posted by chaplainandrews on Aug 27

 “There’s the life you live and the life you leave behind.  But what you share with someone else—especially someone you love—that’s not how you bury your past.  It’s how you write your future.”

Brad Metlzer’s new book, The Book of Lies, stands to teach us that we are to write our futures on the relationships that we have, past, present and future.

Available in September 2008, The Book of Lies is an enjoyable and rewarding book to read, especially if the history of Superman excites you.

In this 336 page book, Meltzer returns to his obvious first love of comic books and draws upon this expertise to flesh out the mystery that surrounds the early creation of Superman by specifically Jerry Siegel.  I feel as if the topic is best approached by an author, like Meltzer, who has earned the right from the comic book community to write a story about the greatest superhero ever.

To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the book.  I’ve read a couple of his comic book arcs in the past, and wasn’t that impressed. In fact, I‘ve wondered how Meltzer was as a novelist.  Specifically, with his run at Justice League of America, I was concerned that his book would be similarly flawed. This presumption may have flawed my perspective as I began reading the book. 

Within the first couple of chapters, I felt as if the book was getting off to a rough start, but after sticking with the story, it began to make sense.  This may be Meltzer’s way of developing tension in his writing, because I remember this being a similar feeling I’ve had with other stories he has written. He definitely succeeded in presenting unanswered questions and introducing loose ends for the reader to uncover as the book progressed.  Delightfully, these questions were answered through the story’s investigation and race to find the Book of Lies.

Another criticism I have for the book is that it seemed as if the story ended too soon.  The final chapters seemed to slide into a melodramatic sequence of nostalgia. I understand that Meltzer wanted a softer ending, but it took too long.  He could have made the same points without a drawn out tearful ending.  It didn’t work.

Now, with those criticisms out of the way, I want to express that through the majority of the book, I was happy to be reading Meltzer’s mystery story—complete with a “Scooby-Doo” ending.  I was fascinated with the historical references to the creation of Superman and the Cain and Abel story.  I don’t know if they were all true. I believe most of them are because the book seems to be well researched.  And these antecedents throughout made the story move forward and enjoyable.

The Book of Lies is a quick and enjoyable read. The story line of Superman and the Bible were a perfect fit for me to enjoy the story and remain interested even to the end.