Luke GraciasRecensioni
Autore di The Devil's Prayer
Recensioni
Katherine Fisher (Catfish) it seems, will do almost anything for money. She sees her husband Lindsay (Dogboy) as a gullible and easy target, but doesn't realise he has realised her intentions, and set his own plans in motion, to ensure that not only is the wealth that she aims to capture is moved out of her reach, but also that the police and the authorities will be able to document what she has been up to.
In the long run Dogboy is able to call on friends that Catfish didn't realise that he had, while her own resources are criminals.
This is a real page turner, unusual format, and unique subject matter.
The story is set in Australia where wealthy businessman, Lindsay Kramer, aka Dogboy due to his seeming uncanny ability to communicate with dogs, had married Katherine ‘Catfish’ Fisher, a former Miss Australia and present on-line influencer and boutique owner. Lindsay has alway been awkward around women so can’t believe his luck. As it turns out, he shouldn't have. Under Australian law, as long as a marriage lasts eighteen months, the wife can claim two-thirds of the marital assets. Just before the eighteen month mark, she seeks out a lawyer known for being tough in divorce cases, to apply for a separation. Thing is, the lawyer went to uni with Kramer and immediately suspects something is off. But soon after, Catfish calls off the separation because Kramer has gone missing and now, never mind two-thirds, she wants it all.
Dogboy v Catfish by Luke Gracias is one twisty, absolutely addicting page turner and I loved it. Every time I thought I had it figured out, it threw in one more surprise turn. If you’re looking for a mystery full of great characters, plenty of red herrings and a complex plot that’ll keep you glued to the page, this might just be what you’re looking for.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review
Wow! Multilayered, unusual and thoroughly engaging story about a rather different man’s journey and those he pulled along with him. This Australian crime/mystery/noir novel was just so unusual. It’s a real page turner.
Four people who’d been students together at Melbourne University are pulled back together again after one of them, ‘Dogboy’ Lindsay Kramer goes missing.
His wife, Katherine Kelly Fisher ‘Catfish’ walks into a family lawyer’s chambers. Freya Keogh is known for her merciless divorce settlements. Katherine is seeking help to divorce her husband. Katherine doesn’t know that Keogh knew Lindsay when she was a student.
Keogh feels right away that something is off.
A month later Katherine decides not to go ahead with the separation. The catch? Lindsay has disappeared. Further reveals show that Katherine’s former husband Darren Berrington had died unexpectedly whilst on a trip to Bangkok.
Two members of Crime Command Victoria, Inspector Sabina Green and Detective Karl Finlay investigate. After many false starts and hours of working blind things start to make some sense.
The story revolves around the endless knot of three headed snakes intertwined and representing three aspects of crime. Grab the right head and the knots unravel.
The three prongs here are drug smuggling, money laundering and high quality knock of designer goods.
The action moves between the wife and her associates, the former friend of ‘dogboy’, and the police inquiry.
This was a mesmerizing read. I enjoyed ever moment of it. Surprises kept being thrown in at the right moment, along with unexpected shocks. Absolutely loved it!
A Luke Gracie’s ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author.
A man who has an affinity with dogs and an amoral player whose nickname is Catfish were married for a time until she got greedy and he disappeared. Then things got diabolical and really fascinating.
I requested and received an EARC from the author via NetGalley. Thank you!
#AustralianAuthor
When a group of students from the University of Melbourne are threatened by a gang of thieves, they are saved by dogs that come to their defense, seemingly at the command of Lindsay Kramer. Because of his rapport with the animals, Lindsay, the dog whisperer, is able to save the group from the gang.
Sixteen years later, Lindsay, known as Dogboy, is missing and his wife, Katherine, is seeking a divorce [and access to all of Lindsay’s money]. But Lindsay has gone missing.
Katherine’s first husband, Darren Berrington, died under somewhat mysterious circumstances. Could the same fate have befallen Lindsay? Or is there some other explanation for Dogboy’s sudden disappearance?
=========
This twisty mystery keeps readers involved in the telling of the tale from the outset. Strong characters, a unique plot, and unexpected twists and revelations keep readers guessing until the final page.
