The Prayer takes off on the Freudian wish-fulfilment theory where unfulfilled desires can find fruition in a person’s dreams. But it soon diverges from Freud’s symbolism to dreams that are raw and bare the innermost thoughts of the protagonists. 

The author’s name, Al Raines, turns out to be a pseudonym for the couple, Abhigyan and Mrinal Jha. The foreword reveals that this novel and the screenplay were ready in the space of a month and that the authors were quickly able to find an agent willing to represent them in the US. 

Al Raines have done a clever job of weaving this tale in a genre of horror and magic that claims to be “in a powerful new style of living, breathing imagery.” The choice of a US setting ironically called Riverdale, American characters (some belonging to Alcoholics Anonymous) and a liberal infusion of sex and sleaze indicate the target audience in mind, with the Indian character, Sid providing the exotica of Oriental Tantra. 

The story starts with a young boy, Jamie, receiving a Prayer in his mailbox that says that both the sender and seven receivers of the forwarded prayer could have their dreams come true. Jamie follows the instructions and sets into motion a sequence of events that has all the characters shaken out of their comfort zones, as they confront their inner demons through the horrors that their dreams unleash on their waking lives. 

But completing a novel in the space of a month can have its pitfalls. One missed a little more depth in the exploration of the psyche of the tormented characters, as the tale races from one horrific incident to another, with the focus being on descriptions of the moments of terror. 

The racy pace also results in loose threads while the plot loses out on promise, shades of which are revealed in lyrical philosophy like, “It was a useless bit of fur and bone without a speck of magic in it. Intention and will could make it fly, as it could drag the hapless feather down into the depths where nothing could escape.”

There is a refund offered under the Worldwide Money Back scheme through the publisher’s website, if the reader does not find the book to be the “scariest, darkest”.  Even if the book misses out, its screenplay is going to ensure a movie/serial that will not belie the authors’ claims.

The Prayer- A Beautiful Nightmare
By Al Raines
Published by Undercover Utopia, USA
A Division of Undercover Productions, Mumbai
Pp. 202. Price: Rs.249