Review of A Devils Prayer Luke Gracias

When a young single mothers only daughter Siobhan, drowns in her swimming
pool, a strange man resuscitates her after the paramedics give up. But he is
gone before she could say thanks. A few months later, she is declared as the
winner of lotto worth millions, after which meets with an accident which
escalates to brutal mugging, rape and attempt to murder leaving her as a mute
quadriplegic and in care of her mother who strives to make ends meet.
Albert Einstein said that Evil is the absence of God. Her silent prayers are left
unheard by the God, until one night, that strange man, who she know knows is
the Devil himself, proposes a deal which she couldnt refuse. She, at night is
gifted with the ability to move around, and kills her six friends who she now
knows were involved in her assault for their souls in exchange for the devil to
grant her good health and the soul of Siobhan who he saved earlier. The deal is
made and fulfilled. However, she is tricked by the devil into giving birth to the
Devils daughter, Jess, a fact she realises years later. It comes light that as per
ancient prophesies the Devils child, when of age, would lead to mass destruction
resulting in apocalypse. She, as the deal maker, is the only one who can save the
world now. She abandons her family and becomes a nun to find a way out of the
consequences of making deals with the devil and raising his progeny.
After six years of estrangement, Siobhan comes to know of her mothers suicide
in a monastery of a faraway country. She must secretly follow the clues left by
her mother in form of a Confessional to finish what she started which is a race
against time since Jess is already seventeen and has regular communication with
her father. To add to her quest, there are strange monks in red garbs who follow
and threaten her wherever she goes while running away from various unknown
threats which may lie in her path.
I picked it up thinking that it would be horror with abandoned graveyards and
spooky ghosts. But it is much darker in a demonic way. The theme is not unique
but the historical facts, their representation and linking its context with the
storyline is astounding. The codex, the testament, the hidden passages, history
of the past manifestations of Devil, the locks and secret keys all these keep you
riveted. The chase and the quest are thrilling and exhilarating. It is commendable
how the author has related the impending catastrophe to global warming and
climate change in the present day context. It makes the work much more
realistic and quite possible in a parallel universe scenario. There are brutal
scenes where the mother is attacked and feel for her. Chill goes down your spine
every time the Devil visits her to entice her into believing him and making that
deal.
There are many questions that pose in the minds of the readers at the end of the
book. There is a need to know whether the girl is able to fulfil her mothers quest.
Does she get her hands on the Devils Prayer, which has the answers to all the
questions? After reading it, there is an urgency to find answers to all these
questions. Waiting for Part-2 already to know how Siobhan gets sucked into this
fight against evil while saving the world.

Book Courtesy: WritersMelon