Savage without one book? (8)
I believe the answer is:
ruthless
'savage' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'without one book?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'without' could be 'less' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'less' is found within the answer.
'book?' could be 'ruth' (book of the Bible) and 'ruth' is found within the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ruthless that I've seen before include "Lacking pity or mercy" , "Unsparing" , "hard" , "Without pity, merciless" , "Harsh" .)