The Devil's Prayer feels like it is three separate books with a couple chapters of a prologue. My 'parts' do not line-up with the parts defined in the book. Here are my three breakdowns of this book:
1) The first part is a grusome thriller novel. Including every trigger ever; from suicide to torture to murder to moral ambiguity. This section is done by our main gal reading journal entries. It's well written and compelling. I often find journal entries to be a bit dull and an easy way for writers to trick us or leave out important details but that was not the case here. This was easily the best part of the book; and yet also the most disturbing. Be warned it's very horrifying.

2) The story of a deal made with the devil, and not how the deal was made (as that is covered in part 1) but instead of what happens after you make a deal with the devil and follow-through. It also includes our main gal fleeing across the world. Here is where things start to feel the most 'Da Vinci Code'-esque as we learn (from more journal entries) that there are secrets in the church that have been hidden for centuries. This is all interesting enough and was shaping up to make for a really stellar ending.

3) Then we are told the a duller than dull story of how a man came to be involved in the church and know many of these secrets that are discovered in part 2. Super boring! This is set-up to also give us all a lecture about how we are ruining our earth and the Devil is winning. And I honestly couldn't have been more bored or irritated by the lecture.

Then, like the couple chapters prologue, there is a couple chapters of 'wrap-up'. Except for the part where NOTHING HAPPENS! There is no climax, no plot points and literally the book ends when it feels like there should be another 200-300 pages of plot and story. This is beyond frustrating to me and makes me wish I hadn't read the book at all. It's that annoying.

For a book to go from amazingly face-paced and engaging to as dull as a history book written in ancient text to no ending whatsoever is so odd. So if you want to read a book about how to NOT set-up a story. This is a good one to read and be very critical about. Otherwise, I suggest you don't waste your time.
I am giving it two stars because the first part is so well written and would make an amazing novel on it's own. But otherwise it's not worth reading this book.

I was given this ARC by NetGalley in return for an honest review.
This book was flat out amazing. I read it in less than two days and I was completely absorbed.
The characters, the entire ensemble, were a great mixture of personalities that made the reader want to know what drove their need, their desire for the behaviour that ultimately led to the unfolding of events.
The story was not what I had expected from the synopsis given on the NetGalley page, which was by no means a bad thing and only increased the surprise and anticipation as the story ran its course.
The writing was effortless and captivating. I felt as if I was watching the story unfold, instead of just reading words on a page. It flowed and made it easy to pick up the story after a break, although for me they were small breaks, since the book was practically glued to my face.
Overall, this was a chilling story that represents the dark side of humanity and how far people would go for personal gain. I highly recommend this book to anyone, who likes a good mystery/thriller.

Great book! Looking forward to reading more by this author! Highly recommend!

I was not able to push myself through this one, I hope to restart it sometime in the future and complete my review.

I was not sure what to expect since I just started reading scary books again, in the trilling sense. I stopped reading books like this one since I always were disappointed after, the books I read did not give me what I wanted. Because of the cover of this book, I gave it a try.

The book did not sped a lot of time to get into the action, the whole book started with a suicide. From that time one, I was hooked on the book. It varies between action and building story and character in a nice way, and most important, it kept me interested throughout the book.

Generally I do not like the story telling done in this book. I do not like to read the story with the main character, as done here when she is reading her mums diary. But the "outer" story does not overshadow the main story, or take up unnecessary space as this type of story telling tend to do. I felt that the breaks from the diary help me to think and debate the book, as the "outer" main character does.

All in all I was really happy with my decision to get this book, and are at the edge of my seat waiting for the continuation!

I love historical tales and this one really intrigued me! The National Treasure esque style was fun and there was just enough danger to keep things interesting.

After reading the blurb for this book I was excited to start it because it sounded like another Da Vinci Code style book. I can now say having read this book that I absolutely loved it. It’s interesting, exciting, gory and full of information. I was glued to every page and managed to read this book in only a couple of sittings. I can also see myself reading this book again in the future sometime.

