Tumšā lūgšana

by Natasha Mostert, Lilija Berzinska (Translator)

“Tumšā lūgšana” ir Londonā dzīvojošās Dienvidāfrikas rakstnieces un scenāristes, romānu “Raganu sezona” un “Sargātāja” (latviski 2009. un 2010. gadā) autores Natašas Mostertes sestais romāns. “Tumšā lūgšana” lasītāju vedina risināt vienu no aizraujošākajiem un joprojām neatbildētajiem 21. gadsimta izaicinājumiem – atmiņas noslēpumu, kurš, iespējams, glabā atbildi uz urdošo jautājumu: kas mēs esam.
Piecu gadu vecumā Dženili piedzīvo savas mātes slepkavību. Bērna prāts šīs atmiņas ir pamanījies izdzēst, taču, būdama jau pieaugusi, Dženili kādudien negaidīti un neizskaidrojami visiem, visdrīzāk, arī sev, pilnībā pārvēršas, burtiskā nozīmē kļūstot par kādu citu – par kādu Eloīzu Bleiku -, un pamet mājas. Viņas aizbildnis uzsāk meitenes meklēšanu, un neviens nezina, kur – un pie kā – šie meklējumi viņus novedīs.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Ebooks, Horror, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary

278 pages, Hardcover

First published October 16, 2014

About the author

(from website)When my publisher asked me to submit a 200 word biography for their authors' website, I thought about dropping the usual bio platitudes and submitting the following: "Natasha Mostert is a spectacularly brilliant, raven-haired psychic who saw her first ghost at the age of four. She likes to take midnight rides on horseback and practises levitation twice a day. However, upon reflection I didn't think my editor would be too amused by this flight of fancy. So here it is, the official (and much less exciting) Natasha Mostert biography:

Natasha Mostert is South African. She grew up in Pretoria and Johannesburg but currently lives in London with her husband, Frederick. She still keeps an apartment in the university town of Stellenbosch in the Cape province.

She is the author of five novels. Her fourth novel, SEASON OF THE WITCH, is a modern gothic thriller about techgnosis and the Art of Memory and won the Book to Talk About: World Book Day 2009 Award. Film rights were sold to Allotria Productions with Emmy-award winning screenwriter, Andrew Davies, commissioned to write the script. Her fifth novel, THE KEEPER, is a thriller about martial arts, chi and quantum physics. Mostert returned to the subject of memory in her latest novel, DARK PRAYER, which is described by Kirkus Reviews a "brainy, fast-moving thriller" in which "Mostert brings together fascinating strands of biology, psychology and mysticism."

Mostert is a keen kickboxer. Visit her website at www.natashamostert.com to find out more about her involvement with the CPAU Fighting for Peace project, which teaches Afghan women how to box and feel empowered in their lives.

Educated in South Africa and at Columbia University, New York, Mostert majored in modern languages and also holds graduate degrees in Lexicography and Applied Linguistics. She has worked as a teacher in the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and as project coordinator in the publishing department of public television station WNET/Thirteen in New York City. Her political opinion pieces have appeared on the op-ed page of The New York Times, in Newsweek, The Independent and The Times (London).

Future goals include writing poetry, executing a perfect spinning backkick and coming face to face with the ghost of Edgar Allen Poe.

Reviews

[Janie Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. The book sounded intriguing to me since it had to do with memories. I find that topic rather interesting so I was really happy to discover this book for review.

In this book we have Eloise Blake who is running from a life she has no idea existed previously due to memory loss linked to dissociative fugue state. Jack is then contacted by his somewhat overly arrogant father requesting him to help Daniel out with his ward who happens to be Eloise. He is asked to help her to rediscover a past life while at the same time discovers that Eloise's life is at risk from some other force.

I really enjoyed this story a lot. I liked the surprise, the excitement and the mystery that surrounded this story along with the lust and greed of outside influences for the sake of science. I found the premise of this story intriguing and found myself trying to imagine a life such as this. Living a completely different life while having lived a different life in the past without even being aware of it. It all came together so well. It is such an engaging story, very thought provoking as well.

I really liked Eloise and Jack a lot. Those were my favorite characters. I loved the trust that was formed between them. As far as the rest of the characters go they were actually pretty cold hearted and cared only for the science aspect of things. I think the characters were all developed nicely, plenty about them to love and hate.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes both science and mystery. Two great elements that came together to tell an amazing story. "One step at a time, but every step forward."

[Gill's likes reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jennilee is a girl who is in a ‘fugue’ state - having reinvented her identity after an amnesic episode. Eloise as she is now known is having a shatter ('flashback') of memory not necessarily her own and not only that but someone is trying to kill her.
During a moment of a shatter Mostert beautifully describes a moment:

It was a letter that told of music in the darkness and daffodils in the spring. The memory of it was strong. Or perhaps, she thought as she continued to stare with aching heart, it was a memory of things she never knew.

Along comes Jack who agrees to his father's demands to travel to London to help find her but discovers that the people who want to bring her back have motives that are not wholly benevolent. A photograph of a group of people which includes Jack’s own father and Jennilee’s mother reveals a mystical group of scientists calling themselves the Order of Mnemosyne. The mystery around her lost memory deepens when they dig deeper into finding out what’s behind it all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the first of Natasha Mostert’s books I have read and thoroughly enjoyed it. What I liked about it best was the mixture of philosophical ideas of memory and identity. As someone living with memory dysfunction I identified with the whole discussion around memory as a crucial component of identity.

