The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer

Meltzer, Brad. The Book of Lies. New York: Grand Central, 2008.
ISBN-13: 978-0-446-57788-5
ISBN-10: 0-446-57788-X

The Book of Lies is a thriller that brings together the ancient, the old and the present. The old and the present are tied to a gun that injures a man today and killed a man in 1932. These events are also linked to a search for an ancient book, God’s mark, or reward, to Cain for repenting of his brother’s murder.

The 1932 killing was of Mitchell Siegel. He was the father of Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman. It’s true that Mitchell died during a robbery of a shop, officially of a heart attack, though family history is divided over whether this is true or whether he was shot by the robber. For the fictional tale author Brad Meltzer goes with the shooting. The fictional version of Jerry hides clues to his father’s murder, and the secret he died to protect, in an early version of Superman.

The characters are drawn into finding the clues in Superman when one is shot by the same gun that killed Mitchell Siegel. He is an ex-con and the protagonist is his son, a disgraced former customs agent. They barely stay ahead of the others who are seeking them or Cain’s book, federal agents, occultists and rivals in there own camp.



That Cain murdered Abel is from the Bible. Beyond that, Meltzer’s version of the story owes more to the occult than the Bible and may be largely from the author’s imagination. Of course, the biblical account doesn’t leave much room for a modern-day thriller.

The events surrounding the death of Jerry Siegel’s father are fictional, too, though this recent history is treated with more care. Siegel has surviving family, including his wife, and co-created the most well recognized character in comics, a medium for which Meltzer writes.

I’ll admit I’m not especially a fan of thrillers. I was drawn to this book by the Siegel connection. I found the book to be entertaining with plenty of action.