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Father of Lies
At the urging of his wife, Provost Fochs reluctantly agrees to see a therapist, Dr. Feshtig. Through the therapist's detailed notes, correspondence from the church, and the provost himself, the provost's sickness emerges and the reader is drawn into the disturbing inner workings of a violent pedophile.The provost relays his crimes in excruciating detail. 'God told me that where evil made its mark, good must follow, burning evil out and purifying the body.' Fochs describes a dream in which he sodomizes two boys from the parish in an effort to exorcise their sins. Soon thereafter, two boys come forward accusing Fochs of that very deed. In another dream he strangles and dismembers a young girl in the woods near his house, where a child from his parish is later found.
As the provost's dreams are discovered to be reality and accusations against him are made public, the church is forced to respond. In an effort to protect one of its own, and, in turn, to protect itself, the Committee for the Strengthening of the church demands that Dr. Feshtig turn over his notes about Provost Fochs. This marks the beginning of the church's all-out effort to cover up for the provost -- and launches the race to the novel's final revelation of whether good, in the form of the law, or evil, in the hands of the provost (and by association the church), will prevail.
Brian Evenson holds the reader to the page until the novel's fateful end. En route, he questions whether obedience to God justifies taking every possible liberty, right or wrong. And he brings to light how an institution supposed to be under divine guidance can be as eager as its worldly counterpart to soil its hands in the furthering of the cause of supposed righteousness.
As the provost's dreams are discovered to be reality and accusations against him are made public, the church is forced to respond. In an effort to protect one of its own, and, in turn, to protect itself, the Committee for the Strengthening of the church demands that Dr. Feshtig turn over his notes about Provost Fochs. This marks the beginning of the church's all-out effort to cover up for the provost -- and launches the race to the novel's final revelation of whether good, in the form of the law, or evil, in the hands of the provost (and by association the church), will prevail.
Brian Evenson holds the reader to the page until the novel's fateful end. En route, he questions whether obedience to God justifies taking every possible liberty, right or wrong. And he brings to light how an institution supposed to be under divine guidance can be as eager as its worldly counterpart to soil its hands in the furthering of the cause of supposed righteousness.
197 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1998
About the author
Brian Evenson
247 books1,323 followersBrian Evenson is an American academic and writer of both literary fiction and popular fiction, some of the latter being published under B. K. Evenson.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 186 reviews
January 28, 2023
One of the most infuriating and gut-wrenching books I have ever read. A cold and even slyly humorous tone incises into injustice, impotence, and strikes at the nerve of our vulnerability and our monstrous social conceits. I cannot recommend this. I can only let you know of its existence, and that it is not a book meant to please, entertain, or cater to any audience expectations or desires. It is a book meant to ruin your comfort, perhaps permanently.
September 5, 2023
This is not the Evenson I’m used to. His writing is (in my experience) a mix of quietly unsettling, almost minimalistic, and sometimes in your face graphic, but while almost always having an undertone of a sort of cynical, dry humor.
This was upsetting, frustrating, and straight up vile. Very disturbing.
This was upsetting, frustrating, and straight up vile. Very disturbing.
December 11, 2020
'Fochs,' he says. 'Some name you have. Sounds like an X-rated clown. Not that I'm judging you, mind.'In his first novel Evenson skewers the multifaceted hypocrisy we see repeatedly exposed in institutional religions. He drives his narrative spear in there deep and steadily stirs up all the dirt in his typical unperturbed style. It's a compulsively readable story (I read it in a day and it had me in its grip the entire time), and one that is continuing to turn itself around and inside out in my brain. Samuel R. Delaney's introduction to the 2016 edition is, unsurprisingly, also excellent and spot-on. Read it last, as usual.
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March 24, 2018What a creepy, disturbing, and nasty little book. Honestly though, I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way; in fact, it could very well be a compliment.
I've never been one to rate a book negatively based on the unpalatability of its content (if I were, I wouldn't have read a book like this in the first place) but I definitely need some time to mull this one over before I rate and review fully.
