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Deliver Us from Evil
Book by Holland, Tom
579 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
8 people are currently reading
505 people want to read
About the author
Tom Holland
91 books3,712 followersTom Holland is an English historian and author. He has written many books, both fiction and non-fiction, on many subjects from vampires to history.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Holland was born near Oxford and brought up in the village of Broadchalke near Salisbury, England. He obtained a double first in English and Latin at Queens' College, Cambridge, and afterwards studied shortly for a PhD at Oxford, taking Lord Byron as his subject, before interrupting the post graduate studies and moving to London.
He has adapted Herodotus, Homer, Thucydides and Virgil for BBC Radio 4. His novels, including Attis and Deliver Us From Evil, mostly have a supernatural and horror element as well as being set in the past. He is also the author of three highly praised works of history, Rubicon, Persian Fire and Millennium.
He is on the committee of the Society of Authors and the Classical Association.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Holland was born near Oxford and brought up in the village of Broadchalke near Salisbury, England. He obtained a double first in English and Latin at Queens' College, Cambridge, and afterwards studied shortly for a PhD at Oxford, taking Lord Byron as his subject, before interrupting the post graduate studies and moving to London.
He has adapted Herodotus, Homer, Thucydides and Virgil for BBC Radio 4. His novels, including Attis and Deliver Us From Evil, mostly have a supernatural and horror element as well as being set in the past. He is also the author of three highly praised works of history, Rubicon, Persian Fire and Millennium.
He is on the committee of the Society of Authors and the Classical Association.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 28, 2012
I FINISHED IT! I FINISHED IT! YOU DID NOT DEFEAT ME, BOOK OF MAGIC SEX CHANGE BABY-EATING VAMPIRES! I WON!
August 10, 2022
What a strange, strange book...
January 28, 2013
Originally published on my blog here in April 2003.
Deliver Us From Evil, a historical horror novel, starts at the end of the Cromwellian Commonwealth in England, just before the restoration of the monarchy and the reign of Charles II. Captain Foxe, an officer in the militia based at Salisbury, begins an investigation into a series of ritual murders at ancient monuments (the cathedral and Stonehenge are the best known), and becomes convinced that they are connected to strange events in his home village of Woodton. There, the manor house has been abandoned, as many are, by exiled supporters of the king; but in Woodton the gentry were rumoured to have been involved in black magic.
When Captain Foxe and his wife are killed by the evil he has been seeking out, his teenage son Robert begins a quest to gain revenge, to be able to face and destroy the evil power which has taken over the manor and possessed the villagers of Woodton. To this end, he spends the remainder of the book travelling through a Europe beginning to recover from the Thirty Years' War and to the American colonies, and spends much of his time in the company of 'blooddrinkers' (vampires).
Though Deliver Us From Evil could never be described as a conventional historical novel, it quite naturally needs to excel in many of the same ways that a member of that genre does - notably in terms of its background. It must feel accurate once the horror elements are removed (and it is helpful if even the supernatural side respects seventeenth century ideas on the subject). Deliver Us From Evil succeeds admirably in this respect, particularly in the way it uses well known people of the time (the Earl of Rochester and John Aubrey are particularly prominent).
As a horror novel, it lies squarely within the traditions of the vampire story, particular debts being owed to Bram Stoker and Anne Rice. Holland rings enough changes to make Deliver Us From Evil original within the tradition, and he is also occasionally much nastier than eithe Stoker or Rice (for example in the description of the anal rape of Robert Foxe by a demon wrhich ends part one). If you can cope with the nastiness, Deliver Us From Evil is a fascinating novel, well worth reading.
Deliver Us From Evil, a historical horror novel, starts at the end of the Cromwellian Commonwealth in England, just before the restoration of the monarchy and the reign of Charles II. Captain Foxe, an officer in the militia based at Salisbury, begins an investigation into a series of ritual murders at ancient monuments (the cathedral and Stonehenge are the best known), and becomes convinced that they are connected to strange events in his home village of Woodton. There, the manor house has been abandoned, as many are, by exiled supporters of the king; but in Woodton the gentry were rumoured to have been involved in black magic.
When Captain Foxe and his wife are killed by the evil he has been seeking out, his teenage son Robert begins a quest to gain revenge, to be able to face and destroy the evil power which has taken over the manor and possessed the villagers of Woodton. To this end, he spends the remainder of the book travelling through a Europe beginning to recover from the Thirty Years' War and to the American colonies, and spends much of his time in the company of 'blooddrinkers' (vampires).
