The Devil's Prayer gripped me from the start, and refused to let me go. To say I devoured it would be an understatement. I sat, glued to the pages as I frantically dove deeper into this often horrifying, conspiracy and despair ridden world.

“It is impossible to hate someone...That is, unless you loved them once.”

As the story unraveled, it was like watching individual gears turn. Each had it's own design, but it wasn't until each began to spin that the story pulled back and you began to see the much larger picture. This wasn't the story of a lost daughter, or her mother's mystery. This was a story ages in the making, and the characters simply the pawns in it's telling.

“Like most people, I prayed hardest in my time of need. My prayers were heard by the Devil.”

I felt the anxiety with her as Siobhan read her mother's confession. I felt the disbelief, and the shock as I learned of her mother's actions. To feel so gratified by them, and so horrified at the same time was the dark magic of The Devil's Prayer. It left me feeling dirty, as if I had committed an ultimate sin just by my knowledge of it's words. Yet, despite that, I couldn't help but feel a sort of pain when it ended.

“It made me realise why some people stay in relationships they never want to be in, out of the fear of loneliness.”

That sums up my feelings for this book rather well. It was an amazing read, that felt almost like an abusive lover. Every time it hit me, it did something to make me let it back in my life, until there was almost a dependency that felt unhealthy. Yet, despite that, I would beg for more in a heartbeat. ~ George, 4.5 Stars

It's a battle for souls, and it's real. The author brings it to the forefront in the deep and gritty. A deal with the Devil is always dangerous.
This book, however, has far too much unneeded, and unwanted sex scenes. It made me regret trying to read it. It would be a much better book without that. You have to skip so much that it makes it not worth my trying to read it.

My copy came from Net Galley. I left this review of my own free volition. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Great book, especially for lovers of the Da Vinci Code, Rosemary's Baby and The Omen. I liked the way the story jumped timelines the way it did and seeing the story unfold for Siobhan. Highly recommend this one!

Thank You NetGalley!!

I am such a geek for mystery books that involve religion (strong Catholic upbringing - if you've ever been to Catholic School, you'd understand) If you like Dan Brown - you will like this book.

This book did not disappoint. I really couldn't put it down and I love strong female characters.

This book got right into the mystery and I was intrigued as to what was going on. What would possess Denise to act like this, How can she live with herself? There are so many questions right up front and it just kept me wanting for more.

Siobhan is the oldest daughter of Denise Russo. Siobhan wonders why her mother has been gone for such a long time. She is raised with her younger sister by their grandmother. When she gets notice that her mother has died, she is shocked. Her priest gives her the mother's bible with a bookmark. It is a bookmark with a key.siobhan decides to find out more about her mother. Her journey is filled with mystery. She is told even on her trip not to find her mother.finally reaching the convent where her mother lived, she ass to see her mother's grave. She is saddened seeing her mother burning outside and alone as she committed the sin suicide. Due to the location of the nunnery and little transportation,she spends the night at the convent. She finds a room where the key opens a door among other doors that gives her a letter telling her about her mother's life and why she ended up at the nunnery. Her journey home is fraught with danger. Why. What made her mother disappear from the lives of her two daughters?

The author writes a suspenseful story with plenty of action and surprises. As you read the novel, you can't wait to see what will happens next! I hope there is a follow up to this novel as I want one!

Dark thriller with religious history, modern mystery and all the suspense you could hope for. This book started off full blast and never stopped. Excellent intertwining of past and present; and edge of your seat action.

The Apocalypse is coming ... it has been foretold. The Devil's Prayer sets the stage for this final doom with reflection, dread, and irony. Reading it is like watching water reach its boiling point - humble at the start, interest piqued as it simmers, climaxing just as it reaches a rolling boil.

Is this Rosemary's Baby meets The Da Vinci Code? While the content shares similarities, the feel is completely different, with forward momentum being replaced by retrospective narrative. Seen through the eyes of Siobhan as she reads her mother's confessional diary, Siobhan uncovers a tale of horror and betrayals set in motion by her mother's inadvertent plea to The Prince of Darkness to save her daughter's life.

I found the story to be bold and original, not shying away from the evil and depravity that a deal with the Devil would entail. While the concept and research was admirable, the delivery came across as pedantic and unidimensional. This may be partly due to Luke Gracias' compulsion to repeatedly tell us what his characters were feeling is order to justify their actions and his enthusiasm for recounting the multitude of historical threads that serve as the breadcrumbs leading to the Anti-Grail of this story, the missing pages of the Devil's Prayer which purportedly holds the power to unleash the Apocalypse.

