Surprisingly, the writing in Father of Lies is as fresh and relevant as it was in 1998, and organized religion is still facing the same horrible problems with pedophilia, which make it must-read for anyone who hasn’t done so yet.Įvenson wastes no time letting readers know that they’ll be dealing with a troubled man whose ideas are enough to make the average reader want to lock him away forever. Luckily, a new generation of readers and those who might have missed it until now will get a chance to read a wonderful new edition from Coffee House Press that comes with the reissue of two more Evenson novels ( Last Days and The Open Curtain) and his stunning new short story collection, A Collapse of Horses. With one girl dead and the mothers of two boys refusing to drop the issue of their sons’ sexual abuse even after the upper echelons of the church’s hierarchy have threatened them with excommunication, it seems like Fochs will be exposed for whatever he has done, but making that happen is almost impossible when the institution he works for is willing to do whatever it takes to protect its image.įather of Lies was originally published in 1998 and has never gone away. His therapist, Alexander Feshtig, isn't sure about the murderer part and wants to explore the way Fochs’ dreams eerily resemble true crimes, but his church wants to keep whatever he finds under wraps in order to protect Fochs, which is to say its reputation.
Unfortunately, he may also be an insane sexual predator and murderer. Provost Eldon Fochs is a husband, father, and man of God who helps youngsters find, or stay, on the right.
Furthermore, it’s packed with the kind of psychological tension that creates classics and a critique of organized religion that’s too loud, clear, and sharp to ignore.
Brian Evenson’s Father of Lies belongs to this group of select novels. However, the most effective horror is that which possesses both an undeniable element of plausibility and a cultural proximity that combine to make it as real and immediate as a next-door neighbor. Horror can be gory, creepy, understated, supernatural, cosmic, and a long list of others.
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