Though Deliver Us From Evil could never be described as a conventional historical novel, it quite naturally needs to excel in many of the same ways that a member of that genre does - notably in terms of its background. It must feel accurate once the horror elements are removed (and it is helpful if even the supernatural side respects seventeenth century ideas on the subject). Deliver Us From Evil succeeds admirably in this respect, particularly in the way it uses well known people of the time (the Earl of Rochester and John Aubrey are particularly prominent).
As a horror novel, it lies squarely within the traditions of the vampire story, particular debts being owed to Bram Stoker and Anne Rice. Holland rings enough changes to make Deliver Us From Evil original within the tradition, and he is also occasionally much nastier than eithe Stoker or Rice (for example in the description of the anal rape of Robert Foxe by a demon wrhich ends part one). If you can cope with the nastiness, Deliver Us From Evil is a fascinating novel, well worth reading.
August 14, 2014
It's been so long since I've journeyed into the world of horror, that I devoured this book like some blood starved demon!!
Actually, to be fair, this starts off pretty slow. The first section, as the main characters are introduced and the murders begin to happen, was a bit of a tedious read and I found myself wondering whether this was the book I remembered reading years ago. But once Robert's family has been killed and he falls in with Lightborn and Milady, the action really starts up.
The story itself is not hugely original - a misguided 'priest' attempts to gain power by sacrificing humans at key sites along a ley line, on days of the year considered most powerful. But the demon that he conjures up turns on him and creates a world of darkness and death. Young Robert Foxe, whose father attempts to stop the murders, is caught up in it all and the consequences of being trapped by the demon at the moment of its birth, haunt him for years to come. Seeking vengeance and a change to destroy it, he travels to Prague, Holland and finally the Americas, before he has to face it once more within the rings of Stonehenge.
But was is original is the way the author has woven in key figures from history - Jonathan Dee, John Milton, Marlowe and the Earl of Rochester, to name a few. Some are vampires, some just caught up in events, but strangely enough their 'history' here seems plausible! The author also provides a reason for the plague and the Fire of London, explains away the Jewish legend of the Golem and mixes in some Native American law. LOVE IT!
Yes, it is gory and disgusting, disturbingly erotic at times and probably not the sort of reading you want to do if you have a sensitive stomach or a sensitive soul. But as I have neither, I couldn't put it down. Highly recommended.
Actually, to be fair, this starts off pretty slow. The first section, as the main characters are introduced and the murders begin to happen, was a bit of a tedious read and I found myself wondering whether this was the book I remembered reading years ago. But once Robert's family has been killed and he falls in with Lightborn and Milady, the action really starts up.
The story itself is not hugely original - a misguided 'priest' attempts to gain power by sacrificing humans at key sites along a ley line, on days of the year considered most powerful. But the demon that he conjures up turns on him and creates a world of darkness and death. Young Robert Foxe, whose father attempts to stop the murders, is caught up in it all and the consequences of being trapped by the demon at the moment of its birth, haunt him for years to come. Seeking vengeance and a change to destroy it, he travels to Prague, Holland and finally the Americas, before he has to face it once more within the rings of Stonehenge.
But was is original is the way the author has woven in key figures from history - Jonathan Dee, John Milton, Marlowe and the Earl of Rochester, to name a few. Some are vampires, some just caught up in events, but strangely enough their 'history' here seems plausible! The author also provides a reason for the plague and the Fire of London, explains away the Jewish legend of the Golem and mixes in some Native American law. LOVE IT!
Yes, it is gory and disgusting, disturbingly erotic at times and probably not the sort of reading you want to do if you have a sensitive stomach or a sensitive soul. But as I have neither, I couldn't put it down. Highly recommended.
July 28, 2010
Appearing to be a Prequel to his "Lord of the Dead" (Also called "The Vampyre"), this work furthers the realm Holland constructed with the pseudo fictional account of Byron's life. Those who have read The vampyre may remember the enigmatic, yet evilly romantic Lovelace from Byron's travel to Turkey soon after his transformation, who is the main character of this work. Holland churns out more pseudo-fictional storytelling, such as the Lord Rochester's attempt to kidnap Lady Elizabeth (I think that was her name...My copy has changed hands recently) as well as reaching back to cultural legends such as the tale of Rabbi Loew and the Golem, as well as incorporating mystery such as the usage of the elusively un-translateable Voynich Manuscript. constructed as a fusion of literary fantasy from the works contemporary to the period of setting and its authors (John Milton becomes the teacher of a young Lovelace early on in the book, and one of the major villains is the Marloweian Faustus) making for an interesting blend of Restoration-era England pseudo-history. Furthermore, fans of the Vampyre will also meet other familiar faces such as the Vakhel Pasha in a cameo role as a sort of advisor to Lovelace.