At the off, though, I will say this: This book is dark, compelling, and excellently written. It's also one of the most harrowing things I've ever read in my life. I feel like I need to take a shower after finishing this. Whether that's a good thing or not is more likely up to the reader's discretion.
I've never been one to rate a book negatively based on the unpalatability of its content (if I were, I wouldn't have read a book like this in the first place) but I definitely need some time to mull this one over before I rate and review fully.
At the off, though, I will say this: This book is dark, compelling, and excellently written. It's also one of the most harrowing things I've ever read in my life. I feel like I need to take a shower after finishing this. Whether that's a good thing or not is more likely up to the reader's discretion.
July 13, 2021
3.5 rounded up to 4.
June 13, 2023
In an interview conducted on the occasion of this novel’s reissue, Brian Evenson observed that it felt like “a different Brian” wrote it, and it’s true—there’s not much here of the voice I’ve come to love in his subsequent fiction. This debut novel is very clearly a polemic, seemingly written almost out of necessity—to vent the author’s (justified!) anger at the LDS—and while it effectively stokes our rage and sorrow, particularly in the absolutely shattering final section (“Finish”), it isn’t as impressive a literary construction as I usually expect from this author. Evenson does a monster’s inner monologue better in “The Munich Window” and spiritual psychosis in his masterful The Open Curtain, which trumps this novel in just about every respect. Still, it’s an often profoundly distressing read that accrues brutalizing emotional impact the deeper it burrows into its (intriguingly bizarre) structure, and it’s short enough to be a solid page-turner.
December 15, 2016
I discovered Brian Evenson earlier this year and he has become one of my new favorites. He is a writer that hooks into my consciousness, so thoroughly and so well, that I find myself recommending his books to strange people in my dreams. Father of Lies is an unrelenting horror story, about a depraved man and the institution that protects him.
September 2, 2023
"Despite all claims the Corporation of the Blood of the Lamb makes to be a divinely inspired Church, it seems oddly as eager as any worldly institution to soil its hands in a little impropriety, to cover a few things over if that means furthering the cause of righteousness."
- Brian Evenson, Father of Lies
Not Evenson's best, but definitely his angriest. This book might be the equivalent to reading just the darkest bits of Blood Meridian. It will seed a forest of nightmares all with hanging children of God.
It needs to come with a warning label, a retch bucket and a lap to cry on. I have to put it down every 10 pages and just pray into the abyss for my soul (not really, but you got to do something to keep from sliding into this nightmare. Imagine being forced into the mind of an evil man, protected by a fundamentalist kafkaucracy, interested only in protecting its "good" name rather than its children. I'm not sure of you -- but I can think of examples in Texas, Ireland, Boston, Arkansas, Utah, Idaho.
This was written right after Brian was kicked out of BYU for the same book of short stories that got him hired there in the first place.* Talk about a literary hat trick. Brian wrote this book post that period. It is a blood-letting. It goes into an angry place and like Clockwork Orange's Aversion Therapy Scene forces you to observe things most people would want to turn away from. But sometimes shades and shadows tell the truth, sometimes lights on a hill are not designed to guide or inform but rather obfuscate.
* Note: I bought a copy of Altmann's Tongue: Stories and a Novella from the BYU Bookstore (back in the day when that bookstore rocked and didn't just sell trinkets and ice cream). I'm solidly team Evenson here.
- Brian Evenson, Father of Lies
Not Evenson's best, but definitely his angriest. This book might be the equivalent to reading just the darkest bits of Blood Meridian. It will seed a forest of nightmares all with hanging children of God.
It needs to come with a warning label, a retch bucket and a lap to cry on. I have to put it down every 10 pages and just pray into the abyss for my soul (not really, but you got to do something to keep from sliding into this nightmare. Imagine being forced into the mind of an evil man, protected by a fundamentalist kafkaucracy, interested only in protecting its "good" name rather than its children. I'm not sure of you -- but I can think of examples in Texas, Ireland, Boston, Arkansas, Utah, Idaho.