I did not feel that I got to know Siobhan well, but after watching her get chased throughout Europe and into Asia by fearsome assassins seeking to retrieve her mother's diary, I was secretly pulling for her safety as she returned home to Australia. Just in time to come eye to eye with her new Archnemesis. A fascinating historical mystery and thriller, with an unsettling and disturbing darkness.

And that kettle about to boil? Gracias pulls it just at the whistle leaving you to wonder - what will come next?

(Received on NetGalley for an honest review.)

In search of answers, Siobhan travels to the isolated convent where her mother once lived. Here she discovers Denise’s final confession, a book that details a heinous betrayal that left her crippled and mute, and Denise’s subsequent deal with the Devil to take revenge. In the desperate bargain Denise made with the Prince of Darkness, she wagered Siobhan’s soul.

As Siobhan discovers the fate of her soul, she learns that hidden within the pages of her mother’s confession is part of The Devil’s Prayer, an ancient text with the power to unleash apocalyptic horrors.

And now her mother’s enemies know Siobhan has it.

Can Siobhan escape an order of extremist monks determined to get the Prayer back? Can she save the world from its own destruction?
I was given an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Enough with the loving on this book already. This book started off a little woodenly I'm afraid. It was slow moving, and nothing in the first two chapters grabbed me at all. That continued on through the whole story.

There was, for me, no flow in the text at all. The story was clunky and jerky and every time I thought that it was going to take off and go somewhere, it sputtered to a halt again.

The ending of the story was frustrating and left way more questions than it answered. I wanted to like this book, I really did, but it just didn't happen. Sorry.

A two out of five star read.

I am profoundly grateful to NatGalley and Australian ebook publisher for my copy.

At the end of the novel I felt it had served merely a vehicle for a set of sub stories and a staging for sequels. Don't get me wrong, the sub stories that build up throughout the book were mostly enjoyable, I just felt that the book failed to give me the expected conclusion and did not engage me sufficiently to make me want to seek any further stories that might arise from this one.

Based on a thirteenth century conspiracy between the Mongols (brokered by a general of Genghis Kahn) and the Papal Inquisitor, Amaud Amalric - THE DEVIL”S PRAYER by Luke Gracias is, for the most part, a historically accurate thriller that borders on “horror story” due to its grisly depiction of rape, drug abuse, savage physical violence, sexual encounters, drug abuse, and an excursion into the supernatural, not to mention murder. (Definitely not a book for the faint of heart!)

Divided into four sections, the narrative takes us into the lives of three women, a mother (Denise) and her two daughters (Siobhan and Jess). On her 28th birthday Mom makes a wish that is granted by the devil but the results are not what mom expected and a second meeting with “old nick” results in another request from Mom, more promises made by the devil, and a developing situation that requires mom to “make a run for it” with the end result being that she becomes a Catholic nun.

Deftly weaving the tale between Denise’s past and the sisters present, Gracias takes us into the search for 12 missing pages of the Codex Gigas, a text rumored to contain an apocalyptic prayer written by a medieval monk that is addresses not to God but to the fallen angel Lucifer and supposedly has the power to unleash something akin to what you would find if you took the movies I Am Legend, The Road, Doomsday and Night of the Living Dead and rolled them up into one giant catastrophic event.

A plethora of secrets, fascinating historical information and the actions of the strong female characters keep the reader immersed in this tale.

Nice read and easy to follow story line. Look forward to reading more from this author

A Brownesque style of Armageddon / end of times novel, probably better researched than his and with an interesting thesis. I guess if you believe in this sort of thing it helps. I understand it has been made into a film and strangely enough; I think it may work better for the cinema goer than for the reader.

Excellent!!! Hard to put down. Brings an important part of history to life. While it is fiction, the research put into this book makes you wonder what really happened 800 years ago. The way the fictional characters fit into this story is absolutely genious.

This book far exceeded my expectations. The attention to detail, the research of the History surrounding the story was second to none. I was captivated from page one and had to keep reading until I had finished. Without going into a description of the story I would urge readers to get a copy and read it for themselves. The end did leave me wanting more so hope there is going to be a sequel. It is a truly inspirational book. 5* plus wow,wow,wow.

An exhilarating roller-coaster ride of betrayal, revenge, unholy pacts, and religious mystery that rivals Dan Brown, Umberto Eco, Robert Masello, Stephen Marley, and Matthew Reilly.

A nun commits suicide in front of a crowd of thousands in Spain - in Australia, the woman's family grieve. Why did this woman flee her homeland and end up dead during a religious festival in Zamora. The woman's daughter embarks on her own journey to discover her mother's secret, a journey which puts her own life in danger, as the horrible truth is finally revealed.

A true page-turner that I could not put down - the ending ...... well ....