The Boke of the Divill

by Reggie Oliver

The ancient city of Morchester with its Dreaming Spires, its gently flowing river Orr, winding through water meadows, its fine old cathedral and close where the rooks caw in immemorial elms as they have done for centuries… A tranquil English scene – but is it? Under the surface dark and terrible things are stirring. A serial killer is on the loose… The Dean is having guilty nightmares… A long dead Bishop of Morchester appears in his choir stall at evensong… A mysterious ring disappears from the cathedral museum… A famous composer is beginning his long descent into Hell… Signed Hardcover Limited to 200 signed and numbered copies worldwide, signed by author Reggie Oliver, printed offset with Smyth sewn case binding, features a dust jacket and interior illustrations.

Genres: Horror, Weird Fiction, Fiction

230 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2017

About the author

Reggie Oliver is a stage actor and playwright. His biography of Stella Gibbons was praised as “a triumph” by Hilary Spurling in the Daily Telegraph, his play Winner Takes All, was described as “the funniest evening in London”, by Michael Billington in The Guardian, and his adaptation of Hennequin and Delacour’s Once Bitten opened at the Orange Tree Theatre in London in December 2010.

He is the author of four highly-praised volumes of short fiction: The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini (Haunted River 2003), The Complete Symphonies of Adolf Hitler (Haunted River 2005), Masques of Satan (Ash Tree 2007), and Madder Mysteries (Ex Occidente 2009). His stories have appeared in over 25 anthologies and, for the third year running, one of his stories appears in The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, the most widely read and popular of contemporary horror anthologies.

Reviews

[Janie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book without knowing anything about it or having read the author's work before. I was pleasantly surprised by a rich and enjoyable story of the search for an accursed volume and the many characters involved in its history. With a plethora of fascinating back stories and a plenitude of entertaining characters, the narrative proceeds with wit, a strong sense of atmosphere, and a healthy dose of corruption and cosmic horror. While this boke may not be representative of the author's main body of work, I certainly look forward to exploring his other stories with great enthusiasm.

[Karl]

This Hardcover is numbered 61 of 200 and is signed by Reggie Oliver.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

What starts as a Jamesian folk horror, combining multiple-POV modern day plot with a number of historical narratives framed within it, eventually seems to veer into Lovecraft territory, finally revealing itself as a nod to Charles Williams and his „Descent into Hell“.
Oliver tries a lot here, juggling with a number of characters, sub-plots, themes, moods.
For some 2/3ds of it, I would have said that individual Jamesian stories defeat the overarching narrative, offering significantly better writing and characterization. They would all work as competent standalone pieces. Indeed, one found in Chapter 8 was already repurposed as a standalone story: "The Book and the Ring", found in author's latest collection. However, Williams-ian finale is ultimately satisfying, and underlying message is one that I found to be eminently sympathetic (and deliciously unfashionable, in this day and age), even if the novel as a whole suffers from a bloat of characters and sub-plots, not all of whom feel necessary or are dealt with in a wholly satisfactory manner by the end.
Ultimately, I‘d say that one’s like or dislike for this novel depends on whether or not one finds the direction in which it steers by the end satisfying, and whether its finale makes remainder of the novel “click“. For me, it worked, and I can respect what Oliver tried to do here even if the execution leaves something to be desired.

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Boke of the Divill by Reggie Oliver is a spectacular supernatural thriller. It operates in several modes (Lovecraftian, Jamesian) yet the handling of the material, the wit and classical elegance of the prose, could only be the work of Reggie Oliver.

[Phillip Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is just a creepy fun journey. Reggie Oliver is one hell of a wordsmith and uses the town of Morchester and its depths of depravity as the perfect canvas. Sometimes it gets a little too cluttered with its own ambitions, but the ideas are rich enough to carry us to the end. Perfect for Fall in this year of the Apocalypse.