Think of this; if your memory was altered or manufactured from the original who would you be? If your memory could be altered to wipe out distressful events how would that change you? Even more important who would you want to be? Losing one’s memory is one of the most feared aspects surrounding dementia, and with it one’s identity. The issues of memory that Mostert discusses in detail are so knowledgeable and thought provoking.

There is a line which casually invites you to think about it:

As he flicked off the TV remote, he wondered idly at what point unreliable memories started affecting one's sense of self.

Who is Jack; an American rich boy, bit of a waster, no job, just living it up, drinking and fighting etc, you get the picture. Then big-guns Daddy, tells him he has to go to England to help look for a missing girl and bring her back to her ward Daniel a friend of his. Jack a free runner, agrees to find Jennilee Gray who also loves the activity of ‘parkour’.

Now calling herself Eloise Blake, Jack falls in love with her and helps to unravel the mystery surrounding her which involves the Order of Mnemosyne, their parents, memory and scientific experimentation. What will Jack and Eloise find out about her life, and how will she deal with it?

There is a wonderful mix of exciting story telling and deep thinking around spirituality and psychology. This is a book that you are unable to read without looking at yourself and questioning what makes you, you. Stunningly clever stuff.

I loved the complexity of the characters and the plot, each with their own agenda’s. References to Aleister Crowley gives an understanding to the type of order behind the plot, and having read a great deal of Crowley it gave me the insight of the darkness of the order. If you haven’t read or don’t know Crowley, no matter, because Mostert gives enough details for you to understand completely.

Free running: I had heard about it but not in any detail; what a thrilling activity it is! Oh I wish I was 40 years younger because I would just love to do this. Just reading it gave me a real sense of what it feels like to do it, and that is a mark of a great writer!
Just listen to this snippet:

Free running can be exhilarating. It can be like flying...
Movement is life. That was what parkour was all about. Never look back. Find another way.

Mostert has gauged the reading pace of the plot completely right, is not too much to be too complicated to follow, and enough to be exciting.

An excellent read which I recommend to all who love an intelligently thought out book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Many thanks to the Publisher for a digital copy via NetGalley for an honest review.

Also reviewed on my book review blog Great Book Escapes

[Sabīne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grāmata lasījās viegli, bet nobeigums likās sasteigts, personīgi man prasījās kaut ko vairāk nobeigumam.

[Leiah Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Modern Memory Palaces Non omnis moriar: I shall not altogether die. – Horace, Odes 3:30
 
What if we’re all like that? Like ghosts … in someone’s mind … gradually fading … fading … until finally … one day … we just disappear … drift into nothingness. Wouldn’t that be sad? – Walter Wykes, Fading Joy
 
“Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Eric Kandel says we are who we are because of what we learn and what we remember. Who am I, then, if my memory is impaired?” ― Mira Bartok, The Memory Palace
 
She calls herself Eloise Blake. Though not the first line of the book, it is the first line of the story. The story of a girl, a girl named Eloise Blake. But Eloise has only been Eloise for the past two years. For before that, Eloise was Jenilee Gray. Lovely, sweet Jenilee who loved the colour peach and liked pansies and sweet peas. Who was soft and gentle, and the ward of a very rich man, Daniel Barone.
 
“The man is a genius—of the Stephen Hawking kind. But two decades ago he dropped out of academic research almost overnight.”
 
How odd. A neuroscientist, trying to identify the memory molecule, his work was decades ahead of the Sackler Lab and their work on the identification of PKMzeta. A huge breakthrough – but he simply walked away. Why? And is what happened then somehow related to what is happening now to Jenilee/Eloise, who one day walked out of a restaurant and completely disappeared from London?
 
“The last he saw of her, she was talking on the restaurant’s public telephone, looking agitated and holding a sheet of paper in her hand. . . Mr. Barone thinks this may be when she lost contact with her identity.”
 
John Boyne said, “There’s things that happen in a person’s life that are so scorched in the memory and burned into the heart that there’s no forgetting them.” But that is not actually true. For Jenilee/Eloise is in a fugue state – she remembers nothing of her previous life of privilege, living in what amounts to a squat, living for parkour, or in her case, “free running”. And because of Eloise’s obsession with free running, Jack Simonetti, bon vivant, spoiled little rich boy, is ordered to London to use his free running skills to track her movements, assure her safety, and, hopefully, return her to the persona of Jenilee Gray. Of course, if Jenilee returns, Eloise will be gone forever. And the longer Jack knows Eloise, the more he realizes that she may actually be the ‘true’ persona. . .
On the day she disappeared she drove into London to visit a solicitor who had contacted her about an envelope that was left her by her mother and date-stamped for release that day.
 
What is so horrific as to cause Jenilee to become Eloise – for her fugue state to last so long? What was in the envelope? And what is really going on – because there is more, much more. Something happened, all those years ago, when five people began a quest, a quest which left one of the group in a wheelchair and another – Jenilee’s mother– murdered, while two others came to know success beyond the wildest dreams of avarice. One of them Jack’s father, Leon Simonetti. A man without compassion, a man with secrets of his own. Secrets which may have left one young woman completely (irretrievably?) lost.
 
“There is a goddess of Memory, Mnemosyne; but none of Forgetting. Yet there should be, as they are twin sisters, twin powers, and walk on either side of us, disputing for sovereignty over us and who we are, all the way until death.” ― Richard Holmes
Once upon a time there was a group of five, The Order of Mnemosyne, all brilliant, all experts on memory. . .
 
Once students sat at the feet of their teachers – Anaxamander and Parmenides, Anaxagoras and Xenophanes. I sit at the feet of Natasha Mostert – not so much as a ‘teacher’ but as an author. I said, in my review of Season of the Witch:
 
I was again pulled into the deep waters of the mind, the dark corners of the soul. And once more, I was enthralled by Ms. Mostert’s grasp of language, her ability to paint a picture with words upon the page.
 
