![\"Prayer](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/51aDCbtQu2L._SY346_.jpg?w=474&ssl=1\")
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This novel by Pete Brassett<\/strong> is quite short, almost a novella. But it was an intriguing story, one I enjoyed. And the price was right.<\/p>\n At the beginning of Prayer for the Dying<\/a><\/em>, small-town Irish police detectives Maguire and O\u2019Brien are called to view the body of a dead priest, lying in an onion patch on the grounds of a school for orphan boys. The late priest was once headmaster of the school, but had retired, and was suffering dementia.<\/p>\n Various threads of narrative provide the back story, in bits and pieces and out of sequence. In his time, the dead priest was a terrifying figure, abusive and sadistic. A former staff member tells how he resigned because he couldn\u2019t live with the cruelty anymore. And we are told of another former instructor, a gentle Spaniard who is now catatonic in a mental hospital \u2013 but who still finds a way to provide an important clue.<\/p>\n The story was heartbreaking, as any account of child abuse must always be. And there were spiritual elements that were slightly unsettling. But I appreciated the fact that the priests were not stereotyped \u2013 most of them were good men. And the ending had resonance.<\/p>\n Cautions for language \u2013 Irish cursing which uses somewhat unfamiliar words and so seems less offensive. Also for disturbing subject material. Recommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This novel by Pete Brassett is quite short, almost a novella. But it was an intriguing story, one I enjoyed. And the price was right. At the beginning of Prayer for the Dying, small-town Irish police detectives Maguire and O\u2019Brien are called to view the body of a dead priest, lying in an onion patch … Continue reading ‘Prayer for the Dying,’ by Steve Brassett<\/span>