Here readers will find believable characters, a story told from several points of view, and a complex plot that touches on marriage, friendship, infidelity, designer goods, counterfeiting, drug smuggling, and money laundering. The obvious greed of one of the characters, the procedures of the police throughout the investigation, and the ever-present question of Lindsay’s whereabouts work together to create a suspenseful tale that readers will find difficult to set aside before turning the final page.
Highly recommended.
I received a free copy of this book from Luke Gracias and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
#DogboyvCatfish #NetGalley
Review of the Authors Upfront Kindle eBook edition (May 18, 2023)
Despite the quirky title, this book is not about superheroes. It is about a battle between opposing forces though. The entrepreneur Lindsay Kramer is nicknamed Dogboy as they have been known as a “dog whisperer” since their youth. The story involves the aftermath of his marrying a Miss Australia beauty contest finalist and later social media influencer Katherine Kelly Fisher, nicknamed Catfish as a contraction of her name i.e. “Kat Fisher”.
Katherine Fisher shows up at a lawyer’s office to start divorce proceedings on Lindsay Kramer. The lawyer’s suspicions are aroused by the timing of exactly 18 months after the wedding (after which she is entitled to a substantial portion of the marriage assets) and the degree of advance financial research which she provides. At the same time, Lindsay Kramer disappears from a hotel where he had been staying on a business trip.
The book carries on with Katherine’s machinations to obtain Lindsay’s assets, only to find that he has anticipated her every move and has already made an advance countermove. Meanwhile, he himself may have committed suicide as he cannot seem to be located. The suspense ratchets up as further revelations occur, including the discovery of the suspicious death of Katherine’s first husband in Thailand. Might she have murdered both of her husbands?
I thoroughly enjoyed Dogboy v Catfish with its devilish game of a gold-digging influencer versus a husband on the run. Luke Gracias was a new name to me, and appears to have previously written horror books, but this lawyer / crime novel was extremely entertaining and even had a satisfying redemptive finale.
I read this Free Reading Copy of Dogboy v Catfish in eBook format thanks to the author Luke Gracias, the publisher Authors Upfront and the NetGalley website in exchange for which I provide this honest review.
Lindsay Kramer (AKA Dogboy) is the second husband of Katherine (Catfish) Fisher. Kath's first husband, and the father of her daughter, Emma, had died in Bangkok, but she found and married the wealthy Lindsay shortly after. Now after 18 months of marriage, and well versed in Australian law, Katherine visits a family law specialist to initiate a separation. Kath's behavior in the attorney's office is so unpleasant that Freya Keogh, wary and suspicious, ultimately declines to pursue the case. It's then that Lindsay goes missing.
This conniving woman is not the mourning wife that she pretends to be on social media. She's got her fingers in a lot of, shall we say, illegal business interests. But, thinking she is much smarter than the police, she attempts to carry on her activities involving drugs, money laundering, and counterfeit designer goods. She leads all on a merry chase with the big question always there -- where is Lindsay?
This was great fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Found it hard to put down as I wanted to see how this would all end. So different to this author's previous two books, I was a bit nervous about reading this one since I had really loved the others. No worries. The characters were great, and it was easy to root for the good guys all the while wondering how Australia can have what seems to be terribly unjust divorce and property laws. The details about the scam were intricate and extremely interesting and the reader can tell that the author did a lot of research as always. I liked the writing style and the clever plot. Enjoy!
I definitely recommend this one!
How fun it is to read an entire story back-to-back from beginning to end without having to wait ages to find out the end!
I received an ARC of the first book several years ago and it languished on my TBR shelf until this sequel was about to be published. A gentle reminder made me look to see if I had read the earlier one or if I still had it as I do not like to read books out of order or miss the beginning of a set or series. After I devoured The Devil's Prayer , I immediately begin this follow-up.
