In the archetypal homicide, Cain, a farmer, kills his brother Abel, a shepherd. The earliest account, in the fourth chapter of Genesis, lacks one telling detail: What weapon did Cain use? Two thousand years later, another murder occurs, this time in a small New York store. Shopkeeper Mitchell Siegel dies in a hail of bullets, but, like Cain's primordial weapon, the gun has never been recovered. Of course, the violent death of a single Lithuanian immigrant has scarcely any imprint on bustling New York, but it does have a major effect on one young man, Mitchell's teenage son, Jerry. Perhaps in an effort to exorcise that piercing event, Jerry Siegel created a bulletproof man, who became the world's most famous superhero: Superman. In The Book of Lies, novelist/poet Brad Meltzer interlaces the story of Cain and the story behind Superman and brings them kicking and screaming into our own time.
The Book of Lies
by Brad Meltzer
Brad Meltzer--author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Book of Fate--returns with his most thrilling and emotionally powerful novel to date. In Chapter Four of the Bible, Cain kills Abel. It is the world's most famous murder. But the Bible is silent about one key detail: the weapon Cain used to kill his
Editorial Reviews
Publishers Weekly
When a homeless man with a gunshot wound is revealed to be Calvin Harper's long-lost father, Cal must scramble his resources while dealing with a watershed of emotions. Father and son are drawn into a mystery involving the recovery of the supposed murder weapon Cain used in the Bible. Hints eventually lead them to seek out the remnants of Superman creator Jerry Siegel and solve the mystery behind the death of Siegel's father. Meltzer executes another spellbinding tale that continually keeps readers guessing, along with a good mix of biblical and comic book lore. Scott Brick works the diverse range of character voices well and remains masterful at drawing out the text. His pauses, hesitations and voice breaks provide an added level of suspense. The musical interludes at stressful parts of the story or chapters endings are superfluous given Brick's performance. Nearly a dozen illustrations relevant to the story line are provided as bonus material on the last CD. A Grand Central hardcover (Reviews, July 28). (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Library Journal
Meltzer (
—Barbara Valle
School Library Journal
Adult/High School
Meltzer builds suspenseful fiction on a previously little-explored historical nugget: Jerry Siegel, the teenage creator of Superman, lost his father in an unsolved murder in 1932. The author offers a compelling theoretical solution by way of an adult protagonist who is dealing with his conflicted feelings about his own father. Cal works for a rescue mission, picking up vagrants in need of shelter, when he stumbles across a man who turns out to be the father who abandoned him in childhood. The two men join forces in pursuit of what they believe is the lost Book of Cain, the weapon used in the Bible's original murder scene. Meltzer invokes multiple viewpoints as Cal, his father, a mysterious young woman who seems to have befriended the father, a rogue ex-cop, and a hot Federal agent converge on Cleveland in search of the biblical treasure. Teens with a taste for international conspiracies, religion-spouting bad guys, and identity-switching will enjoy this fast ride that leaves some solid and intriguing questions in the wake of its driving plot. Suggest this one to kids who enjoy the likes of Dan Brown, as well as superhero comics.-Francisca Goldsmith, Halifax Public Libraries, Nova Scotia
People
"Meltzer has earned the right to belly up to the bar with John Grisham, Scott Turow, and David Baldacci."Miami Herald
Meet the next John Grisham.--- Miami Herald
"Meet the next John Grisham."—- Miami Herald
"Meet the next John Grisham."From the Publisher
"Meltzer has earned the right to belly up to the bar with John Grisham, Scott Turow, and David Baldacci."—People"After listening to Scott Brick's performances of two books in a row, the listener can really appreciate his versatility....Brick handles this clever but complicated plot with kid gloves. He plays the brothers, whose personalities are opposites, equally well and gives Meltzer's story line a rich and exciting reading. His performance is one in a million." (Praise for The Millionaires)—AudioFile Magazine
"Meet the next John Grisham."—--- Miami Herald
WINNER OF AN EARPHONES AWARD: "Brad Meltzer's latest entry to the NYT Bestsellers list sounds as good as it looks, thanks in large part to Scott Brick, who brings a sense of urgency to the characters.... Brick brings out the humanity of Meltzer's hero, who isn't a superman who laughs in the face of death, but a regular guy.... And no one does icy villains like Brick. Better allow some extra drive time--you won't want to turn this off." (Praise for THE BOOK OF FATE)—AudioFile Magazine
Product Details
- ISBN-13:
- 9781455508174
- Publisher:
- Grand Central Publishing
- Publication date:
- 10/01/2011
- Pages:
- 416
- Sales rank:
- 443,753
- Product dimensions:
- 4.25(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.25(d)
Meet the Author
BRAD MELTZER
Brad Meltzer is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Fate, as well as the bestsellers The Tenth Justice, Dead Even, The First Counsel, The Millionaires, The Zero Game, and The Book of Lies.
He is also one of the co-creators of the TV Show, "Jack & Bobby" – and is the Eisner Award-winning author of the critically acclaimed comic book, Justice League of America.
His first non-fiction book, Heroes for My Son, is a collection of heroes – from Jim Henson to Rosa Parks – that he'd been working on since the day his son was born. This December, he'll be launching "Brad Meltzer's Decoded" on the History Channel. And his newest thriller, The Inner Circle, will be released on January 11, 2011.
Raised in Brooklyn and Miami, Brad is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Columbia Law School. The Tenth Justice was his first published work and became an instant New York Times bestseller. Dead Even followed a year later and also hit the New York Times bestseller list, as have all six of his novels. The First Counsel came next, which is about a White House lawyer dating the President's daughter; then The Millionaires, which is about two brothers who steal money and go on the run. The Zero Game is about two Congressional staffers who are – literally – gambling on Congress. The Book of Fate is about a young Presidential aide, a crazed assassin, and the 200-year-old code created by Thomas Jefferson that times them together. For authenticity, The Book of Fate was researched with the help of two former Presidents, Clinton and Bush. His last book, The Book of Lies, is about the missing murder weapon that Cain used to kill Abel, as well as the unsolved murder of Superman creator Jerry Siegel's father. Brad is one of the only people to interview Jerry Siegel's family about the murder and, with his charitable site, OrdinaryPeopleChangeTheWorld.com, has been the driving force behind the movement to repair the house where Superman was created.
His books have spent over ten months on the bestseller lists, and have been translated into over 25 languages, from Hebrew to Bulgarian. In The Tenth Justice, the opening lines are: "Ben Addison was sweating. Like a pig." In the Hebrew translation, it became: "Ben Addison was sweating. Like a horse." We're not sure if it's a Kosher thing or what!
Brad has played himself as an extra in Woody Allen's "Celebrity," co-wrote the swearing-in oath for AmeriCorps, the national service program, and earned credit from Columbia Law School for writing his first book, which became The Tenth Justice. Before all of that, he got 24 rejection letters for his true first novel, which still sits on his shelf, published by Kinko's.
Brad currently lives in Florida with his wife, who's also an attorney.
Brief Biography
- Hometown:
- Florida
- Date of Birth:
- 1970
- Place of Birth:
- New York, New York
- Education:
- B.A., University of Michigan; J.D., Columbia University
- Website:
- http://www.bradmeltzer.com
Customer Reviews
Average Review:
Now in his late twenties Calvin and a former priest named Roosevelt work the mean streets of Fort Lauderdale taking homeless people to a shelter. However, when Calvin helps a vagrant, he is stunned because the homeless man is Lloyd. His father asks his estranged son to assist him as he searches for the ancient artifact that Cain used to kill Abel and may have been the weapon used to kill the father of Superman creator Jerry Siegel in 1932. Coded references hint at a book of immortality as the object, but others willing to kill want it too.
This is an entreating tale that links the first reported homicide to a 1932 murder to the Nazis and to a modern day secret cult. The story line is action-packed and fun to follow especially for Brownian conspiracy fans. However, none of the key cast members seem more developed than a comic book character so the tension never quite reaches gripping levels. Still this is an intriguing tale as the default starting in biblical times reaches the Harper males with interesting stops in between.
Harriet Klausner