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 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 Mitchell 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 anicent 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? This is the mystery at the heart of Brad Meltzer's riveting and utterly intriguing new thriller
Cal Harper often had envisioned what it would be like to encounter his long-lost father, Lloyd. As a child, he imagined a tender reunion; as an adult, he dreamed up ways to snub him. What Cal never expected was that his work as a helper to the homeless in Ft. Lauderdale would bring him and Lloyd together. Cal is called to the scene when Lloyd is found shot in the park. His clothes aren’t those of a vagrant, though, and there are mysterious papers in his pocket. But before Cal can begin to puzzle out the details of the assault, he and his father are attacked by an assassin named Ellis, who is tattooed with the marks of Cain. We learn eventually that the gun used to shoot Lloyd is the same weapon used, in 1932, to kill Mitchell Siegel, father of the man who created Superman. How are these two murders linked, and could they both be somehow connected to history’s first murder, the killing of Abel by Cain, another crime with a missing weapon? Although the ties to the Bible and to pop culture lend sparkle to the story, Meltzer tries a bit too hard to combine his love of comics with a high-concept Da Vinci Code–like conspiracy plot. Meltzer made his name with financial thrillers but, since then, has published graphic novels (Identity Crisis, 2005) and another foray into Dan Brown territory (The Book of Fate, 2006). Here’s one vote for a return to money and murder. --Mary Frances Wilkens
Review
"Meltzer is so good." ( ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY )
"Meltzer has earned the right to belly up to the bar with John Grisham, Scott Turow, and David Baldacci." ( PEOPLE )
"Meet the next John Grisham." ( MIAMI HERALD )
About the Author
Brad Meltzer is the author of six New York Times bestselling thrillers: The TenthJustice, Dead Even, The First Counsel, The Millionaires, The Zero Game , and TheBook of Fate. He is also the #1 bestselling author of the critically acclaimed comic books Identity Crisis and Justice League of America , and is the co-creator of the TV series Jack & Bobby. A graduate of the University of Michigan and Columbia Law School, he currently lives in Florida. To learn more about Brad, please visit him at www.bradmeltzer.com.
Description:
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 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 Mitchell 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 anicent 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? This is the mystery at the heart of Brad Meltzer's riveting and utterly intriguing new thriller
From Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Meltzer ( The Book of Fate ) deserves credit for an audacious conceit—wedding the biblical fratricide of Abel by his brother Cain with the unsolved 1932 homicide of the father of Jerry Siegel, the creator of iconic comic book hero Superman—but the results are less than convincing. A highly tenuous link between the two murders revolves around the mysterious weapon Cain (the world's greatest villain) used to kill his brother. One of numerous theories is that the weapon was a divine book containing the secrets of immortality. After coming to the aid of a shooting victim, Calvin Harper, a homeless volunteer working in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., soon finds himself hopelessly caught up in a life-and-death quest for the ancient artifact that includes the obligatory secret societies, Nazi conspiracies, enigmatic villains and cryptographic riddles à la The Da Vinci Code. A glut of two-dimensional characters and a plot riddled with coincidences don't help. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From 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 Bibles 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
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Cal Harper often had envisioned what it would be like to encounter his long-lost father, Lloyd. As a child, he imagined a tender reunion; as an adult, he dreamed up ways to snub him. What Cal never expected was that his work as a helper to the homeless in Ft. Lauderdale would bring him and Lloyd together. Cal is called to the scene when Lloyd is found shot in the park. His clothes aren’t those of a vagrant, though, and there are mysterious papers in his pocket. But before Cal can begin to puzzle out the details of the assault, he and his father are attacked by an assassin named Ellis, who is tattooed with the marks of Cain. We learn eventually that the gun used to shoot Lloyd is the same weapon used, in 1932, to kill Mitchell Siegel, father of the man who created Superman. How are these two murders linked, and could they both be somehow connected to history’s first murder, the killing of Abel by Cain, another crime with a missing weapon? Although the ties to the Bible and to pop culture lend sparkle to the story, Meltzer tries a bit too hard to combine his love of comics with a high-concept Da Vinci Code–like conspiracy plot. Meltzer made his name with financial thrillers but, since then, has published graphic novels (Identity Crisis, 2005) and another foray into Dan Brown territory (The Book of Fate, 2006). Here’s one vote for a return to money and murder. --Mary Frances Wilkens
Review
"Meltzer is so good." ( ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY )
"Meltzer has earned the right to belly up to the bar with John Grisham, Scott Turow, and David Baldacci." ( PEOPLE )
"Meet the next John Grisham." ( MIAMI HERALD )
About the Author
Brad Meltzer is the author of six New York Times bestselling thrillers: The Tenth Justice, Dead Even, The First Counsel, The Millionaires, The Zero Game , and The Book of Fate. He is also the #1 bestselling author of the critically acclaimed comic books Identity Crisis and Justice League of America , and is the co-creator of the TV series Jack & Bobby. A graduate of the University of Michigan and Columbia Law School, he currently lives in Florida. To learn more about Brad, please visit him at www.bradmeltzer.com.