We always like to keep you guys apprised of the newest and coolest comic-related things out there. So I knew I’d hit paydirt when a new book crossed my path that asked the question “What does Cain, the world’s first villain, and Superman, the world’s first superhero have in common?”

Author Brad Meltzer aims to find out in his new book titled “The Book of Lies.”

For every author there is the one book they believe they were meant to write. For Brad Meltzer (author of DC Comic’s Identity Crisis), that book is THE BOOK OF LIES (Grand Central Publishing; September 2, 2008; $25.99).

In this riveting thriller, Meltzer’s expertise in comics, and in particular Superman, his interest in Cain, the world’s first murderer, his belief in myths and legends, and the influence of his father and mother fuse into a heart-pounding and heart-breaking story that is among his best. Set largely in Florida, where Meltzer lives, THE BOOK OF LIES challenges our assumptions about Cain killing Abel and about the creation of Superman, the world’s first superhero. Despite the many centuries between these two events, in THE BOOK OF LIES Meltzer deftly weaves them together into a suspenseful, code-breaking drama.

THE BOOK OF LIES follows Cal Harper, a disgraced government agent, who comes across his long-lost father, Lloyd, lying for dead in a park. Together they end up in a dangerous race to find the world’s first murder weapon – that which was used by Cain to kill Abel – and which ended up in the hands of Mitchell Siegel, the father of Jerry Siegel, who created Superman. Their quest takes Cal and Lloyd – and the evil Ellis – to Cleveland to the house where Jerry Siegel lived and created the first Superman comics (this house is still standing today). Here they hope to solve both the mystery of Cain’s murder weapon and who killed Jerry’s father. After all, explains Meltzer, it was the murder of his father in a store robbery that led the young Jerry to create a bullet-proof man called Superman.

Based on intensive research into both the Bible story and the lives of Mitchell and Jerry Siegel (Meltzer interviewed Jerry Siegel’s wife and daughter), THE BOOK OF LIES rings with the truth of what happened and of what could have happened. It is a thought-provoking and crackling story that sheds new light on the Siegel family, the creation of Superman and our assumptions about myths, legends, heroes and villains.

Meltzer is also currently the driving force behind the effort to save Superman’s house – the house in Cleveland where Jerry Siegel grew up – and has created a website for that purpose: www.ordinarypeoplechangetheworld.com.

Click here for more info, and check back often for a Watchtower interview with Brad about THE BOOK OF LIES and the quest to save Superman’s house.

Related posts

• The Starting Gun - Titans #1 (0)
• The Checklist - Week of September 22nd (0)
• The 2008 Harvey Awards (0)
• Battle For The Cowl! (0)

Tags: Brad Meltzer, DC Comics, Superman, The Book of Lies

This entry was posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 12:01 am and is filed under Extras, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.