This book has it all- murder, greed, good vs. evil, history, faith, love, and much more. The story spans over centuries but mainly focuses on the separate stories of a mother who is betrayed by the ones she loves and makes a deal with the devil, and a daughter in search of answers. I am REALLY hoping for a sequel. Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this exciting and brutal book.

I enjoyed this book alot. I found the characters quite developed and it was well written. Would read more books by the author

What else aren't they telling us in church? Secrets abound, in spite of historic attempts at revelation. A nun's public suicide leads our heroine to suspect this could be her missing mother! Intrigue leads to a discovery that mushrooms dangerously...

The premise of this book sounded really good and I was excited to read it. The story first follows "Sister Bernadette" in a convent in Spain, running away from mysterious red robed monks, and then committing suicide. It then switches to Australia to Siobhain, who happens to be Bernadette's daughter. Bernadette, nee Denise, disappeared years ago and left her two daughters with their grandmother. Siobhain now decides to travel to Spain to find out the truth about what happened to her mother, and in her search she discovers her mother's diary. She then reads the diary, while on the run from those who want her dead. And then I assume more things happen but I couldn't bring myself to read more because at that point I was honestly in pain.

One of the problems of the book is that the writing style changes constantly. The epilogue is basically a wikipedia entry on the Devil Bible (which made me excited and wary at once- excited because hey! I'm from czech republic! That's our thing! Wary because such emotionless expository page is a very weird way to start a book) and the first chapter is a high-action chase sequence devoid of any personality or even action. The second chapter suddenly switches to third-person narration with new characters and then suddenly changes to epistolary novel from first-person and keeps switching between the first person and third-person views. And while that could be done well, it wasn't in this book. The writing in general is very clunky, sometimes even switching between flowery descriptive prose to abrupt style of writing. It didn't feel right.

But the main reason dropped this book, and I suppose here come the spoilers, is when Denise starts recounting her life in the diary. First, in her birthday scene, we meet the first person of colour, and surprise, it's a very racist caricature. He's the only character in the story so far described with adjectives with negative connotations, he 'reeks' of perfume and she has to 'try to not cover her nose'. He's rude, he openly and lecherously oggles women and when he's tactfully asked to leave, he doesn't. His character made me very uncomfortable. And then Denise gets kidnapped and very graphically raped! Please explain to me her reasoning behind putting the very graphic rape scene in her diary for her daughter to read? She says she couldn't bring herself to leave it out but that felt more like the author winking at the reader? Of course she could've left it out? First of all, I'm always wary of male authors having their female characters raped in any context, but putting such a descriptive graphic rape scene in a situation where a daughter of said raped character will absolutely be made to read it later on, makes absolutely no sense. If you need to have the rape in the book (ugh), you don't need to go into such explicit details?? Denise could've written about the way it made her feel, the effect on her psyche, so why is she describing the things the men were doing to her? Why did she need her daughter to know the absolute details of her being horribly raped by two men? And of course one of those men was "Davo the gross indian man".

After Denise gets impaled on a pipe and then thrown off a cliff, she becomes paralytic and mute. Turns out her friends betrayed her and had her almost killed for a lottery ticket. After suffering some other assaults, such as her fiancee trying to have her euthanased (because that makes sense), one of her friends making her wheelchair roll right into traffic or her other friend forcibly pulling her legs apart (while paralyzed, don't forget about that part) just to burn her inner thigh (because she couldn't burn her on her arm or something, no gotta get that rape imagery back in there), I realised that this book has been very graphic torture porn and I honestly don't want anything to do with that.. I went through the next 30% or so of the book and no, it gets only worse.

Lately I have been having a hard time laying my hands on a good horror novel with something new and truly scary. This book ticked all the boxes for me. I loved the whole storyline. I like the way the author has woven history, modern day global issues and the supernatural into one fluid narrative. Once I was hooked, I couldn't put it down. I can't wait for the sequel. There will be a next one I hope.