Now, she reaches deeper, wider, further. Are we, and our memories, becoming shallow, increasingly incapable of internalizing knowledge? Natasha has once more done meticulous research, delved into the world of medieval memory palaces, and expanding them into the modern world, complicated renditions of our memory palaces, “replete with galleries, endless staircases, passages turning in on themselves, Escher-esque tessellations and infinite loops; rooms within rooms and inside them grinning gargoyles, oblique symbols and images of dark beauty.”
 
As always, Natasha has created these very oblique symbols, images of dark beauty and pain, and a heartrending tale of the palaces of science – and the darkest depths of the search for the memories of god.
 
“We thought . . . we might even be able to look upon the face of God. Mnemosyne was a prayer.”
 
“A dark prayer. Worth any sacrifice”?
 
“Would you say it is worth the sacrifice of a child?”
 
I received Dark Prayer from the publisher in return for a realistic review. Natasha Mostert writes beautifully, with a depth of knowledge and empathy that makes her work beautiful and compassionate, painful and horrifying in equal measure. She is a great storyteller of depth and knowledge, and I completely adore her works. Highly recommended, as always.

[Evija · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diezgan aizraujošs sižets, kas raisa dzīvīgu interesi par tālāko notikumu gaitu, bet vēl interesantāks darbības fons.
Kas ir atmiņas? Cik ļoti tās veido mūsu personību un cik bīstama ir spēle ar tām? Vai pazaudējot atmiņas mēs pazaudējam arī sevi un vai atmiņas atspoguļo faktus vai ir pārāk emociju ietekmētas, lai uz tām paļautos? Uzzināju šo to jaunu, lieliski izklaidējos un pamocījos ar šādiem tādiem eksistenciāliem jautājumiem.
Nepatika beigas, pārāk klišejiskas, likās, ka autore vienkārši pagura un gribēja kaut kā to lietu vienreiz nobeigt. Tāpat arī ļaunais tēls, kura ļaunības mēģinājumi izgāžas četras reizes pēc kārtas un ko pie vietas noliek nenobriedis puika, vairāk izskatās nevis pēc racionāla, izglītota plānotāja, bet gan pēc laupītāja no filmas "Viens pats mājās".

[Tish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is intriguing, exciting, and thought-provoking, all at the same time. It's a mystery that delves pretty deeply into the science of memory, without ever becoming dry, and parkour (also known as free running). What a great combination of elements to weave together into one story! The author did a great job with the characters as well.

Note: Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free copy of this book.

[Sanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Natasha Mostert's Season of the Witch so I was already excited going into Dark Prayer. And it did not disappoint. I love the way she weaves complex webs of paranormal mystery, making her reader feel fully immersed in this fictional world she created. I also enjoy the fact that not all answers are served neatly, cookie cutter style but you are expected to use your imagination to fill in certain blanks. Topics of memory, trauma and identity are explored through hauntingly beautiful prose, all under the veil of suspense and mystery. I highly recommend this one for fans of the genre looking for something different and refreshing.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Portable Magic for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

[Adrienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Quick blurb:
Jack, our main character, is sent to London to help a friend of his father's get his ward, a young girl named Jennilee, to come back home. Jennilee's mother was murdered when she was at a young age, and the remembering of this traumatic event led her to entering a "fugue state" wherein she completely reinvented herself (she was now 'Eloise') and no longer had any recollection of her life as Jennilee. She could snap out of her fugue state anytime though, and get all her memories back - and remember the face of her mother's killer - which is why somebody's out to get her.

Thoughts:
Unfortunately, I can't really say I was impressed with it. There were a lot of boring parts where the narration just seemed to drag on and on, and the romance was rushed - for a girl with trust issues, Eloise (Jennilee) was startlingly fast in taking a liking to the male main character and spending time with him. It was ridiculously easy to guess who the killer was and the reason behind the killing, which made me question if the author really aimed this to be a mystery-suspense kind of thing.

And the ending. Eloise was bound to get her memory back - what would happen next? Would the guy have to get her to fall for him all over again? This book just left a bad taste in my mouth - sadly this only gets two out of five stars from me.

[Sara Canny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was orignally reviewed on Sara's Books and Things

I loved this book. The entire concept of what was done to Jenilee when she was a young girl is fascinating and disturbing that something like that could potentially be done to a young child.

The concept of a Fugue state is incredible to me, how a simple stressor can cause you to forget everything and become someone completely different. It's very uncommon and generally doesn't last very long, but it's very intriguing and just a tiny bit terrifying.

I like that you got to learn about who Jenilee was and who Eloise made her self into. The dichotomy of who they are, the uncertainty of what would happen with her relationship with Jungles and Jack if she were to slip out of her fugue state, and what would happen if she remembered what sent her into the fugue state in the first place.

Mnemosyne, each of their individual approaches to memory, and what they were willing to do in order to advance their discoveries was intense to say they least. They were so dedicated, but succumbed to greed and the cost.... well you'll just have to read and find out for yourself now won't you?

[Doreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

So few books deserve the title "literary mystery." Often, that phrase is given to books where ponderous writing and a quasi-mystical theme are draped over a poorly constructed plot, as if the fact that the book itself is so unenjoyable is some testament to how smart the reader must be to not only finish but like, or at least pretend to like, the damn thing. Pretentious intelligentsia are the bane of my reading existence, I tell you.

Fortunately, Dark Prayer is one of those elegant, if not overly complicated novels that fully deserves its accolades as a literary mystery. Natasha Mostert knows what she's taking about when she discusses memory and mysticism, and the underlying murder plot is briskly and, more importantly, credibly constructed. She wasn't afraid to mine the emotional depravity that so many other of her less accomplished cohorts think they can substitute mere sexual peccadilloes for. I thought her writing really shone, though, when she was describing the thrills of parkour. The passages of physical grace and athleticism were a terrific counterpoint to the murkiness of the mind and emotions.

[Anthony Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A random choice – 5th stack, 7th shelf, 21st book from the left – from the Library.

I don’t think Mostert quite decided what sort of genre she had chosen, but let’s say it’s mostly a murder-mystery-cum-Dan Brown puzzle solver. What makes it a bit more that that is that Mostert is interested in the discovery of the ‘memory molecule’, PKMzeta (not a sci-fi fabrication: the molecule exists), and imagines what it would be like if that molecule could be manipulated to erase all recollection of a trauma by which someone may be afflicted. She also looks at the nature of memory and how, even as soon as an experience enters the memory it is changing and losing factual accuracy, for ‘the brain alters the way we remember, fusing actual events with our wants and desires and thereby creating a sense of self, which is unique.’

The story’s central characters are Jack Simonetti and Jenilee Gray / Eloise Blake. Jack’s father, Leon, and Jenilee’s mother, Julianne, were both members of a small group of friends, calling themselves The Order of Mnemosyne, whose interest lay in the memory. So obsessed were they with each other and their researches that they made an error in using Jennilee to test their theories, thus causing a trauma that causes Jennilee to become Eloise, and to be utterly unable to accept that she has ever been anyone else.

Enter the three other members of the group: Bella Wilding, Francis Godine, and Daniel Barrone.

Daniel Barrone initiates the story’s action by employing Jack to contact Eloise, as if by accident, and to see if he can find out why she has entered what he calls a ‘fugue state’ (for which an explanation is offered here: https://psychologydictionary.org/fugu...). He was also the initiator and leader of Mnemosyne, and closed it down following the murder of Julianne.

Francis Godine is a less defined character, but his mission since Barrone had a car accident that left him paralysed, has been to look after his friend, living in his house and coming and going freely.

Bella Wilding is a wealthy ‘memory curator’. She helps people nearing the end of their lives to remember what has made their lives worthwhile. When she is accused of ‘Encouraging lies’, she replies that glossy as memories may have become ‘They’re not lies... We do not keep our memories sealed in vacuum packs in a deep freeze... memory revises itself year after year... At the end of our lives, we have built this amazing creation in our minds: part myth, part reality. And I believe...that this is how it is meant to be. In my experience, the people who age best are not the ones who try to remember the harsh truth and stare it in the face. No. We are meant to forget. We are hardwired this way.’

And then, turning to Jennilee / Eloise, she adds ‘Your mother thought differently’.

And this is where much of the novel’s thrust lies – the discovery of a ‘potentiation’ drug, DE7, the formula for which is hidden and which only Jennilee / Eloise can access - although she does not know that. The reader, however, will be intuiting that her headaches and perfect recollection of hundreds of combinations of numbers must, in some way, be linked to this mystery formula.

Perhaps that is all you need to know to get a flavour of the story and its overarching intellectual concerns, both psychological, medical and ethical. It is enhanced by an additional interest in parkour / free running and in codes, bibliophily, and cults. I would have enjoyed a bit more on the parkour, but, on reflection, though the occasions it makes its appearance are few and far between, they are perhaps relished the more for their infrequency.

The only other observation I’d make is that some of the dialogue is what I’d call generic, or voiceless. It could be uttered by anyone. So, for me, the writer did not manage to discover an idiolectic world for each of her protagonists.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Natasha Mostert is an intelligent and superbly creative writer. Her plots are always original, well-researched and thought- provoking; so that the reader is left with a deep sense of satisfaction at the conclusion of her stories.
Having previously read ‘The Season of the Witch’, a book I found totally engrossing, I hoped this book would live up to my expectations. It did.
This book explores the subject of Memory and its impact on our sense of self.
Jennilee suffers from dissociative memory disorder after witnessing the dramatic murder of her mother at the age of five. Her mother, Julianne, together with four friends, were working on strange scientific experiments involving the manipulation of memory molecules.
There is much mystery surrounding Jennilee’s fugue state in which she reinvents herself under the name of Eloise. But she experiences intermittent flashbacks and hears voices from her past. When her friend Jungles introduces her to parkour, she learns to control the voices in her head. But it is the arrival of Jack from America, the son of one of her mother’s friends, who may be able to help her unlock the secrets of her past.
An intriguing and rewarding read with an unexpected conclusion. I loved it.

[Renee Alarid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being a huge fan of Natasha Mostert's previous novel "Season of the Witch," I was intrigued to see that she wrote another book, "Dark Prayer." "Dark Prayer" also focuses on memory and its effects on someone when faced with trauma. We meet the main character Eloise in a fugue state and is running from her past as Jenilee. With Jack's help, the story is about finding out what happened to Eloise and why she is in danger.

Though there was a lot of research about memory, the story fell flat, and I never felt it took my full attention. There were parts of the story that didn't need to happen, in my opinion, and characters who needed more of a back story. Overall, not my favorite of Mostert's books.

[Just another reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story but repetitive in concept and vocabulary of her previous book I read "Season of the witch" which personally I thought that book was much better. Had the vocabulary been different it would've been a better story.

[Ilze · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tēma interesanta, atmiņas, identitātes būvēšana uz atmiņu un nākotnes plānošanas balstiem. Tikai nepieklājīgi banāli un sekli apspēlēta.

[Beverley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Memory, how much do you control and how much can be controlled? Part mystery, part thriller, part love story it takes some interesting twists and turns.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always love Mostert. The memory ideas and research are always fascinating. This was a little too “pat” with the 5 key players roles though.

[Nitishia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m disappointed. Memory notes gave big tips that reveals too quickly the whole secret. So the whole mystery is not longer a mystery. The romance were predictable from the beggining.

[Elayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Memory Palaces are cool things - if you can build one. They can take any shape or form provided you can enter the rooms in which you have stored the data and or the cupboard or vase or… Apparently they all began with a Greek named Simonides who visualised a room which had collapsed whilst he was in it. He was able through his visualisation to recall exactly where everyone was sitting and then used this technique to associate things he wanted to remember with walks through familiar places. Sherlock Holmes of course was a master of the memory palace.

In the same way, when I read a book, or newspaper, I can visualise the exact spot on which a sentence or advert is placed - the right page and whether top, bottom, left or right. This is not such a good trick as the full memory palace of course, as this can store anything or everything. There is still in fact a Mnemosyne project out there studying how we can improve our long term memory.

Who is Mnemosyne, I hear you ask? Well I didn’t know until I read a book called Pantheon a while back and then researched the Greek Myths afterwards to help me with it. Mnemosyne is the Titan goddess of memory and remembrance, inventiveness of languages and words
She is the daughter of Ouranos (Heaven) and thus also a goddess of Time. She represented rote memorisation which was required of course before the invention of writing. She was the mother of the Muses who were the patron goddesses of poets and the oral tradition. She presided over the underground oracle of Trophonios.

In Dark Prayer the characters play around with memory. They are concerned with how memory is stored and can we improve our memory - see Alzheimer’s - or store it in different ways. They were in many ways related to the mysticism of the late nineteenth century which led to the establishment of the Theosophical Society and other mystical treatises which linked magic to mysticism and memory enhancement. What I found very interesting were all the quotes from Meister Eckhart. Now Meister Eckhart was a mystic who wrote much earlier and was even about to be burnt at the stake by the Pope for heresy. He is much used still within the monastic tradition for what is known as Lectio Divina - whereby you contemplate a small statement from Meister Eckhart and see what it says to you. I participate in these weekends myself on a regular basis. We look at what the texts retrieve from our memories and what we associate with the words.

I found the writing style sufficient and elegant without any flowery unnecessary language but enough for you to visualise the experience, especially of the parkour or free running that some of the characters participate in. Parkour was a new term to me although I had seen many videos of free runners so I tracked it down - I am researcher at heart after all… it seems it is a holistic training discipline using movement that developed from the military obstacle course training.
Practitioners use only the human body and the surroundings for propulsion, with a focus on maintaining as much momentum as possible while still remaining safe. Although clearly there is always the potential for accidents and damage!

Do I recommend this book? Of course. But be prepared for mystic and ‘magic’ as that is what these practitioners believed in. 4*

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Dark Prayer, an enthralling novel all about memory (and parkour), was a stretch for me at first. I thought the parkour segments were going to be too far out of my comfort zone because I wouldn't understand half of what was being explained, and I figured from what was first detailed that the memory bits would leave me feeling fatigued because the author would go too in-depth.

What I came to realize was that the book was actually surprisingly easy to read. Easier than I would've thought, by far. And that's what made it so enjoyable. Although this is the first book I've read for 2015, it has already made me want to read more for the year because everything just flowed so well and was so well-written. There were a great deal of quotes that I wanted to...quote...

I came to learn a lot about parkour, or free running, and reading this book made me nostalgic for my high school days when I saw a few buddies try it out. My friends, of course, were just beginners compared to these characters. Jungles, the name of the most skilled free runner of the bunch, is pretty much a ninja, and the author does a great job of describing how he (and the others) ran and climbed and jumped. But that doesn't mean the author of Dark Prayer treats you like you're automatically knowledgeable in the ways of imagining someone free running. Instead, Natasha Mostert lays the sport of parkour out in a way that is understandable to us amateurs without being condescending to those who actually have a good grip on the skill.

You could tell extensive research had to be done--both in parkour and in psychological matters. There's even a link to a real article in the Kindle edition of the book. In college, I minored in Psychology and volunteered at a traumatic brain injury rehab facility. So I like to think I know a fair amount about memory (and the absence of it). At least, I'm interested in it. The way Mostert incorporated aspects of psychology--especially regarding memory and trauma--into the life of main character Eloise was fascinating because it was realistic. However, I never once felt like I was reading a case story or out of a textbook when it came to these points.

Our main character is caught in a fugue state--this is what has caused her to wipe out all memory loss of her former and original self, Jenilee Gray, and to establish a new self, Eloise Blake. She has created new memories for herself. A new mother, a new father--circus performers. A new name. A new identity.

I've often thought how neat it would be to create a new identity for myself, leaving my past behind. But I wouldn't be me; I want my memories, all of them. The problem with Eloise, however, is that she did not consciously form for herself a new identity. And maybe there's something else going on behind the scenes. Gasp.

Now, there is another main character--named Jack--that I haven't meant to leave out, necessarily, but I just didn't find him to be that appealing. He wasn't near as interesting to me as Eloise, at least. But I can't leave out his name because 1) He's important to the story. And 2) I'm about to make a joke about him. Because if you were a free runner and your name was Jack, wouldn't you call yourself "Jack-B-Quick"?