[Neutrino Increasing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Latest novel from prolific and, for the most part, extremely reliable Oliver is something of a mixed bag. "The Boke of the Divill" is a novel containing a number of stories withing stories, all centered on the pursuit for the titular book. Unfortunately, most of these stories end up being better that the central narrative that ties them together. They are told in overtly M.R. James antiquarian style, presented as collections of letters and diary entries, and contain all sort of fun stuff: pagan relics, witch burning, corrupt clergy, ancient curses... Oliver is one of modern masters of this style, supported by his broad erudition and enhanced with his unique, often darkly humorous, style. Out of these stories, final one is the only weak link. It turns into by the numbers Cthulhu mythos tale, reminiscent of earliest Ramsey Campbell (I suppose that Oliver might have tried to pay homage to him?), even worse since Mythos plays no role in the rest of the novel. As for the central plot, it suffers from too many barely developed characters. Out of them, Dean is the only one with some depth, and even his transformation at the end seems hasty and unconvincing. Two villains are really two-dimensional, for example I instantly guessed which one of them isn't a serial killer, since he was so much of a caricature to begin with. Final chapters were pretty anticlimactic. I get that Oliver was trying to go for some sort of spiritual message, but it is impossible to care for characters facing their fears and shortcomings when they barely existed as characters to begin with. For example, Basil and Emma exist seemingly only for the purpose of plot's framing, in spite of them being teased as protagonists with a possible romance early on.

So, I'd say that the novel is ultimately worth reading mainly for the aforementioned Jamesian stories. Just don't expect rushed and flimsy central plot to be anywhere near on the same level.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reggie Oliver is a modern master of horror. While his gothic tales are presented more often in the shorter format, occasionally he pens novels as well. They shine like rare jewels with his unique combination of wit, lyrical prose, erudition, and absolutely chilling scenarios.
This one was no exception.
In the city of Morchester a TV team is shooting about something known as 'The Boke of the Divill.' That has triggered several other events, including the depredations of a serial killer. Slowly the layers of dusty history get peeled off. We get to know about some of the terrible things that had taken place, with connections to multiple deaths and incidents. Eventually the climax arrives, but in its own chosen style.
My only objection regarding this book was the Mythos angle. It didn’t gel. Oliver's plots are unabashedly reminiscent of the best of M.R. James. H.P. Lovecraft simply didn’t belong here.
Nevertheless, this book is to be cherished for some seriously creepy moments and thoughts, punctuated by love and wit.
Recommended.

[Haywan Al-Hashishi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novels made of out of series of connected individual stories aren't exactly easy to pull out. That is what Oliver tried to do here and I fear that he wasn't exactly successful. Problem is that, while a number of these of stories present Oliver in his enjoyable Jamesian mode, connecting narrative feels contrived and rushed. There is really a noticeable contrast in quality between these stories and the central modern-day narrative that should tie them together and provide their conclusion. With significantly more fleshing-out and thought placed in the latter, this could've been a gem of a read. The way it is though, you get a number of enjoyable weird tales in M. R. James vein placed within initially promising but, ultimately, messy and criminally underdeveloped skeleton.

[Des Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two relatively brief attempted loose-end tying-up Codas to this Scriabinesque Reginald Oliver Symphony, also arguably an atonal critique of its own atonality as well as of others’, and that quote above I just made chimes with my own dilemma as I am faced with a lifetime of what I have been doing within the creative arts as Cutbirth finally hears his own music in some Hellish version of the Concert in THE UNCONSOLED by Kazuo Ishiguro. The fact that I find reason to mention that greatest of all novels in the same breath as this Boke surely means something? Reginald Oliver, his own Unconsolation, I wonder?

The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long to post here.
Above is its conclusion.
Two stars on goodreads but a book still brilliantly dysfunctional.

[Arthur B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid early stretches of this novel ultimately go to waste when it turns out that the author was just setting up strawmen to tilt at. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/202...

[Tony Ciak · Rating 2 out of 5]

somewhat like a much longer M.R. James style story

































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[Chad Arreguin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very fun read. I look forward to reading more from this author.

[Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just awful. Confusing and dreary. Worst of all, it has child abuse.

[Greggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

a little goofy in tone and not really scary but interesting enough