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A review by duskk_novels
Prayer by Philip Kerr
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I won't bother summarising the plot of this book and making it sound captivating because it does not deserve that credit from me. How can I put into words my perpetual fury and disappointment of this book especially one written by one of my favourite writers?
Let's just get straight to it. The point of a murder mystery is to devise a series of events in which intrigue develops and thickens as the plot unfolds. Why go through achingly long hours of writing, build-up, and research to construct an enthralling story with mysterious characters in which there is no murderer but in fact, SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT, God is the murderer?
A revolting element of this was the cruel misrepresentation of Muslims and women. Why would you make the only Muslim character in your book non-practising (which added nothing to the story) and even suggesting that Muslim women are oppressed by Islam? I am nauseated to think that you spent hours researching and did not even bother looking at Islam's principles on the treatment of women. You included at the end of your book, two complete pages of biblical quotes and Christian scriptures that you selected yourself, but could not bother educating your ignorant mind about what Islam says about women and their respected status among humankind. Instead you decide that including Islamophobia was the better option for your work. Additionally what was the purpose of the oversexualisation of women in your story ? What did that add ? Not only was that extremely unconformable but I realised that your intention was to objectify women and portray them in a sickeningly sexual light. As a Muslim woman, I am disgusted that I ever called you one of my favourite writers and am baffled as to how you have written amazing pieces of work and then spat out this?
Another reason why you might want to avoid this because it is severely anti-God and anti-Christ. The main character slanders the name of God in Christian context. And you might think oh you mean atheism? No, I mean anti-God as in the character believes in God because he believes God to be a hateful evil divinity. Religion is one of my favourite areas to read about, especially Islam and Christianity and I was excited to see how the writer would integrate religion into a murder mystery. It was promising then became abhorrent, to the degree where it became anti-God/Christ. And that was his purpose because his Author's note explained his detestation for God, representing him as pure malevolent evil. I am not saying that a book cannot contain atheism or a character with differing views about God as our world holds real people like this, some who even have a dislike towards God. And I believe that a qualified writer would place a character's fear of God or even their hatred into the correct words that did not border malevolence and defamation
I will not bother commenting on the enjoyable aspects of this because I think the elements explained above diminishes all amusement found in this. I'm sorry if I come across dramatic or oversensitive but I guarantee you will agree with every word of my passionate hatred if you read this. What a disheartening waste of potential this was
PS: there was some unfiltered 0ral seggs scenes which eradicated any innocence I had left. Can someone pay for my therapy please ? x
Let's just get straight to it. The point of a murder mystery is to devise a series of events in which intrigue develops and thickens as the plot unfolds. Why go through achingly long hours of writing, build-up, and research to construct an enthralling story with mysterious characters in which there is no murderer but in fact, SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT, God is the murderer?
A revolting element of this was the cruel misrepresentation of Muslims and women. Why would you make the only Muslim character in your book non-practising (which added nothing to the story) and even suggesting that Muslim women are oppressed by Islam? I am nauseated to think that you spent hours researching and did not even bother looking at Islam's principles on the treatment of women. You included at the end of your book, two complete pages of biblical quotes and Christian scriptures that you selected yourself, but could not bother educating your ignorant mind about what Islam says about women and their respected status among humankind. Instead you decide that including Islamophobia was the better option for your work. Additionally what was the purpose of the oversexualisation of women in your story ? What did that add ? Not only was that extremely unconformable but I realised that your intention was to objectify women and portray them in a sickeningly sexual light. As a Muslim woman, I am disgusted that I ever called you one of my favourite writers and am baffled as to how you have written amazing pieces of work and then spat out this?
Another reason why you might want to avoid this because it is severely anti-God and anti-Christ. The main character slanders the name of God in Christian context. And you might think oh you mean atheism? No, I mean anti-God as in the character believes in God because he believes God to be a hateful evil divinity. Religion is one of my favourite areas to read about, especially Islam and Christianity and I was excited to see how the writer would integrate religion into a murder mystery. It was promising then became abhorrent, to the degree where it became anti-God/Christ. And that was his purpose because his Author's note explained his detestation for God, representing him as pure malevolent evil. I am not saying that a book cannot contain atheism or a character with differing views about God as our world holds real people like this, some who even have a dislike towards God. And I believe that a qualified writer would place a character's fear of God or even their hatred into the correct words that did not border malevolence and defamation
I will not bother commenting on the enjoyable aspects of this because I think the elements explained above diminishes all amusement found in this. I'm sorry if I come across dramatic or oversensitive but I guarantee you will agree with every word of my passionate hatred if you read this. What a disheartening waste of potential this was
PS: there was some unfiltered 0ral seggs scenes which eradicated any innocence I had left. Can someone pay for my therapy please ? x