Without spoiling too much, deliver us from Evil is an edge of the seat thriller, but beware, for the last few chapters of the work seem like Holland is holding onto a tedious thread, trying to jam as many author references and plot twists as he can, changing a fantastic read into fragments of an M. Night Shyamalan script. As long as you keep that in mind, the context does sort itself out.
Without spoiling too much, deliver us from Evil is an edge of the seat thriller, but beware, for the last few chapters of the work seem like Holland is holding onto a tedious thread, trying to jam as many author references and plot twists as he can, changing a fantastic read into fragments of an M. Night Shyamalan script. As long as you keep that in mind, the context does sort itself out.
December 11, 2010
One of my favourite books. The main character's development is chillingly charted from child to adult in a beautifully woven plot. I have re-read this book many times and will no doubt do so again.
July 23, 2024
I've been looking forward to reading this book since I bought a signed copy from the author 26 years ago (don't judge me, I'm dyslexic and have book hoarding issues). I adored Tom Holland's first two gothic novels, The Vampyre, and Supping With Panthers, with their ability to weave historical facts and people with fiction and fantasy. And Deliver Us From Evil promised to be set in Salisbury, a city I have lived in for 49 years, and the book cover has Stonehenge against a blood red sky.
What a disappointment, then, to find that only the very beginning is set in Salisbury, and then the story moves to London, Paris. Prague, America, all over the place, and unfortunately the narrative starts to unravel. Put this book down for more than a week, and it's very hard to find your place in the story again, as there's no definite story arc, rather like a David Lynch film. I only found one of the characters likable, and by the end, I'd grown to dislike them too.
The very devices that Holland used in his first two novels, namely, weaving fictional characters with real historical figures, and putting a fantasy slant on real historical events such as the Great Fire of London and the Plague, seem rather tired this time. Maybe I'm 25 years older and less easily enthralled. But I quickly found myself losing interest, not picking up the book for weeks at a time, and not caring about the outcome. It took nearly 7 months to read; a bloody long slog. Deliver Us From Evil? Deliver Us From Boredom, more like.
It's interesting that Holland only wrote two more novels after Deliver Us From Evil; he then turned to writing popular history books and making the occasional broadcast. Perhaps he himself felt that he had exhausted his gothic imagination.
Oh, and Holland falls into terrible cliches and repetition - drink a shot every time a character 'smiles faintly' and you'll soon be under the table.
What a disappointment, then, to find that only the very beginning is set in Salisbury, and then the story moves to London, Paris. Prague, America, all over the place, and unfortunately the narrative starts to unravel. Put this book down for more than a week, and it's very hard to find your place in the story again, as there's no definite story arc, rather like a David Lynch film. I only found one of the characters likable, and by the end, I'd grown to dislike them too.
The very devices that Holland used in his first two novels, namely, weaving fictional characters with real historical figures, and putting a fantasy slant on real historical events such as the Great Fire of London and the Plague, seem rather tired this time. Maybe I'm 25 years older and less easily enthralled. But I quickly found myself losing interest, not picking up the book for weeks at a time, and not caring about the outcome. It took nearly 7 months to read; a bloody long slog. Deliver Us From Evil? Deliver Us From Boredom, more like.
It's interesting that Holland only wrote two more novels after Deliver Us From Evil; he then turned to writing popular history books and making the occasional broadcast. Perhaps he himself felt that he had exhausted his gothic imagination.
Oh, and Holland falls into terrible cliches and repetition - drink a shot every time a character 'smiles faintly' and you'll soon be under the table.
December 2, 2019
This wasn’t sooo bad. The use of vampires was very vague. The writing was good enough to make it a page turner. Entertaining enough that it is historical fiction I found some of the events subtly nice to see. I won’t be reading this one again, but not according to the number of stars I gave it.
October 4, 2022
Um dos melhores livros de vampiros que alguma vez li. Completamente aterrador, mas mais inovador do que os que são escritos recentemente. Apesar de não ser o meu género favorito, é inicialmente um horror, que respeita o timing histórico e cria personagens muito verosímeis e algumas, inesperadas.
November 4, 2021
Found the gore etc a bit much in places and possibly more than necessary, also found some passages very hard reading. The premise was good, but think it could have been done better
Read
August 5, 2022Promising but not.
