Bridget Reviews The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer

Title: The Book of Lies

Author: Brad Meltzer

Published: 2011

So I was at my local Goodwill a few weeks ago to drop off some clothes when I remembered that they probably had a book section. Naturally, I couldn't resist the idea of cheap books so I went and looked around a little while. Paperbacks were $.25 or 5 for a dollar or something, so I figured I'd buy a few and always have something new to read if I needed it.

As it happened, one of these books was The Book of Lies. Catchy title, so I glanced at the blurb and threw it in. Here's that blurb:

Cain kills Abel in Chapter Four of the Bible. It is the world's most famous murder. But the Bible is silent about one key detail: the weapon Cain used to kill his brother. That weapon is still lost to history.

In 1932, Mitchell Siegel was killed by three gunshots to his chest. While mourning, his son dreamed of a bulletproof man and created the world's greatest hero: Superman. And like Cain's murder weapon, the gun used in this unsolved murder has never been found.

Until now.

Today in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Cal Harper comes face-to-face with his family's greatest secret: his long-lost father, who's been shot with a gun that traces back to Michell Siegel's 1932 murder. But before Cal can ask a single question, he and his father are attacked by a ruthless killer tattooed with the ancient markings of Cain. And so begins the chase for the world's first murder weapon.

What does Cain, history's greatest villain, have to do with Superman, the world's greatest hero? And what do two murders, committed thousands of years apart, have in common? 

One thing I will say about this book is that I appreciated both the big twist at the end and the (mostly) utter lack of any romantic subplot. A little romance can be okay sometimes but a lot of the time it just detracts from the real plot (unless, of course, romance is the real plot). The Book of Lies, though, mostly stuck to the whole guns-and-car-chases thing.

This is a good thing, because the whole Cain and Abel/Superman thing was held together VERY tenuously. Even just a week or so after finishing the book, I can't remember quite how it all came together in the end or what exactly entwined the two things to begin with. This could be because I sort of skimmed through it half-heartedly--it never really captured my attention--but part of the reason I was skimming was because I was hoping to get to a place that would explain to me everything that was going on because it all seemed somewhat nonsensical. 

Anyway, if you've got a few hours to kill on a bus/plane/train/etc., I wouldn't discourage you from picking this up. I actually gave away my copy the day I finished it because I was working at a golf tournament and there was a lot of down time, so when I did finish it I gave it to someone who hadn't brought anything to read. It's not very memorable and not wonderfully written, but it's something to read when you have some time to kill.