If you read this, I hope the time flies by as quickly for you as it did for me. In a good way.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finding this in the Mystery & Thriller section at NetGalley, I wondered how a young rich playboy could be a good detective if he had no such skills. I mean, he didn't do much at all except make his father angry at his antics. How did that translate into being a super sleuth and finding the lost person? Not to mention the fact I was intrigued by Eloise's plight. The poor woman felt like she was going crazy from all of the weird things happening. These separate lines coming together was something I needed to read for myself.

Much of the book focused on the two characters mentioned above. In a way both of them were trying to find their true selves, but Eloise's condition worsened to the point that it became the primary focus. Several secondary characters moved the story forward and cemented their places in the action as their skill set became needed. I liked the fact that each character remained independent of one another despite sharing some similarities. Case in point, Jack's father and a group of friends began a secret society which they talk about in the first few chapters of the book. Every member of this society had his or her own specific field of study and yet, some of the areas overlapped. To keep the members from becoming muddled, each of them have distinct characteristics such as physical singularities, mannerisms or merely the way they pronounce their words. All of these things made it easy to believe that they could have been real people in a present day situation - though that would be a terrible reality for a person if it were true.

Once the story began, the pace was steady and consistent. There was a sense of urgency and need lying barely below the surface and initiated a lot of the character's actions. Of course, the lingering feeling that someone was out to stop Jack and Eloise from discovering the truth helped as well. I thought it interesting how Jack's initial feelings about Eloise shifted from something akin to annoyance into a sense of protection as he delved deeper into the reason behind her current state of mind. As everything unraveled and revealed who all had ownership in the horrible deed, I knew a few of the answers that the duo would find, but not everything. There was a factor that I didn't see coming until it was right in front of me. That was a pretty pleasant surprise, but I was also repulsed that the deed was even conceived in the first place. No, I won't be more specific. This is a spoiler-free zone!

Overall, I really liked this book. There were several different elements that came together and created an interesting and intelligent story that wasn't weighed down by lots of scientific terms that I couldn't understand. The author inserted the necessary information and explained the complicated matters through her characters in such a way that I thought it was simply a part of a conversation or a bit of book left open to the right page. The story had a bit of everything to take me on a thrill ride and a few surprises that left me happy at the end. From action sequences to sinister motives, there's a lot of ground for the book to cover, but it does it well. If you're looking for a book with a twisted mind, devious friends and soul-shattering revelations, then pick this book up!

[Donadee's Corner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Prayer Review
Natasha Mostert

When you can’t remember who you are and someone is trying to kill you for a secret that you have no idea about, what do you do? For Janilee Gray, she became Eloise Blake! Not knowing who you are and where you came from, no idea about anything can be a problem because you have nowhere to turn, no one to help, no money, no home, no job! You start over from the beginning but where is the beginning?

Jack Simonetti was a playboy and trouble found him like a cat finds a mouse. His last little bit of trouble put him in the targets circle with his father and he was ordered to help his old friend with a little problem. Jack was to find Janilee Gray and help her remember her past so that she could go home where Daniel Barone thought that she should be. She was his ward after her mother was murdered when she was 5 years old. But now she had no clue how she was connected and was frightened of him.

Jack finds Eloise and they strike up a friendship because of parkour (free running). She invites him to join their little group and it begins!

What did I like? The first thing that I liked is that I learned about something new. I had never heard of parkour and if I was younger and skinny it sounds like something that I would enjoy doing. The other part that I liked is the complicated mystery of the mind. If any of this was true and it really could be done, oh how it would help people. But then on the other hand I can certainly see where it could lead and so many people could be really hurt, like Jenilee. Also I love being a member of NetGallery with the opportunity to read books such as this.

What did I dislike? Of course, this is just a story but if something like this could happen I would be scared how it would be used and this story is a perfect example of how people could be really hurt. Not only from the memory part but the emotional side as well.

What are you going to like? It is so obvious the amount of research that went into the making of this story and the details and vivid descriptions back this up. The imagination that was used to bring it to life is phenomenal. The characters are well rounded and you just fall in love with Jack and Eloise. The breathtaking explanation of the parkour is over the top and makes me want to be able to do it. I can see where it would be exhilarating and would bring such a release to a person. As the story evolves and the ending brings it to full term you will be amazed at the depth of details it took. The emotional stress that Eloise went through is amazing and the descriptions make it so clear the distress that she was in. All in all this was one exceptional story that will keep you interested from the beginning to the end. I know that it did for me.

[Cherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eloise Blake is on the run from a life she no longer remembers. Having went into some kind of fugue state that's lasted about two years now, she's left behind her former life as Jenilee Gray, taken up a new hobby with a tribe of free runners, and is living in a run down squat. Eloise's new identity is as different from Jenilee as night is to day.

Enter Jack Simonetti. Jack is a bit of a spoiled playboy, living off his rich father's purse strings, and recently transported from the UK to NYC. Dear old dad threatens to cut off Jack's money supply unless he does a favor for an old friend, Daniel Barone. Grudgingly, Jack agrees but eventually heads off to London to meet with Barone. Barone, who was Eloise's former guardian, fills Jack in and tasks him with getting close to Eloise and convincing her to return to her previous life. For as luck would have it, Barone is an expert in memory manipulation, and believes he has the skills to help Eloise return to her former self.

Unfortunately, things aren't quite that straightforward. Eloise has had one too many "accidental" close calls and Barone is certain that someone is dogging her, intent on doing her harm. Though Jack manages to get close to Eloise, using their common interest in parkour (free running) as his in, he starts to develop feelings for her. So if he manages to convince her to trust Barone and return to her previous life, she'll no longer remember him or any other details about her life as Eloise. So what's a guy to do??

