(2008)Another very good mystery by the author that deals with the Cain slaying Abel myth and a story about the creater of Superman, Jerry Siegel and how he based the character on his father and his murder(?). (PW)...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 ? la The Da Vinci Code. A glut of two-dimensional characters and a plot riddled with coincidences don't help.

Very good book, if you like Dan Brown you'll enjoy this... ( )

If you liked [b:The Da Vinci Code|968|The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)|Dan Brown|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1303252999s/968.jpg|2982101], you might like this. It is built on the same premise--chasing an artifact, an evil group also wanting it, some ludicrous mystical/Biblical connection, and our protagonist in dire danger. There is, I’m sorry to say, a rather predictable twist at the end that I saw coming from about Chapter Two. In fact, the only interesting thing about this book for me was the background story about Jerry Siegel, the inventor of Superman, and the bits and pieces of that which were interesting and true.

This is not my kind of book. It was given to me quite a while ago by someone who loved it. I knew it wasn’t my taste but sort of felt compelled to take it. I can now say two things in truth: 1) I have read it and 2)I will just say no to the next book that I have no interest in but have foisted upon me by a well-meaning friend.
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Skip this one. Meltzer tries to write a Dan Brown-type of thriller and falls woefully short. The story revolves around the murder of the father of Jerry Siegel, who created the Superman character, and an ancient society trying to uncover the weapon used in the Cain-Abel murder. ( )

A reasonable action thriller. The narrative feels a bit clunky in places, but not too bad. ( )