's just say it was the majority of it but once again, if other reviews are anything to go by, I am in the minority so please don't take my word for it - it was actually shortlisted for the Australian Shadow Award - Best Australian Horror Novel of 2016 - maybe I missed something???? Anyway, if you enjoy historical/religious/paranormal/horror books and you don't mind getting a bit confused by the writing style or enjoy being overloaded with information, then give this a go.

An engaging and terrrifying historical horror thriller from an author with a great narrative voice and ability draw his reader into the story and keep them there. If you like it scary, intelligent, and fast, this is the book you're looking for.

A bible with a hidden key, a lottery ticket, a mysterious sect of monks, gorgeous settings...and the Devil. It's an interesting combination of objects and players, and it makes for a mostly gripping novel.

The book is described as horror - and I would attribute that to the 2nd third of the novel. The first third could be more aptly described as a mystery/thriller - if you liked Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, you're on the right path. The last third of the book? There is a lot of history and information packed into this last part, along with some scary, tense stuff and an ending that frustrated as it left me hanging....

This is a book that requires you to go in with no expectations, good, as you've probably read nothing like it. Gracias does an extraordinary job of setting the scene and building tension for most of the book. Parts are graphic and visceral, and Gracias spares no gory detail. The story hurtles along until the final third, the pace slowed by a bit of an information dump only to spin on its tail and gather speed for its climax.

I'm a fan of Exorcist-style books. The Devil's Prayer tells the story of Siobhan Russo who finds her mother's memoir and rushes to uncover some deep dark family secrets. I definitely appreciated the content warning on this one because there is a lot of disturbing stuff that happens in this book. Denise makes a pact with the Devil and...not much of consequence happens afterwards because the book is just one giant flashback wrapped in a history lesson.

The structure did not work for me at all. The book falls into three parts. The opening follows a nun who commits suicide, the bulk of the book is a detailed "confession" from Siobhan's mother Denise, and the ending is a history lesson. Actual plot took up maybe 5% of this story and it wasn't even that interesting. Where I raise my eyebrows is the extent of recollection in the confession portion, which took place in the form of diary entries. A bit of a spoiler, but for most of that part, Denise was a quadriplegic and otherwise completely occupied. The extent of dialogue and action really made me struggle to believe that it was written in the aftermath of the events that took place. All the prose was a little too "in the moment" for the diary aspect of it to believable.

That being said, the reason why this book isn't a 1-star is because the prose was actually engaging. I just wished it was told in the three-act structure it seems to follow. Having Denise's confession in the form of an extended flashback arc would have been more believable. Siobhan as a character seemed entirely superfluous to me. She served as the reader of the book which adds an additional layer of distance that prevents the reader from fully immersing themselves in the emotionally-charged, rage-fueled, and shocking aspects of the book.

The Devil's Prayer is worth checking out for the prose, but the structure demolishes any resonant impact it could have had.

he Devil's Pray is a book that just simply not able to put down once I started.. I started to read late at night and by the time I looked up it was morning.. Why does a Nun Commit suicide. Her daughter go's of to find out just what has happen and finds herself running for the same reason her mother Committed Suicide. I do not like to give the plot away so will just advice you to go get the book.well worth the money..
I am very happy to recommend this book one of the best this year. I would like to thank Luck Gracias for allowing me to review his book.
:)

Revenge... a dish best served cold! Trust me, this is not your everyday read, it is very thought provoking.
There is a depth that I was not expecting. It really gave me food for thought, and I had a moment of clarity. Conspiracy theorists will love this one! It is one read that will stay with me for a long time and I look forward to reading further works by this author!!! A humongous five big shining stars from me! It reminded me of The Da Vinci Code - I cannot praise this highly enough!

Hard to get into, bogged down with too many unnecessary details! I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I know it is cliché but this was a fast-paced page turner. My only beef was the open-ended finale. I am hopeful there is a sequel. The two timelines worked perfectly. The author did a great job with Sister Benedictine’s story. Again, I really enjoyed the novel and I would definitely recommend it to others.

Thank you for the advanced copy.