The Book of Lies
by Brad Meltzer
List Price:
Our Price: $2.18
You Save: $5.81 (73%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Brad MeltzerEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-06-01
ISBN: 0446616141
Number of pages: 464
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Product features:
- New York Times Bestseller
- First Edition
Book Reviews of The Book of Lies
Book Review: Fab Story with Clever Concept
Summary: 5 Stars
For The Book of Lies, Brad Meltzer creates a clever story idea when he weaves the creation of the Superman comic with finding the weapon that killed Abel. Yes, that Abel...from Genesis. Calvin Harper is a former (read: not-so-honorably discharged) ICE agent who has taken on the job of driving around picking up drunk and disorderly/homeless clients for a local shelter where he also befriends and helps troubled youth. He's the good guy. On the other side of the plot is Ellis (Edward Belasco) with what he thinks is a God-given right to have/take/steal/kill for the artifact that Cal Harper is sort of stumbling into finding. And Cal's stumbling into finding this artifact because his long-lost father has stumbled back into his life with a bang.
Meltzer's style switches from first person when Cal's narrating to third person POV when we're seeing events through anyone else's eyes. This might throw some readers at first, but it offers an intriguing way to keep a few secrets from the reader. Once you get the hang of the switching POV (which is truly easy to do with Meltzer's professional hand), the pages start flying by. Meltzer throws in a twist after a surprise after a sinister foreshadowing after another twist...it's a fast-paced race to unravel lies and find answers that lead the good guys to the treasure before the bad guys can get there. I found myself disappointed in the characters themselves. I should have adored Cal, but I just couldn't do it. Despite his compassion for the clients he "saves," he doesn't have the right compassion for his father. When he "steals" his dad's lady friend, who I don't have a lot of patience with anyway, I get a sour taste in my mouth. Of course, his dad is not exactly a saint, either. Even the detective chasing Cal to solve her partner's murder from early in the novel (one of those twists that propels the plot into fast forward) doesn't feel real or sympathetic to me. Luckily, Meltzer feels like such an incredible writer and can paint such vivid, recognizable scenes in The Book of Lies that I didn't need to fall head over heels for any of the characters to enjoy the story and tear through the pages to see how the story was going to end.
I highly recommend The Book of Lies for thriller/mystery and action-adventure readers. It's a great story with a fulfilling ending.
From Fantasy Author Sandy Lender
Summary of The Book of Lies
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
Action & Adventure Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Action & Adventure Books
Polar Shiftby Paul Cussler Clive & Kemprecos
Penguin; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.30
The Call of the Wild (Children's Classics)by Jack London
Penguin Audio; Published: 1997-08-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $11.00
Pelican Briefby John Grisham
Trafalgar Square; Published: 1993-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.19
Price in other shops:
Stardustby Neil Gaiman
HarperCollins; Published: 2008-12-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.62
Price in other shops:
Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 1)by Neal Stephenson
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2004-09-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.50
Price in other shops:
Sandstormby James Rollins
Harper; Published: 2005-04-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.50
Price in other shops:
No Man's Landby G.M. Ford
William Morrow; Published: 2005-06-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.50
Price in other shops:
Forever Odd - Signed Proofby Dean Koontz
Bantam; Published: 2005; Paperback; Book
Preyby Michael Crichton
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2003-08-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.95
Sharpe's Waterloo (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #20)by Bernard Cornwell
Harpercollins; Published: 1998-01-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Similar Books and other products
The Zero Gameby Brad Meltzer
Published: 2003-12-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.29
Price in other shops:
The Millionairesby Brad Meltzer
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2002-11-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.88
Price in other shops:
The Inner Circleby Brad Meltzer
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2011-01-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.39
Price in other shops:
The Zero Gameby Brad Meltzer
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2005-02-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.98
Price in other shops:
Dead Evenby Brad Meltzer
Harper; Published: 2010-10-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops:
The First Counselby Brad Meltzer
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2010-06-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
The Book of Fateby Brad Meltzer
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2007-05-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.69
Price in other shops:
The Tenth Justiceby Brad Meltzer
Harper; Published: 2009-08-25; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.48
Price in other shops:
The Millionairesby Brad Meltzer
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2011-10-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.57
Price in other shops:
The Inner Circleby Brad Meltzer
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2011-10-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.80
Price in other shops: