At first I thought this book would be predictable. I said to myself here comes another Angels and Demons type of book but was I mistaken. I found this book to be very intriguing. I'd often look up a lot of the history mentioned in the book and the author was right on point. Great research but yet it wasn't a history book. I don't want to spoil anything but this book is definitely worth the read. Thank you Netgalley this was one book I was unable to put down. The Devil's Prayer was a very good book.

The Devil’s Prayer – Luke Gracias

A compelling story to rival The Da Vinci Code in its complexity and attention to historical detail. What starts as the story of the suicide of a missing mother quickly evolves into something else. We learn that Siobham, the now grown up daughter of the missing mother, was saved from drowning at a young age by a mysterious stranger who reappears frequently as the Mother’s passed down story unfolds. It turns out the roots of the story are in the thirteenth and fourteenth century and involve a long missing book known as The Devil’s Bible. Determined to uncover the truth about her mother’s death, Siobham’s quest takes her from Australia to Europe and the Middle East to Malaysia with help and hindrance from other mysterious priests and monks also keen to uncover or prevent the uncovering of the truth about The Devil’s Bible, as she gradually puts together the complex reasons for her mother’s original disappearance and death. A very enjoyable tale with plenty of action and suspense and a plot that you will find enthralling. I found myself unable to put this book down and was always wanting to read “just one more chapter”. A great read.

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I received an ecopy of this book via NetGalley for an honest review. What follows is my opinion after reading the book. . .

Okay, so, I'm a big horror fan. I love watching something that freaks me out and reading a horror is just that much better. There's nothing more intriguing than seeing the darkness of humanity mingling with the light. The Devil's Prayer looked like a horror book that I was going to love sinking my fangs into (pun intended).

Unfortunately, I was very conflicted about how I felt. The prologue was downright boring and read like a textbook. I understand why the author chose to do a prologue, however, I feel that if it was fictionalized and given proper imagery, the prologue would catch the reader better. I am a person that keeps trying until I'm either asleep or crying from boredom. Fortunately, the prologue is a quickie, but is pointless to have.

That said, the rest of the book was a challenge. Not in a "I'm freaking out" kind of challenge, but more in a "do I like this?" challenge. The story is better described as being broken down in two main stories. There is the story that the blurb states and there is the story about Siobhan's mother and how she ended up where she did. I liked one story, but I could care two shits about the other.

The one I liked was Denise's story. It is raw, disturbing, and heartbreaking. This is a woman who was loving, experienced evil, became evil, and found redemption in her future only to have something more wicked come up from her past. It had humanity all in it and I wanted more of her story.

Siobhan's story could be casted away in whatever depths the prologue should be, in my opinion. I had no reason to love her as a character and I felt she was nothing more than a cardboard vessel to bring out Denise's tale. Sure, her trying to find closure and being chased is interesting, but nothing comes from it. NOTHING. We aren't given a solid answer as to why she's being chased down and we aren't given a solid resolution. Now, the motivations of the baddies can be easily determined and another character does state what it is, but that character is just as shady and nothing comes up with that. Instead, we are left taking him at face value just as Siobhan does.

And like I stated before, we aren't given a resolution. Siobhan gets off the plane, sees the Devil, and that's the end. It's open ended. Now, I love a good horror ending with an unclear ending. This book is not one of those great horrors. If you want a great horror with an open ending, read Water Rites by Guy N. Smith or Daphne du Maurier's short story, The Birds (a story that inspired Alfred Hitchcock's iconic movie). Those stories are open ended and they are stories I will always remember (in case you are wondering, I read du Maurier's story back in ninth grade and Guy N. Smith's book back in tenth. That's well over ten years ago).

In the case of this book, I found the open ending as either the author's laziness in finding a resolution or that there is a sequel. If there is a sequel in the works, I only hope that the story is more fluid like Denise's.

All in all, I was both surprised and greatly disappointed in the book. The disappointment went on through most of the book with glimmers of surprise when it was Denise telling her tale. Take it what you will, but I didn't care for it.

The book was well written, and the characters well formed. The way that modern day and history were mixed was entertaining and engaging, More of a thriller than a horror book, the storyline fills you with the emotions of the lead character, Siobhan on her discovery of all the secrets her mother, Dianne, has left behind in the 6 years that she has been missing, including how her mother sold her soul, and how Siobhan is now in danger because of the Devil's Prayer she is in possession of.

In a tone reminiscent of Dan Brown and Elizabeth Kostova, the book will leave you wanting more, especially the final chapters of the book. It doesn't feel like there has been closer, but I hope that the ending trailed off because there is a sequel in the works.

Overall, a great book, with a lot of interesting twists and turns.

Attention catching story right from the start. Classic story about the battle between good and evil only the battle was not resolved in the end. Leaves you hanging as to which way fate will tip the scales. Loads of historical fact is presented, leading you to question the ficticious story line. Is it real? Could it be real? Is it a glimpse into what could be? I found the story line very much engrossing and was fastly caught up in the story and reading quicker and quicker to find out what happened. Although the story is dark at times, and takes you mentally to some scary places, I really enjoyed the story...and the cliff hanger. Of couse now I wonder...is there going to be a 2nd book to answer those questions.

As for the story...it is about a young woman, Denise, who has several overwhelming and life changing events happen to her. The first being the near drowning death of her 4 year old child when she falls into the family swimming pool. The second, and more significant event, is her own kidnapping, robbery, rape and beating to wihin inches of her life leaving her a quadrapeligic. The devastation continues as she realizes that this horrific incident was done to her by her own friends and fianace because they wanted her lottery ticket. As she lays in the bed, not being able to move or speak, her anger and frustration grows. This is when the Devil enters her life the 2nd time; the 1st being at the near drowning of her child. He makes a bargain with her. In exchange for the 5 souls of her friends, the ones responsible for her condition, he will allow her to move every night to kill them. After the delivery of those 5 souls, he will cure her condtion and allow her to continue on with her life. After thinking on this...seething with rage over what her “friends” had done, watching her mother go broke trying to care for her and her child, not being able to have an active part in her child's life...she is more than anxious to make the deal, but there's a catch. If she doesn't complete the deed in 5 days, then the devil takes her daughter's soul. This is enough motivation to make her continue. With some twists and surprises, she finishes her task and the devil makes good on his word. She finds out that she is pregnant and assumes it is her ex-fiance's child as he raped her when he overpowered her when she was trying to kill him. The years pass by and she is happily raising her 2 daughters. There are some odd things that happen, but not enough to make her think too seriously on it. Then she catches her 2nd daugher talking to a man that she claims is her father. On a closer look, Denise is shocked to see the devil again. Through some quick investigation and enlisting some religious help she learns that her 2nd child is the spawn of the devil. Overcome with fear, she frantically tries to make this situation right only to be confronted by the devil again and sent away never to see her family again. It is during this time she does research with the help of some clergy to try to rid the world of the devil's child, her own child. This leads her in search of the devil's bible and the devil's prayer which according to all the reasearch will save the world. All of this is told in a diary that she leaves to her oldest daughter when she takes her own life.

**I was given a digital copy of this story courtesy of Net Galley for review purposes**

Siobhan is set on a journey to find her mother's past, to discover the reasons she left her 6 years ago and the truth about her sister. Her journey leads her from Australia to Europe and Africa where she has a roller-coaster ride of discoveries which opens up her own past as well in a battle of good versus evil.

It's well written, it has speed and keeps begging for your attention.

This book knocked me for a loop. It was excellently done and kept my attention from start to finish. i could not put it down.

Part horror, thriller and history. A Da Vinci Code with the real Devil. Soul selling and apocalyptic codes .

The Devil's Prayer Kindle Edition
by Luke Gracias
I received an ARC in return for an honest review.
A marvelous, creepy combo of I Spit on Your Grave, a Katherine Neville mystery and Umberto Eco.
Siobhan's mother abandoned her 6 years ago, leaving nothing behind to explain why. That is until a nun hangs herself in front of thousands during a Holy Week. That nun, who spent the last 6 years under a vow of silence in a Convent that makes Opu Dei look like a trip to Disney World, was her mother, who left behind a confession explaining a secret and offering Siobhan a choice that no one should have to make.
Garcia is a brilliant storyteller, giving us the most complex character, Denice – the monther, through her own written confession. And at every turn and every twist, we need to ask is she telling the truth or did her experience send her mad? Is she a reliable narrator? Is the choice she is forcing her daughter to make real?
Siobhan herself is less of the central character than her mother and her sister, Jess is more of shadow, but with the dark story of Denice and Jess's possible father, this doesn't matter.
Mr. Garcia also masterfully links signs, symbols and prophecies with events that happened in the late 90's and the early part of the 21st century. He clearly is highly informed in terms of occult culture, literature and traditions throughout the world. He somehow combines Revelations, Saint Malachy, Nostradamus with ancient Chinese traditional prophecies and compares them with the natural disasters and astral event that have taken place in the last 20 years. Dan Brown had a similar and in my opinion, a far lesser talent in combining art and Joseph Campbell symbological studies to create a mystery. Where Mr. Brown's always leads forward in a clear understandable line with a professor in place of a dectective, Mr. Garcia does keep us guessing as two women, one alive, well and confused the other, her dead mother who believes that she must stop the end of the world through a singular sacrifice.
With historical and occultic information, we are lead on a journey across the world. And left with a cliffhanger.
I could honestly do a dissertation on the religious symbolism and history alone, but I'm getting far too intellectual in this review.
The chase is exciting and you will always be left with the question of is it real or is it insanity? Is there a Devil and what effect does he have on this world?

5 out of 5
https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Prayer-Luke-Gracias-ebook/dp/B01BXR4838/

Oh Boy.

I finally finished The Devil's Prayer and I still can't stop my heart racing with excitement. It has been a while since I had read a book this good. And boy was it good!

The Devil's Prayer is a historical fiction, and even more a thriller is it's way. It opens in Spain, in a convent, with the death of a nun. The first pages set the tone for the whole book, as instantly the reader has many questions, such as What are the pages she stole from an ancient book? Why did she steal them? Why would monks of her rank be after her? and Why would she kill herself as a result? We then learn that the nun had two daughters, Siobhan and Jess, and of the two Siobhan is the one after the truth about her mother's unusual death. Without going into details, and not wanting to spoil the book for you, Siobhan flies out to Spain, to pay her respects to her mother's body and maybe learn the real reason why their mother abandoned them a few years earlier to become a nun, and why she decided to end her days. When she gets to Spain, what Siobhan finds is more than what she had bargained for, as she retrieves her mother's confession and learns her ties to the Devil and the importance of the Devil's Prayer.

At the beginning of the book, I could not help but draw some comparison and similarities with Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, but as I read more, the Devil's Prayer stood on it's own. Luke Gracias did a fantastic job with his debut novel, offering an interesting and pretty well researched background on religious belief, while exploring the coexistence of Good and Evil, of God and the Devil. He masterfully shapes the story throughout various timelines, both during Sister Benedictine's time (who is the mother of Siobhan), as well as way back to the 1220s. Although the book started a bit slow, the pace quickly picks up once we enter the "Confession" part of the book. The Devil is revealed and with him, human's love for a good bargain. The narrative and its characters are strong, and Gracias masterfully uses historical timelines to tell his story, and draw the reader in suspense with a major cliffhanger waiting for them at the end of the book. Throughout the book, one has to put aside his/hers preconceived notions about Good and Evil, and foremost about religion in itself and embrace, even if it's just as a work of fiction, the possibility that "maybe" as we pray to God, the Devil also listens, stirring along dreadful events for which we just have no explanations.

If you love historical fiction, fast paced suspenseful stories, mysteries, religious conspiracies...then you will love The Devil's Prayer. I could not put it down from the moment I picked it up, and I am glad I was offered the opportunity to read it and review it fro you all. I am very impressed by the details and the research Luke Gracias has performed for his story, and I cannot wait to read more from him in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Luke Gracias, and Australian eBook Publisher for an ARC of The Devil’s Prayer by Luke Gracias, in exchange for an honest review.

DNF on this one for me.

The first thing you learn in any creative writing course is "show, don't tell". This novel is heavy on the telling and sparse on the showing.

With plodding prose and clunky dialogue, it didn't matter how intriguing the plot was, it was just such a bore to read.

DNF at 53%

I hoped to read a religious thriller a là Dan Brown, but...forget it. The readers who compared this book in their reviews with Dan Brown's works probably never read them.

Ridiculous plot, flat writing, weak characters, with a lot of senseless violence.

I honestly won't recommend it to anyone.

I normally don't rate books I didn't finish, but WHAT I read was not more than one star rating for me.

I did not finish this book and this is why

I knew from the first that the storyline was not one I like to read about but I was willing to let myself be surprised by being out of my usual zone so I decided to give it a try when my friend pointed it out to me. So my liking the book all depended upon the writing, how it was able to draw me into the story. Unfortunately it was apparent from the first that the writing was not a match either. I found it a lot of tell with no show. We are told what happens (lots) but very little inner narrative that is what makes me part of the story.

So I've decided to part ways.

<i>An arc gently provided by author/publisher in return for a review.</i>

I read the entire book. I loved the Dan Brown books. This was just too far overboard - too occult - bordering on evil. I would never recommend.

Ummm...this one was kind of a mess all over.

When Siobhan learns that her missing mother has committed suicide, she begins this journey to find out why her mother disappeared many years ago. And how did she end up a nun in Spain under a different name? What or who was she running from?

When Netgalley sent me an e-mail about this book, I was intrigued. When other reviewers likened it to The Da Vinci Code, I was sold. The fact that it dealt with the devil was just a bonus. What I found was a book full of meaningless violence and revenge weighted down with historical facts.

And when I say meaningless violence - it just didn't make sense. It felt like it was there for shock value. Almost a 'how gruesome can I make this' crime. And they seemed to come from nowhere. For example, and this is a slight spoiler, girl wins lottery in front of group of friends. Group of friends then decides in a split second that they want to steal said ticket and suddenly have this elaborate plan that involves car crashes and kidnapping and escalates to rape and murder. This all happened in like 10 minutes. No, I just don't buy it.

It was such an interesting plot that just got lost. I didn't care about any of the characters. The only one who seemed likeable was Siobhan but unfortunately the only scenes we got of her were of her just reading her mother's diary. It also didn't help that there was so much historical info dumping that either didn't move the plot forward or we just dropped in such a random place that you ended up forgetting the main plot. The editor should have really helped smooth this over.

This is in no way comparable to The Da Vinci Code. And if you're looking for closure when reading this, you get none. The book doesn't have an ending. I feel that for a standalone there should have been some semblance of an ending. Instead, I was left just staring at the page, confused. Am I a little hard on it? Maybe. But I really wanted to like it and when I read adult horror/thriller, I'm holding it up to guys like Stephen King, Dan Brown, Dean Koontz, and Michael Crichton, and this just didn't hold up for me.

The story starts with a bang, leaving the reader very curious as to why a nun acted the way she did. The story moves on to give a brilliant narration of events that explain her actions. At each point I was eager to find out what happens next. Reading late into the night, it was a struggle getting to office the next day. Really enjoyed the riveting thriller with the background history so well entwined that it's impossible to tell fiction from fact! Looking forward to the sequel or movie with this story.

The concept of this book, and the story itself is great. A lot of very interesting religious history.
Suspenseful, but a little too slow paced for me. I enjoyed it over all although I felt let down by the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.