Deliver Us From Evil
Jacobyte Books, (www.jacobytebooks.com)
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REVIEW BY WILLIAM D. GAGLIANI
Melbourne, Australia, 1967. Herbert Petherbridge is a pathetic, sexless, henpecked little man who sells women's underwear. His wife Madeleine spends his money on herself and her flings, and belittles him -- job, appearance, accomplishments -- at every opportunity. Herbert desperately wants one last chance for a substantial love, and he's on a trip searching for the woman who has been writing passionate letters to him. Their rendezvous plans go awry, and he quickly realizes his mystery woman may not even exist. His trip is a bust, but Herbert's life is about to get a whole lot worse. Upon his return, he is arrested for the rape and murder of a young girl. Herbert knows he didn't do it. Or does he? Witnesses who know him say he was the man who escorted Phoebe Miller down the empty lane where she was found. It's an open and shut case, and Herbert is soon awash in despair, for who'll save a man accused of such a crime when even his friends and neighbors believe he's guilty? Who would believe a woman's underwear salesman? Herbert's leeching horror of a wife leaves him. Neighbors heave bricks through his windows and set his house on fire, and the local police "help" him down a staircase the hard way. He receives a loaded pistol in the mail, a suicide hint. Out on bail, he awaits his destiny. Only his court-appointed attorney believes him and pursues a few leads. But Herbert begins to see and hear things, disturbing things. Could he have murdered the girl while sleepwalking? Suddenly thrust into a bizarre world where all fingers point to him, Herbert begins to believe his is guilty. Then he tells his attorney that he was adopted and things start falling into place. Herbert must play a cat and mouse game with himself to save his own life from the certainty of the hangman. And he is not so much pathetic as luckless. This unique thriller from Australian author Gordon Reid relies on the power of simplicity -- good use of the stark, dialogue-heavy tone you might find in an independent film from Down Under. The screenplay structure achieves surprising success, its terse, tag-less dialogue cascading across the electronic page like an Outback waterfall. Minimal description is as efficient as a surgeon's precise incision. The mention of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley, which Deliver Us from Evil vaguely resembles, reveals Reid's literary intentions. And they succeed admirably. Bill Gagliani is the author of Shadowplays, an e-book collection of dark fiction from Ebooksonthe.net.
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