There is a moral here -- that humans are selfish and that their greed to accumulate and hoard precious resources will end up costing the survival of future generations. As stewards of the Earth, only with selfless behavior and curbing this behavior can all species continue to live. The story may be fictional, but the details and descriptions of the places and events that have already occurred are pertinent and relevant to current situations as well. The author also includes photographs of some of the sites that Siobhan visits in her quest and the history of them is fascinating. The topics of religion from a historical perspective and the themes of darkness and light, good and evil, carry a warning. I always enjoy a book that makes me think and this one certainly did. I would love to have some great discussion with like-minded readers and definitely look forward to a film adaptation of these two novels.
Thank you to NetGalley and Authors Upfront for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend.
In the meantime, read this if you dare. I’m off to start the sequel.
My apologies for neglecting to read and review this for so many years. Thank you to NetGalley for the e-book ARC.
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 I'm not sure how I feel about...
This is a book that requires you to go in with no expectations, because 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 third part...necessary to understand where this is heading, and interesting in its own right but it slows the pace a bit.
This story is being written as a screenplay, and I can see where this section might translate onscreen - but with less detail thrown at you, perhaps.Thankfully, the sequel due out in December 2017 because I need to see where he will take his readers next.
This book is often compared to Dan Brown 's work, but unfortunately it has the same flaws and pluses.Not very well written, dubious historical data, a certain artificial flavour and yes, it is fast paced, horror and mystery merge and it is an easy read. But just not good enough....
Caspita che lettura!!! la storia mi ha tenuta incollata al libro come non mi succedeva da un pò....
devo dire che all'inizio della lettura ero un pò dubbiosa per l'enorme rischio di ritrovarmi una i soliti clichè di possessioni ed il tutto infarcito con sotto-storia alla Dan Brown... invece la trama si è dipanata in un racconto intorno a due figure principati, madre e figlia Denise e Siobhan, la prima scompare misteriosamente dalla vita della figlia per entrare in un Monastero e abbandonandosi al voto del silenzio, la figlia si ritroverà invischiata in una vorticosa ed infernale sequenza di eventi mozzafiato che ci porteranno a capire come mai Denise abbia avuto quel destino ed il ruolo del diavolo che ha orchestrato per bene manovrando la vita di tutti i personaggi che incontreremo......
( povero Gesù Cristo..... alla fine del libro ai quasi la sensazione che sia morto per niente!!!)
al di là di una lettura scorrevole con un battito cardiaco quasi sempre al cardiopalma mi sono proprio affezionata piu' a Denise che non a Siobhan, che mi è sembrato alla fine essere un personaggio mutilato da zero senso pratico e da nessuna profondità emotiva di spessore.....
gli eventi che incontreremo nella trama sono un pò troppo quello che noi europei chiamiamo "americanate" ogni cosa capita un pò troppo per " giusto" caso facendo filare correttamente tutta la catena delle varie conseguenze..
Molto gradevoli i riferimenti storici e biblici religiosi, solo alla fine del libro, diciamo le ultime 90 pagine, al situazione si fa troppo infarcita ed ingolfata di riferimenti storici e racconti legati a personaggi religiosi... il tutto così ravvicinato che la lettura inizia a diventare un pò una zavorra.
detto questo e senza volutamente essermi soffermata sul contenuto della trama, odio le recensioni riassunto dei libri!!! è un libro che consiglio a chi ama i thriller storico religiosi.. complimenti all'autore per questa sua gradevolissima opera!!!
Caspita che lettura!!! la storia mi ha tenuta incollata al libro come non mi succedeva da un pò....
devo dire che all'inizio della lettura ero un pò dubbiosa per l'enorme rischio di ritrovarmi una i soliti clichè di possessioni ed il tutto infarcito con sotto-storia alla Dan Brown... invece la trama si è dipanata in un racconto intorno a due figure principati, madre e figlia Denise e Siobhan, la prima scompare misteriosamente dalla vita della figlia per entrare in un Monastero e abbandonandosi al voto del silenzio, la figlia si ritroverà invischiata in una vorticosa ed infernale sequenza di eventi mozzafiato che ci porteranno a capire come mai Denise abbia avuto quel destino ed il ruolo del diavolo che ha orchestrato per bene manovrando la vita di tutti i personaggi che incontreremo......