I thought this was a fantastic story. I loved how much of the memory stuff was backed up by scientific fact, something I didn't fully realize until the author's note at the end. I know the whole "boy meets girl, falls in love, saves girl from bad guys" can be a bit cliché and overdone at times, but seriously, that small but overly simplistic piece of the plot was done up so well around an amazing thriller of a story, that you barely even realized that's what was going on.

The author did a wonderful job building her characters and the world around them. Eloise seemed tough as nails at the start, but as Jack gets to know her, she starts to let a bit more of her vulnerable side show, and you feel like you're peeling layers off an onion. (Shrek anyone? LOL)

Seriously though, if you like mystery and suspense thrillers, you owe it to yourself to check this book out. And now I realize I've had one of Mostert's other books, Season of the Witch, languishing on my TBR shelf for far too long. Must push that one towards the top of the pile!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Portable Magic, Ltd., for providing me with a copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

[Beth Peninger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Portable Magic Ltd for this free copy. In an exchange for this copy I am giving an honest review.

What an interesting book. I'm torn on how much I liked it. It wasn't bad at all, just perhaps a tad lacking in details which might be feeding my uncertainty. Mostert proposes and executes a strange premise about memory.
Jennilee is missing. For two years she's been on the run and refusing to come out of hiding. Her guardian, Daniel, keeps trying to convince her but she doesn't trust him. First of all, he's using the wrong name. Who is Jennilee? Her name is Eloise. Dark Prayer is a story of a young woman who entered a fugue state two years ago and has zero recall about her life as Jennilee. In the past two years she has made up her name of Eliose, what her parents did, and why she hears voices and recites a series of numbers constantly. Daniel, her guardian, wants to retrieve her and get her fugue state to end so she can become Jennilee again but so far she isn't cooperating. Jack, an American rich boy, keeps getting into trouble so to keep tabs on him and as a form of punishment his dad, Leon, sends him to England to assist Daniel in retrieving Eloise. Jack befriends Eloise through her new hobby of parkour. As he builds trust with her the reader is also privvy to her dead mother's diary as part of a scientific memory group from years before. The more Jack, and the reader learn, the more he realizes Eloise's voices and numbers are a threat to those in the group still alive and interested in memory research. Why do they need Eloise? Well, she's the test subject.
I think part of my uncertainty about the book was Mostert's equal use of parkour and memory research. Eloise and her parkour hobby are an odd, in my opinion, escape from her former life of which she doesn't remember except in visions that are increasing. I said earlier that it seemed to be lacking in details, the story as a whole, but Mostert does include plenty of detail. I suppose a more accurate statement would be that, in my opinion, it lacked the details necessary to give the story more credibility. It was all just a little too...off...for me to buy into 100%. The memory research is fascinating but it was given in such a fictional use that it felt contrived. The diary entries from Jennilee/Eloise's mom felt hurried and stilted. They were entirely too vague to contribute to the reader's understanding of that part of the story. The story did, however, keep me engaged and interested until the end. I'm curious to give other titles Mostert has authored a try.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you were to define how you became the person you are today, what would you do? Would you look into your past, seeking events or memories that you feel made you who you are today? What if those memories were stolen from you by misguided scientists? Who or what would you become? Would your core remain, would your personality change? Who would be the REAL you? In Natasha Mostert’s Dark Prayer, Eloise has lost her memory, and has had to learn to fend for herself with the help of an unlikely savior, protector and friend. Livng a life far from the one she grew up in, Eloise has learned to survive on her own, but someone wants to change that. Why would anyone want her dead? Who was she before she became Eloise? What are the flashes she keeps getting? Are they breakthroughs to her past?

When Jack is sent to protect her, of course he must lie and keep his mission a secret. She is the secret to priceless information, but she has no idea. Who used her as a guinea pig? What happens if she remembers her past? Who will she become?

Natasha Mostert’s world is part sci-fi and all mystery. So many questions, so many unknowns, dark and ominous like a shadow floating just out of reach, this journey is one to remember. With rich details and well-developed characters, Ms. Mostert has put fresh meat on the table for dark mystery lovers who like a bit of misguided science on the side.


I received this copy from Portable Magic Ltd. in exchange for my honest review.

Publication Date: October 16, 2014
Publisher: Portable Magic Ltd.
ISBN: 9781909965201
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Print Length: 265 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Reviewed for: http://tometender.blogspot.com

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

NATASHA MOSTERT
DARK PRAYER

THE BLURB

Eloise Blake is on the run from a life she can no longer remember. And from a killer who will stop at nothing to protect a secret as old as time. From the award-winning author of SEASON OF THE WITCH comes a thriller about memory, identity and the murderous consequences of a quest gone wrong.

WHAT I SAY
wow what a book it a very haunting read . A great read from the first few pages i was hooked on this brilliant story . The plot had been going around in my head for days now you will start to look at your self in a different way .

I felt Natasha had done a lot of research into ones mind or i should say memories it deals with the mystery of memory as the key to who we are is it link to science , magic or may be both you will have to see what you think i not sure ?
How would we cope if we lost are memories i not sure are you ?

It a very fast paced book it just pulls you into this fab plot . How do we store are memories ? I still not sure this book got so many twists and turns it has you guessing right to the end

Jack one of the main characters he got to help his dad by helping a friend out jennilie walked out a restaurant and just disappeared where did she go ? What happen ? Why did she do that ?
She now been found but she got a new name and she call Eloise Blake
Eloise got herself into this gang what a wired gang this was but she seem to like it
I felt each member was very deep and a bit hard to work out each of their memories seem to be mixed into the plot so well
The plot got love , hate, friends, compassion , deceit and trust ,
Eloise gets a few flashbacks but who was trying to kill her or was in her head ?
Jack see a photo of his parents in this gang why ? He got to help Eloise unravel the mystery surrounding her and the order of menemosyne was it a experiment or not
What will they both find out ?
I had never heard of free running a lot of the story is about i check it out on the net so i can the plot more but by just read you will understand it i just wanted to find out a bit more
The writing style of the book made it easy to understand it a very intelligent book i was a very emotion read i not done the review as detail as i would of liked as i was not sure how to write about the mind you will have to make your own mind up of what you think it very much paced with deep twist
A very good read 5stars i like to thank net gallery for letting me read

[Jacqie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you're in the mood for a book with a bit of romance, a bit of thrills, and a bit of mood, that's not too heavy, this is a good pick. The books' theme is memory and how it is seen by different people- is it better to remember or to forget? Is memory an immutable recollection of facts or is it informed by the person remembering, so that it changes as the person changes? I suppose that I see memory as flexible, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I've let a lot of things go from my childhood, which has given me some better relationships and allowed me to be a more open person. However, as I get older, I really hate not instantly being able to recall things that used to come easily. I used to rely on a sharp memory as a matter of course, and it's quite dismaying to find that I can't count on it the way I used to.

Eloise Blake is a personality assumed by the former Jenilee (what was the last name again? Can't remember!!) who went into a fugue state as a response to stress. However, Eloise is plagued by disturbing and disrupting thoughts and memories that insert themselves into her present.

Her love interest is Jack, who's been sent by Eloise/Jenilee's godfather to watch over her and see if he can get Jenilee back. Since Jack's done parkour in the past and Eloise is a free runner, there's an in. Reading about free running was fun and made the book feel unique to me. I remember the first time I saw it, in the Casino Royale remake, and being fascinated because I'd never seen a human move that way. And it's nice that these characters use smart phones like people would, instead of so many books I've read that ignore cell technology because it's inconvenient, or maybe because the author isn't comfortable with technology.

The memory theme is what sets the book apart from being a run of the mill thriller/romance (the romance is pretty prosaic, actually). Eloise seemed like a person instead of a goal to be acheived. Sure, there was a bit of silliness, but I was willing to forgive that and just blaze through the book. And I'm interested enough to read more by this author, if I'm in the mood for light thriller/romance/dash of supernatural.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would like to thank Portable Magic, Ltd., and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This book was exciting in a kind of subtle way. No great adrenaline rushes, but a solid mystery (until the end when I had it figured out before the story told me whodunit), and a couple of good twists and turns. It kept me guessing a little bit, which was nice. But ultimately, it had a tremendous storyline that just drew me right in. The writing is very charismatic, and interesting. Full of science and memory stuff, while not talking over the reader's head, which this reader definitely appreciated.

I felt like I could keep up with the storyline, even though, as I found out at the end, the story was pulled straight out of the headlines of a real science story, and some research and deep thought obviously went into it. This all shows in the book, and I found the ideas in the book quite interesting, because I have a terrible memory, and the idea of improving my memory...even for something as simple as where I've left my keys when I'm trying to rush out the door in the morning (at least 4 out of 5 mornings a week) would be a great thing for me.

I really felt drawn into the character's lives in this book, too. Especially Eloise, who is the main focus. I felt like I knew her as well as a friend by the end of the book, and what affected her deeply, affected me deeply. And Jack was wonderful. Not so much character growth there, really. He kind of went from spoiled rich boy straight into the role of protector with very little growth shown, but that's okay, because he's just so fabulous I didn't even notice the lack of growth until I started writing this review.

I definitely recommend this book if you don't mind a science-type book (not overly heavy on the science, but rooted in science) that doesn't talk down to you, but still covers the issue well. Also, this book side-lines into free-running or parkour a little bit, but not enough to be obnoxious. Just enough to be slightly interesting.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and I am never compensated for my reviews.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another hauntingly beautiful written story by Natasha Mostert. She has a unique style that can creep you out all the while sounding like an artist painting a masterpiece. The details she goes into for her stories you can appreciate how much time you know she put into making the story as indepth as possible and her beautiful turn of phrase keeps it from being boring. I love Natasha Mostert I would put her in the same category as Neil Gaiman. This time she delves into the world of memory; with memory altercation the prolonging of and eradicating even the concept of selling memories. Years ago five scientist created a secret society to discover and unlock the secrets of the memory, but the greed of two people quickly perverted the research.

Jack Simonetti is a rich playboy, and his father has had enough of him living off of his money and his exploits so he sends him to London to help out on old friend. His old friend Daniel Barone has a ward who went missing but showed up again suffering from a memory fugue. Jenilee Gray has been living with Daniel Barone since her mother's murder when she was five, two years ago she disappeared but recently a private investigator found her the only problem is that she doesn't remember anything. Fugue state is similar to amnesia but differs in the fact that it is caused by a emotional trauma rather than a physical one. It causes the sufferer to create a new identity. Jenilee Gray is now Eloise Blake. Barone has asked Jack to befriend her and convince her he is her best hope to getting back to Jenilee and to keep her safe since accidents she has just barely scraped by. Jack has no choice but to agree, what he didn't count on was unraveling deep secrets long ago buried and that someone is willing to do anything to keep those secrets hidden.

Eloise Blake likes her life as a parkour. Free running has enabled her to literally run from her problems. Ever since she woke up not knowing who she was she has had visions in the corner of her eyes, voices speaking and seemingly random numbers invading her brain. With the help of Jack they discover the truth behind it all.