The cover and description are what furst drew me into this book. I do not normally read historical novels but this one caught my attention. From the beginning I was drawn into the story and determined to find out what happened next. I enjoyed following the daughter along her mother's journey through a diary. The details given were incredible and made me feel like I was experiencing it first hand. The pictures definately helped to break up all the historical details. I was a little disappointed at the end... I was left wanting more... I am hoping another book is coming to continue this story.

I had a hard time getting into this one unfortunately and did not finish it. The information and storyline was interesting, but it read more like a textbook rather than a novel for me. It's a shame, because I really wanted to enjoy it :(

This is a dark and gripping thriller that is full of mystery, suspense and intrigue. The storyline is fascinating and the characters are beyond evil. The twists in the story are shocking and unexpected. It's a truly fascinating story.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. This is my voluntary and honest opinion of it.

A very good thriller that keeps you wondering where the next page will take you and who you can trust. Would like to see the movie of this one..

I started this book before bed one night and well lets just say it was a late night by the time I put the book down. The author took me on such a roller coaster ride that was adrenaline based and had me on the edge of my seat for most of the night . The story line alone had me hooked . A young woman Siobhan is trying to figure out what happened to her mother . After seeing a nun who looked like her mother hang herself . That is the first piece of the puzzle that Siobhan must solve to in the mystery of why her mother disappeared 6 years prior .  The pat that Siobhan travels down is dark and scary, armed with only the confession of her mother and the mysterious prayer hidden within the words on the paper . Siobhan is in grave danger and she must outsmart her mother's enemies and save the world from ultimate destruction . 
    The characters are very well written and complex. Siobhan is a fighter and doesn't stop until she has all the answers she needs .  She finds more about her history as she reads her mother's confession . The monks are well lets just say evil . They want the confession back and will do any thing it takes to get it back . The characters will have you cheering for them in Siobhan's case and wanting to kill them yourselves as in the monks case . 
    The author does such a great job mixing the historical part of the story and what is happening in the real life of Siobhan .  The book takes off like a bat out of hell and doesn't stop the roller coaster ride . The author takes us on a journey of epic proportions . The twists and turns are every where. You think you have it figured out and bam the author takes you in a totally different  direction .  The author did a great deal of research to keep this book as accurate as it is. The mixture of the thirteenth history and the real up to date time. The way the author describes everything has you actually seeing the monasteries in your mind as you read The book is part the historian . part the Da Vinci Code and The Omen all rolled into one great read . So if you like a great book that will keep you reading all night long and take you away to a place that will have you thinking all night long . Check out THE DEVIL'S PRAYER  you will not be disappointed .

A good story which keeps the pages turning. It is reminiscent of The Davinci Code in the religious suspense woven around real places and articles. It goes slightly into the fantasy genre with the conversations with the Devil, but that is all part and parcel of the book. Don't expect a straight action/suspense thriller read like Dan Brown's books.
‎I couldn't give five stars as occasionally the story went very dry and hard to read because it felt like I was in a history lesson, FAR too much detail that isn't necessary for the story. I kept getting side tracked by looking up places and events in Wikipedia. I have learned a few new things from reading this book but it isn't really what I was looking for as a 'wind down' read at bedtime.
‎I'm not going to spoil the story but in my opinion it ended without properly finishing the story. Maybe there will be a second book...I don't know, but it definitely feels unfinished to me. It wasn't quite what I was expecting from reading the blurb and watching the video trailer.
‎Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy.

The Devil's Prayer by Luke Gracias
Rating ****.4 4.4/5 Recommended
The Devil's Prayer is a packed, fact-actioned, no holds barred novel which takes the reader on numerous locations on a menacing, dangerous journey stretching back through centuries. The cleverly written paranormal plot is based on well researched historical events and places. Most of which I hadn't heard of but found extremely interesting.
A real page turner with many twists and characters who were varied, with multi faceted natures; menacing or kind, good v evil.
The Devil's Prayer is a novel I recommend: Luke Gracias is a talented writer and hopefully we will hear more from him.
I received a copy of The Devil's Prayer from NetGalley for an unbiased review, which I have given. Thank you.