( povero Gesù Cristo..... alla fine del libro ai quasi la sensazione che sia morto per niente!!!)
al di là di una lettura scorrevole con un battito cardiaco quasi sempre al cardiopalma mi sono proprio affezionata piu' a Denise che non a Siobhan, che mi è sembrato alla fine essere un personaggio mutilato da zero senso pratico e da nessuna profondità emotiva di spessore.....
gli eventi che incontreremo nella trama sono un pò troppo quello che noi europei chiamiamo "americanate" ogni cosa capita un pò troppo per " giusto" caso facendo filare correttamente tutta la catena delle varie conseguenze..
Molto gradevoli i riferimenti storici e biblici religiosi, solo alla fine del libro, diciamo le ultime 90 pagine, al situazione si fa troppo infarcita ed ingolfata di riferimenti storici e racconti legati a personaggi religiosi... il tutto così ravvicinato che la lettura inizia a diventare un pò una zavorra.
detto questo e senza volutamente essermi soffermata sul contenuto della trama, odio le recensioni riassunto dei libri!!! è un libro che consiglio a chi ama i thriller storico religiosi.. complimenti all'autore per questa sua gradevolissima opera!!!
My thanks and disclaimer aside, I find myself involved in an odd sort of love/hate relationship with The Devil's Prayer. It has a lot of great moments, but it also has a lot of moments that are lacking. There are times when the story is fast paced and attention grabbing and there are times when a reader feels that they might have to just slog through it. There is little to no depth to the characters, and though the summary of the book introduces us to Siobhan Russo as the main character, she is, most decidedly, an extremely minor appearance.
Our main character is actually the dead nun. Most of the book is told in the form of a diary, written by Denise Russo in the wake of discovering she has made a pact with the Devil and born his spawn into the world. How she gets to that point is, by far, the most entertaining part of The Devil's Prayer. I also feel it is the most well-written portion of the book: those parts where Siobhan is star and the story is written in third-person are extremely difficult to get through in comparison and feel largely forced and unnatural.
The Devil's Prayer's plot, on the other hand, is a bit more solid and direct. Denise has given birth to the Devil's child, and the Devil's child is here to usher in the apocalypse, only it is painstakingly clear that said child has no clue what her purpose is. In fact, that child in no way behaves as if she is the Chosen One meant to bring Armageddon. She could be written out of the book, given how minor of a role she plays in the story - could being the operative word, since she only exists to... well, to exist. If she didn't exist, there'd be no story! The Devil's Prayer spends most of its time focusing on Denise's life, before her pact and shortly after. We are given very little to no reason as to why things happen the way they do, and must understand that they simply do. Siobhan's need to flee, for example, seems rather abrupt and makes little sense even in conclusion.
It is also revealed that it is, quite frankly, too late for anything to be done about the Devil's child, while simultaneously stating that there is only one way to save the world. That one way does involve Siobhan, but we are left with her acknowledgment of needing to take up her mother's mantle and nothing more. This is brought to light way too late in the book, and I honestly felt that the story could have gone on for some time yet. There is no closure to the story at all: it is open-ended, much in the same way that many low-rating horror movies are. In fact, The Devil's Prayer reads like those movies: it has an interesting plot, just enough facts to draw a reader curious about the occult in, and then falls flat in the end.
Whenever I read a book with the intent to review it, there are a lot of things I look out for. I look at its plot, its characters, the writing style, and its flow the most, and as seen in my ratings, I base the amount of stars a book receives on these four factors. I also look at other reviews to see what stood out to my fellow readers. The Devil's Prayer was no exception to this process, which begs the question of whether or not I may have received an older edition of the book. I say this because I found several errors that normally are taken care of during the revision process. These errors made it a bit more difficult than I had intended to get into the book. In one instance, Denise refers to one of her daughters as her "precocious child", whereas I felt the world "precious" was probably intended. There are, undoubtedly, some wonderful quotes to be read in this book, and there is definitely much to be taken away from it. While I found The Devil's Prayer to be an entertaining read, I do feel it could benefit (assuming that I did receive a current edition) from another set of eyes to edit it. With these minor errors and occasionally repeating lines taken care of, I feel it would be a much smoother read.
I really really wanted to like this novel. It had everything that I loved: history, and religion, and secret organizations, and the Devil. This novel had so much promise, and could really have gone to great heights. However, it fell flat on its face for me. The story was disjointed and lacked maturity in its prose and organization. There were times when I felt as if the author had no idea how women talked and behaved because of the scripted and cheesy dialogue and actions. The plot seemed to skip around, with interesting things being thrown in at random with no clear connections. My favorite part of the story was the interesting facts on the Nag Hammadi codices. Overall, this novel just fell short of my expectations. It lacked character development, and stronger connections in the plot. Unless this novel gets a reworking, I would most likely give this novel a pass.
The only parts of the book I found truly hard to get through were the multiple rape scenes but as a woman I don't think it's possible to ever read a rape scene, even if needed for the story, and not feel like you're going through the experience yourself. As a mother I appreciated the sacrifices she made for her kids and the fact there was nothing she wouldn't do for them so that aspect I felt the author also did a good job of getting right.
At the end I myself wishing for a sequel because I wanted to know what the oldest sister had decided to do and if she was going to be successful. This was a book I could not put down no matter where my emotional journey went because Gracias keeps you glued to the pages.
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/
There were both positive and negative aspects to this book. I did enjoy it but at times I found my attention wandering. The plot was good and appealed very much to my tastes, but there were sections that I thought rather tedious and I found myself starting to skim what felt like unnecessary heavy info dumps. The author went into so much detail at times in regards to religious practices, scripts, history etc that I got bored. Especially nearer the end of the book where it began to feel more religious history textbook than fiction.
The writing style took some getting used to. In the beginning it felt very abrupt and factual, telling instead of showing, and it had a non-fiction feel to it. The writing and dialogue did improve and started to flow better once it moved to the nun's story.
I can't say that I could relate to Siobhan's character at all. According to the blurb, she's the main character but she has no depth or substance, and I found her character very flat and unappealing. She makes very small minor appearances between the larger sections that tell her mother's story. In fact, her telling her mother's story is the only reason she's in the book at all. I preferred her mother's story, it was much more pleasant to read, nicer written, had a better flow, and the dialogue was a lot more natural. The mother's character was way more fleshed out and detailed and she stood out more as a main character than the actual main character herself. In fact, I would have enjoyed the book a lot more without Siobhan's character interrupting the flow and enjoyment of her mother's story.
I also felt that certain things were very repetitive. In the opening chapters, the author seemed insistent in reminding me way too often that the city was called Zamora. I stopped highlighting at a count of 19. There were also little niggly things that stood out to me. For instance:
- A wake is not a wake when there is no body, it's a memorial service.
- Paramedics after resuscitating a girl who's heart stopped for a
prolonged period due to drowning do not just pack up and leave, they take her
straight to a hospital to get checked out.
- Policemen are not permitted or qualified, under any circumstances, to perform any
kind of medical tests on someone.
- All the different places had such long names and similar to the above example of the
overuse of Zamora, they too seemed to be overused. For instance, the convent was
called Cistercia Monasterio de Santa Maria de Moreruela and there were parts like
this:
"The hotel receptionist handed her a small pamphlet that referred her to a small minibus, which ran twice daily to the ruins of the old Cistercia Monasterio de Santa Maria de Moreruela, some four kilometres from the small town of Grabja Moreruela. Siobhan read in the pamphlet that the origins of the Cistercia Monasterio de Santa Maria de Moreruela were obscure.."
I have to admit I got fed up reading these long names constantly. We know it's a convent, the author tells us so, so why not just tell us the name once and then just substitute the name with convent. Especially when using it so close together.
I'm assuming there is going to be another book to follow this one as there is no conclusion to the story. Why is Siobhan being pursued by the monks? What exactly is the devil's prayer? And what, if anything, is Siobhan expected to do with this knowledge she's learned? There has to be more because the book stops mid-story without any answers to these questions, and there has to be a reason for Siobhan being present in the book other than just reading her mother's story.
Despite the problems and niggles mentioned above, the actual premise and the bare bones of the story were good and I did really enjoy the nun's story. I would probably read more should there be another book in order to get some answers for the questions I'm left with.
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*I received an arc from the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review