This was written right after Brian was kicked out of BYU for the same book of short stories that got him hired there in the first place.* Talk about a literary hat trick. Brian wrote this book post that period. It is a blood-letting. It goes into an angry place and like Clockwork Orange's Aversion Therapy Scene forces you to observe things most people would want to turn away from. But sometimes shades and shadows tell the truth, sometimes lights on a hill are not designed to guide or inform but rather obfuscate.
* Note: I bought a copy of Altmann's Tongue: Stories and a Novella from the BYU Bookstore (back in the day when that bookstore rocked and didn't just sell trinkets and ice cream). I'm solidly team Evenson here.
February 24, 2024
Is there, has there ever been a Christian leader who wasn’t a child abuser? Another cliché about a religious man who is a bully to his wife, uncaring to his children a rapist of young boys in his youth group and rapist murderer of teenage girls – although this comprehensive list is a rather turbo charged cliché.
It was not the book I was expecting which was a more cat and mouse series of interactions between the protagonist, Provost Fochs, and his therapist which I would have found a more interesting prospect but the interaction is minimal and we read more of the letters between the therapist and the church elders.
Encoraged to seek help by his wife (the archetypal wilfully blind-eye-turning spouse) his initial aversion turns to excitement when he realises that he can recount, and thereby relive, the crimes he has committed by passing them off as particularly vivid and detailed dreams, the disturbing nature of which has caused him to seek help.
Naturally like all criminals he gives himself away, whether by design in a subconscious desire to be caught and stopped or because in his hubris he believes he is more intelligent than those around him. The therapist notices the red flags that are practically being shoved up his nostrils and alerts authorities and it won’ t take a genius to work out in a book full of cliches what happens when Fochs’s behaviour is reported to the church authorities.
Nothing new to see here in this book but an interesting delve into the mind of a psychopath.
It was not the book I was expecting which was a more cat and mouse series of interactions between the protagonist, Provost Fochs, and his therapist which I would have found a more interesting prospect but the interaction is minimal and we read more of the letters between the therapist and the church elders.
Encoraged to seek help by his wife (the archetypal wilfully blind-eye-turning spouse) his initial aversion turns to excitement when he realises that he can recount, and thereby relive, the crimes he has committed by passing them off as particularly vivid and detailed dreams, the disturbing nature of which has caused him to seek help.
Naturally like all criminals he gives himself away, whether by design in a subconscious desire to be caught and stopped or because in his hubris he believes he is more intelligent than those around him. The therapist notices the red flags that are practically being shoved up his nostrils and alerts authorities and it won’ t take a genius to work out in a book full of cliches what happens when Fochs’s behaviour is reported to the church authorities.
Nothing new to see here in this book but an interesting delve into the mind of a psychopath.
June 17, 2023
3.5/5
Evenson is one of my favorite authors - I love his minimalist writing style. While his first book, Father of Lies, has its strengths, it doesn’t quite reach the level of impact that his later novels had on me.
The story revolves around religious hypocrisy and fervor within a conservative group called the Corporation of the Blood of the Lamb, or “Bloodites.” Eldon Fochs, a respected family man and provost, hides a dark secret. He dreams about harming children. Is it mere fantasy or something more sinister? As his dreams intensify, his psychiatrist uncovers the truth but faces pressure from the church to cover it up.
Evenson delivers a brutal ending and a twisted exploration of perversity. However, I found the character development somewhat lacking compared to what I expected. It’s still a worthwhile read, but not as impactful as his later works.
Evenson is one of my favorite authors - I love his minimalist writing style. While his first book, Father of Lies, has its strengths, it doesn’t quite reach the level of impact that his later novels had on me.
The story revolves around religious hypocrisy and fervor within a conservative group called the Corporation of the Blood of the Lamb, or “Bloodites.” Eldon Fochs, a respected family man and provost, hides a dark secret. He dreams about harming children. Is it mere fantasy or something more sinister? As his dreams intensify, his psychiatrist uncovers the truth but faces pressure from the church to cover it up.
Evenson delivers a brutal ending and a twisted exploration of perversity. However, I found the character development somewhat lacking compared to what I expected. It’s still a worthwhile read, but not as impactful as his later works.
