Brute with a warlike heart in recovery (7)
I believe the answer is:
salvage
'recovery' is the definition.
(I know that salvage is a type of deliverance)
'brute with a warlike heart' is the wordplay.
'brute' becomes 'savage' (synonyms).
'with' is an insertion indicator.
'heart' means to look at the middle letters.
The middle letter of 'warlike' is 'l'.
'savage' going around 'l' is 'SALVAGE'.
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for salvage that I've seen before include "Rescue of property from peril" , "Recover discarded material" , "Rescued material" , "Goods saved from wrecked ship" , "Rescue (lost cargo)" .)