A Prayer for the Dying

How do you cope when everything in your life threatens to shatter your faith in God and humanity?

Jacob Hansen - constable, undertaker, preacher - is faced with the unimaginable as a diphtheria plague and raging fire destroy his town in Wisconsin just after the Civil War.

Jacob is a fully realized character who is extremely well rendered, full of depth and complexity. The book is written in the second person, which is odd, but it works perfectly to give the story of sense of immediacy. The pacing of the plot is perfect and the attention to detail makes everything very easy to visualize. And I loved the subtly expressed dilemmas of ethics and faith.

A Prayer for the Dying is a grimly beautiful book that is completely mesmerizing and unputdownable.

4 Stars