March 10, 2024
DNF. Will try again at a later date
June 28, 2023
Oh wauw!One of the best horror novels i have ever read.And i read
some thousand at the very least.I love how he combines historical characters and events with the vampire happenings.Especially the infamous earl of Rochester and of course Milton.Even the great fire of London is caused by a supernatural chain of events .I worship this book and want to cry out from the rooftops that everyone who has even the slightest love for this genreshould most definitely read this.And surely-for a complete picture of the full vampiric epos;the 3 prequels"the vampyre-about Byron-"Slave of his thirst"and -going back in time to ancient egypt"Sleeper in the sands".All masterworks.But still: this one is my definite favorite.
some thousand at the very least.I love how he combines historical characters and events with the vampire happenings.Especially the infamous earl of Rochester and of course Milton.Even the great fire of London is caused by a supernatural chain of events .I worship this book and want to cry out from the rooftops that everyone who has even the slightest love for this genreshould most definitely read this.And surely-for a complete picture of the full vampiric epos;the 3 prequels"the vampyre-about Byron-"Slave of his thirst"and -going back in time to ancient egypt"Sleeper in the sands".All masterworks.But still: this one is my definite favorite.
September 22, 2008
Tom Holland is a master of literate historical horror and it is disappointing to see that GoodReads does not seem to include his 1996 book 'Supping With Panthers' which is a wonderful romp through the dark side of late nineteenth century Imperial India.
The five stars are as much for this book as for 'Deliver Us From Evil' which is set in the seventeenth century world of European witchcraft and black magic. He tells a great story and his corpus is a continuing riff on the tropes of Gothic fiction and the horror tradition.
Highly recommended if you like solid story-telling and don't mind a bit of occasional visceral unpleasantness.
The five stars are as much for this book as for 'Deliver Us From Evil' which is set in the seventeenth century world of European witchcraft and black magic. He tells a great story and his corpus is a continuing riff on the tropes of Gothic fiction and the horror tradition.
Highly recommended if you like solid story-telling and don't mind a bit of occasional visceral unpleasantness.
November 26, 2010
The third in Holland's vampire series is the most ambitious, and I'd say the best written, of the lot, although because it's set earlier than the others (in this case, the English Civil War and the Restoration) there is a sad lack of Lord Byron in it. The Earl of Rochester essentially substitutes, and there's backstory on a key character from the first novel, not to mention a broad cross-section of luminaries like John Milton, John Aubrey, John Dee (lots of Johns) and Rabbi Judah Loew. I don't think this one was ever published in the US; it's worth hunting up.
October 17, 2011
A truly abysmal reading experience. Putting the aside the hackneyed and derivative plot for a moment, the actual writing (and editing, should there have been some, which frankly I doubt) resulted in prose that reads like the worst cheap porn writing ever. I don't mean erotic - I mean clumsy sentences, dreadful grammar, feeble attempts at description. I had to research the author, just to reassure myself that his work hadn't been written in another language and translated by a poorly-featured computer programme. Just wretched.
January 23, 2014
Interesting romp through history with a different explanation for some well known events. My only grouse is that the ending felt somewhat contrived, which to be fair, is a problem with many stories where the antagonist has been setup to be a nearly all powerful menace is that the means by which the defeat of that antagonist is encompassed frequently feels poorly done as was the case here.
But other than that, the story was compelling and the characters were well drawn. The twist to one major character was very unexpected.
But other than that, the story was compelling and the characters were well drawn. The twist to one major character was very unexpected.
March 19, 2008
Vamps, ghouls, demons, golems, the English Civil War and Lord Byron... all mixed together in a literate yet scary swashbuckling romp.... has to be read to be believed.... over the top most of the way through, but tremendous fun
May 1, 2015
Not a bad read, easy to put down tho still a page turner. Very different take on the usual vampire novels.
His non-fiction books are the best I have ever read. Keep em comin mate!
His non-fiction books are the best I have ever read. Keep em comin mate!
March 19, 2012
ghoulish,bloody, a little chilling...not bad!
January 4, 2017
A good read
a mix of history and fantasy, easy to read, moves at a pace. rider haggard
In Style ,a victorian adventure.
a mix of history and fantasy, easy to read, moves at a pace. rider haggard
In Style ,a victorian adventure.
April 3, 2023
How he killed Satan:
Using the power of love and the blood of his 20 years old aborted fetus
Using the power of love and the blood of his 20 years old aborted fetus
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
started-reading-never-finished
October 21, 2008Read almost 100 pages before finally abandoning this for being really boring. Oh well.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews