Book Review -- "Dark Prayer" by Natasha Mostert

Dark Prayer by Natasha Mostert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

We follow the lives of some super-interesting characters with Dark Prayer. Jennilee is a fugue state person, daughter of Daniel Barone. She is now known as Eloise. Eloise has a memory shatter, which is purportedly common with amnesiac patients. However, the shatter brings Eloise a flashback of a memory that quite literally shatters her balance, and at the same time, Byrone contacts a trust-worthy friend of his, to trace and find Jennilee, who in turn turns to his son Jack, who goes to England albeit with some resentment to help find Jennilee (aka Eloise). He predictably falls in love with Eloise, but the predictability ends right there. What follows is an enthralling barrage of events, leading Jack into different worlds as he discovers who's behind Eloise' life, the mystery of the Order of Mnemosyne, and the actual memory loss itself of Eloise.

This is a fascinating tale covering psychoanalysis, medical concepts of amnesic confusion, a thriller sub-line of motives and objectives, free running, and a lot of self-discovery and philosophy. The literary style of the prose and the narration are things to die for. I was totally engrossed in the author's use of words, and the poignant and pondering articulation that she seems to be quite deft at. The style reminded me a bit of Jodi Picoult's, but Mostert's writing has a charm that is totally captivating, for example, where she says "...a letter that told of music in the darkness and daffodils in the spring." The pace is perfect.

Thanks to the publishers and Mostert for gifting me a copy of this book for an honest review.

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