October 6, 2023
*** 3.75 out of 5 Stars, rounded up for Goodreads ***
To say the least, this is a disturbing book. Also, a very good one at that.
Well, thinking about it, I’ve read some pretty disturbing books over the years. The Wasp Factory, Tender is The Flesh, and Last Days (by Evenson yet again) to name a few. This one definitely gets the crown on that respect. I don’t know if it was the subject matter, the prose or anything else but this stuff was extremely disgusting. This is a weird compliment to give to a book but it’s what it is, Evenson wanted to disturb and oh boy he succeeded.
I really enjoyed Evenson storytelling here. His style is really unique. If I had to describe it, I’d say “If Raymond Carver wrote horror with a PKD characters and dialogue”. Speaking of dialogue, it’s pretty great. I’d even say Evenson is the one of the best dialogue writers in the genre, if not the very best.
In terms of what I didn’t like, I wish there was more of Feshtig’s POV. I enjoyed the story a lot more when narrated from Festhig’s view. Also, I thought the story got too surreal/abstract at times for my liking.
This is a great story, a one most of us are somewhat familiar with, even if not to this degree (thankfully). I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys a well written and realistic horror story that really has something to say.
To say the least, this is a disturbing book. Also, a very good one at that.
Well, thinking about it, I’ve read some pretty disturbing books over the years. The Wasp Factory, Tender is The Flesh, and Last Days (by Evenson yet again) to name a few. This one definitely gets the crown on that respect. I don’t know if it was the subject matter, the prose or anything else but this stuff was extremely disgusting. This is a weird compliment to give to a book but it’s what it is, Evenson wanted to disturb and oh boy he succeeded.
I really enjoyed Evenson storytelling here. His style is really unique. If I had to describe it, I’d say “If Raymond Carver wrote horror with a PKD characters and dialogue”. Speaking of dialogue, it’s pretty great. I’d even say Evenson is the one of the best dialogue writers in the genre, if not the very best.
In terms of what I didn’t like, I wish there was more of Feshtig’s POV. I enjoyed the story a lot more when narrated from Festhig’s view. Also, I thought the story got too surreal/abstract at times for my liking.
This is a great story, a one most of us are somewhat familiar with, even if not to this degree (thankfully). I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys a well written and realistic horror story that really has something to say.
July 14, 2023
Vile, unsettling, raw, horrible.
At least it was short.
I can't even...
This book is so godless it makes the hell a 5* resort with ultra-all-inclusive option. It will flippin' haunt me for years to come.
My goodness, I feel violated and dirty and unfit for breath.
I loved it. I feel sinful for saying that, so "loved" is unfit, but I don't really know how to express my feelings towards it. I can't say I enjoy it - police will come over for me...
At least it was short.
I can't even...
This book is so godless it makes the hell a 5* resort with ultra-all-inclusive option. It will flippin' haunt me for years to come.
My goodness, I feel violated and dirty and unfit for breath.
I loved it. I feel sinful for saying that, so "loved" is unfit, but I don't really know how to express my feelings towards it. I can't say I enjoy it - police will come over for me...
December 31, 2023
3 stars--I liked the book. But maybe "liked" is the wrong word since the subject matter (and main character) are so odious. But Evenson does his usual writing magic--the confusion, the creeping dread, the surrealism. He also keenly understands the structures of power that allow predators to thrive, and lays it bare before us.
July 4, 2024
I can repeat the mantra of, "the presence of challenging content in media is not an endorsement of said content" all I want, but goddamn if this wasn't a difficult read. There were scenes that had me physically grimacing and pulling all sorts of faces while reading with one eye closed, as if that'd spare me the mental imagery of what was happening on the page.
What we have here is a blatant repudiation of organized religion and what it looks like at its worst. A local provost of a regional Christian offshoot sect is accused of unspeakable things by some in his congregation, but the clergy rallies around their guy to protect him from the allegations. They shouldn't have, but the Sunk Cost Fallacy wins out and things get worse.
