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Whistle Stopper - The Book of Lies
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List Price: $25.99
Our Price: $4.45
Your Save: $ 21.54 ( 83% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780446577885
ISBN: 044657788X
Label: Grand Central Publishing
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 352
Publication Date: 2008-09-02
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Release Date: 2008-09-02
Studio: Grand Central Publishing
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Meltzer, I've read Dan Brown and you're no Dan Brown....
Comment: Unfortunately this was my first read of a Meltzer novel and will likely be my last. Title might also describe the rave reviews plastered on the book jacket which snared me as I passed through the airport book store...
"Brilliant", "A fast, exciting ride", "...Meltzer strikes gold".... huh. I can only conclude that the publishing industry has a cadre of go-to guys and gals at various publications who will dish up a good quote whenever one is needed. As I eluded to, this was and impulse buy. For $28 I wanted to like it, but there just isn't much to like.
None of the characters are well developed. Even our protagonist Cal, thought his story (what little we know of it) is certainly sympathetic, is hard to empathize with. The story opens with a terrible early childhood trauma, then leaps 19 years into the present with this lame paragraph:
"Most lives crumble over time. Cal Harper's crumbled in one crashing fall. But nineteen years later, thanks to a single call on his radio, he'd begin his quest through history and finally have a chance to put his life together".
For the next 300+ pages we are taken on one long chase. Our protagonist Cal ex-ICE agent and homeless advocate. His ex-con estranged father Lloyd, and Lloyd's friend Serena are pursued by murderous zealot ex-cop Ellis, and separately by tenacious ICE agent Naomi. Aided by Roosevelt a defrocked preacher, college and friend of Cal's, they follow clues leading to the "Book of Lies" the Gift/Punishment handed down by God to Cain after the murder of Abel. Add to the mix, a secret society, someone called the Prophet, and the true-life 1932 murder of Mitchell Siegel, the father of Jerry Siegel creator of the comic book character Superman, and some missing comic pages which are the key to finding the "book". As plots go, quite a rats nest...tied together with our protagonist's internal conversation and lots of unrealistically professorial dialogue designed to educate us so that we might buy into the story. Sorry, despite lots of excitement, I never did.
I wonder why Meltzer decide to go Da Vinci Code on us as there was probably a good story in the Siegel murder mystery without going off into religious mysticism. This story falls far short of the intricately crafted and coherent plot and masterful mixing of fact and fiction that makes the Da Vinci Code such a good read.
Pick it up at the library if you are a Meltzer fan. Otherwise, spend your time and money more wisely...
Customer Rating:
Summary: Kryptonite of Fiction--2 1/2 Stars
Comment: In BOOK OF LIES, Cal Harper is a former government agent who was forced to leave his position and now works as an advocate for the homeless, living with them at a residency shelter and helping them out of tough situations. While on "patrol" Cal picks up a homeless man who turns out to be his father, a man he hasn't seen in years. His father, Lloyd, was sent to prison for the accidental manslaughter of his wife, Cal's mother. Their reunion is the catalyst that sends Cal and Lloyd on a journey that is connected to Jerry Siegel, the creator of Superman, and Cain, Adam's eldest son who killed his brother Abel.
I picked up BOOK OF LIES because of the connection to the creation of Superman. Until recently, I was completely unaware that Jerry Siegel's father, Mitchell was shot in an alley at gunpoint when Jerry was a boy. When I learned of that and how BOOK OF LIES connected that event to the story of Cain from the Bible, I became very interested in reading the book.
I was quite disappointed. The book is a decent mystery-suspense story and has some real page-turning moments. However, as the story builds up and builds up to the climatic final confrontation and reveal, it's a huge let down. I was able to figure out the identity of the mastermind villain about halfway through the book. Despite this, I thought the payoff at the end of the book was going to be amazing. It's not. It's pretty unexciting and the last few chapters of the novel read as though they were thrown together in wrap the story up quickly. Also, the secret that's revealed inside the Book of Lies is even a bigger let down than the anti-climatic final confrontation.
Recommended if you enjoy reading suspense stories such as ANGELS AND DEMONS and THE DA VINCI CODE and if you have an interest in Superman and comics, you also might get something out of reading this book (some of the research about Jerry Siegel is very interesting).
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fun Read; But Not Much Substance
Comment: This book is what I would consider a beach/travel read. It was quick, it was fun, and did not require much thinking. I enjoyed the story, it was fairly interesting, but it was hardly engaging. It is another one of those scavenger hunt books, tracing around lore and religion looking for long lost clues that could revitalize the way we see the world.
However, the format of the book is just that, and nothing more. It is no "Angels and Demons" or other well researched, almost believable works of fiction.
I've enjoyed most of Meltzer's books, and I'm sure I will continue to do so. I just think that this book latched on to what is a popular storytelling format these days. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book; but it was not as deep as I was hoping. It was, however, a fast paced and enjoyable story, and for that reason alone, it was worth reading.
J.Stoner
Customer Rating:
Summary: Book of Mystery
Comment: This suspense novel has a well-written fascinating premise that involves the teenaged creator of Superman comics, a back story of a Nazi quest during World War II for a book of power, mysterious people seeking the book today, and Cal Harper who is searching for this book.
The Prophet and The Leadership loom menacingly in the background, desperate to recover the book, which was stolen from them in 1900. Cal gets clues about where the book is and is tracked by an assassin, and meanwhile Cal is reunited with his dad under strange circumstances. Father and son were separated for 19 years while Cal's dad was in prison.
The Book of Lies may offer clues to the world's first murder weapon, used by Cain to kill Abel. I won't reveal any plot details since you will want to read this book if you enjoy a creative story in the form of a suspense tale.
Customer Rating:
Summary: DISAPPOINTING ENDING!!!
Comment: I listened to this via audiobook. It had great potential and it kept me with one hand on the wheel and one hand gripping my head for most of the way. Then...............IT ENDED STUPIDLY, UNSATIFACTORILY, TIED UP NOTHING - AND MADE NO SENSE!!!
I might try another of Mr. Meltzer's books - but I doubt it!
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Editorial Reviews:
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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
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