The neat/tragic thing about this book is that I don't know if it was a purely psychological descent into madness or if there were genuine supernatural factors at play tormenting an otherwise sane protagonist. But one of the supporting characters was one of the most unique spins on the Devil (maybe?) and angels (maybe??) I've ever come across in media.
My only complaint is that the book opens with email correspondences between two other characters that I thought were going to feature more prominently than they eventually did. The reader is led to believe that narrative would be bouncing between two main characters throughout, but that was dropped halfway through to focus on the provost. Felt like a strange bait-and-switch but also a missed opportunity.
Still, if you want to read something that will have you dodging the, "hey, what's that book you're reading about?" question, this will certainly fit the bill.
What we have here is a blatant repudiation of organized religion and what it looks like at its worst. A local provost of a regional Christian offshoot sect is accused of unspeakable things by some in his congregation, but the clergy rallies around their guy to protect him from the allegations. They shouldn't have, but the Sunk Cost Fallacy wins out and things get worse.
The neat/tragic thing about this book is that I don't know if it was a purely psychological descent into madness or if there were genuine supernatural factors at play tormenting an otherwise sane protagonist. But one of the supporting characters was one of the most unique spins on the Devil (maybe?) and angels (maybe??) I've ever come across in media.
My only complaint is that the book opens with email correspondences between two other characters that I thought were going to feature more prominently than they eventually did. The reader is led to believe that narrative would be bouncing between two main characters throughout, but that was dropped halfway through to focus on the provost. Felt like a strange bait-and-switch but also a missed opportunity.
Still, if you want to read something that will have you dodging the, "hey, what's that book you're reading about?" question, this will certainly fit the bill.
March 2, 2023
this is one of those books that i feel strange putting on my favorites shelf because the subject matter is so bleak and harrowing, but at the same time this is such an excellently done takedown of how the church protects and enables abuse that i couldn't not put it on my favorites. it delves into this horrifying abuse, with an added layer of trippy hallucinative horror, without ever becoming gratuitous - a tricky line to walk, but one that's especially important when dealing with this all too real subject matter. excellently done, but hard to stomach - read with caution! those with past experience with abusive churches might find this extra interesting. as someone who grew up in a conservative christian community, i thought this was extremely true to life, down to the dialogue from church elders ("this isn't a trial, it's a council of love" was particularly familiar). there was something really cathartic about seeing all these abuses laid out without sugarcoating or excusing. would recommend to anyone who can handle reading about this kind of subject in decently graphic detail.
August 24, 2022
Father of Lies is a sickening and twisted story about the dangers of blind faith, the hypocrisy of the church and corruptions that lie at its heart. In this book we follow the story of Provost Fochs, known to most as a devout member of the church, but the reality is that he’s a depraved and sick man. Troubled with disturbing thoughts and dreams, his wife urges him to visit as psychiatrist for help and we learn more about this man and what he’s capable of…
This is an utterly fantastic book, it wont be for everyone due to some harrowing themes and scenes but if you’re willing to delve into this dark book you’ll be rewarded with a thought provoking tale that’s impeccably written.
This is an utterly fantastic book, it wont be for everyone due to some harrowing themes and scenes but if you’re willing to delve into this dark book you’ll be rewarded with a thought provoking tale that’s impeccably written.
March 21, 2008
There are so few books that take place within the Mormon Church that that alone almost makes FATHER OF LIES a must-read, despite some stumbles.
It's a compulsively readable thriller, but I thought Evenson lost the thread a bit (as writers usually do) in the final third of the book. He could have gone deeper into the psychology of the character, or raised the stakes, but he ended up searching for an ending. And, of course, he found one.
This is the first book of Evenson's I've read (it's his first novel) and I'm interested in reading more.
It's a compulsively readable thriller, but I thought Evenson lost the thread a bit (as writers usually do) in the final third of the book. He could have gone deeper into the psychology of the character, or raised the stakes, but he ended up searching for an ending. And, of course, he found one.
This is the first book of Evenson's I've read (it's his first novel) and I'm interested in reading more.
March 8, 2024
Absolutely brutal ending. Most of the action took place in the last 40 pages, and it got downright disturbing here and there. Still can’t get over how interesting of a book this was as a scathing takedown of religion, and the abuse some religions will allow their teachers to get away with (or will allow in general).
Definitely have to read more stuff of Evenson’s in the future. I knew I’d like his writing when I read a story story of his in that Body Shocks anthology I read last year, and this book didn’t not disappoint in the slightest.
3 stars for some of the material within the book; it also felt slightly rushed in places and I sometimes could not understand what was happening with Mr. Bloody-Head running around.
Definitely have to read more stuff of Evenson’s in the future. I knew I’d like his writing when I read a story story of his in that Body Shocks anthology I read last year, and this book didn’t not disappoint in the slightest.
3 stars for some of the material within the book; it also felt slightly rushed in places and I sometimes could not understand what was happening with Mr. Bloody-Head running around.
September 8, 2024
An absolute masterwork and one of the most discomforting, vile, and horrific accounts of realistic horror that I have ever read. Brian Evenson wrings such substance out of the sparseness of his language, it’s beyond intense and powerful. I went into this novel completely blind and, from page one, couldn’t put the book down, reading from cover to cover this morning.
December 7, 2023
Horrifying.
December 3, 2020
Both a bold statement on the hypocrisy and corruption of organized religion and an expertly crafted horror story, Evenson’s first novel is a fantastic, fast-paced, brutal read. A great voice in modern horror.
December 31, 2021
Incredible. Horrifying & excruciating downer.
November 16, 2009
If you think "fiction" can't tell the truth, think again. Hard.
September 29, 2021
Excellent. Wonderful, sparse prose. Interesting delivery. All too plausible a situation. Evenson hasn't missed with anything I've read by him.
December 26, 2023
Well, I’m glad that’s over.
Honestly, I think if I hadn’t listened to the audiobook this would be a 3.5 or 4, but I don’t know. This is definitely a feel bad book, which is “fine”, but… yeah. Don’t listen to the audiobook on Audible. It’s not very good.
Honestly, I think if I hadn’t listened to the audiobook this would be a 3.5 or 4, but I don’t know. This is definitely a feel bad book, which is “fine”, but… yeah. Don’t listen to the audiobook on Audible. It’s not very good.
February 7, 2024
My brain needs a shower
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September 6, 2022as scary as it gets. mirrors real life atrocities while adding vaguely supernatural elements to chilling effect. patriarchal horror is a perfect description; the structure is effective.
January 29, 2020
A competent enough novel running up against the limits of imagined subjectivity. There are people like Fochs in the world, and they truly are evil, worthy of every legend of vampires and werewolves we have. But there is nothing that we, who are not psychopathic pedophiles, can understand about their behaviour. We can more easily imagine what it is to be an animal than one of them. Fochs is a thin man, with nothing in him other than his horrifying cravings, and thus his perspective is too thin to be worth reading. His segments are saved only by the device of the devilish Bloody-Head aiding him and the angelic investigators trying to stop him, which lend some disturbing whimsy. Feshtig's notes are much more compelling, with their attempts to make sense of the unthinkable. This story might have been better, if instead of Foch's perspective, we had followed his superior Bates. Bates is of the type of evil that we find easier to understand, that wants to look away, deny and do nothing. It's a short novel, and it's shortcomings are not due to any obvious shortcoming of the author.
November 15, 2020
True rating is more like a 3.5. This was a dirty little disgusting book in a lot of ways. It was one of the books which led to Evenson separating from a position at BYU and the LDS, and it's pretty obvious even to an outsider like me why the church was at odds with his writing. Fochs is one of the most evil characters I can recall reading in a good while. Creepy. As usual with Evenson's work, this is very well written and flies by, even has some of his typical humorous passages, but the subject matter turned my stomach a bit too much to call it a favorite.
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July 16, 2023It's hard not to speed read Evensen. It draws you in, sticking you with this mass that crushes all joy. But yet, something is found from reading truth in horror, even if the subject matter is incredibly difficult and raw.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 186 reviews