Customer Reviews

The Book of Lies

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

I've been reading Brad Meltzer's books since the beginning and this was my least favorite by far. I'm not sure how he decided to combine the murder of the father of Superman's creator with the Biblical account of Cain and Abel, much less toss in a secret society that believes God gave Cain a powerful "book" that still exists. But he apparently got so excited he forgot to write a story that makes sense.

The characters are so busy running after each other, the clues and the Book that they don't stop to wonder if what they are doing makes sense. I think the author hoped his readers would do the same. But the more I read, the more things didn't make sense to me. Why would someone who should know better and has access to other guns shoot someone with a gun from a previous murder? And why did Ellis and his secret society need the clues they were chasing when they led to places they should have searched long before. There are more irritating things that didn't make sense but I don't want to give away the plot for those readers who are more willing to suspend skepticism to enjoy the book.

I enjoyed the book until it veered too far into woo-woo land and then I just wanted it to be done. Ultimately, it didn't work for me. At least the ending wasn't as ridiculous as I thought it might be. That's why I gave it 3 stars rather than 2.

I hope the author will go back to writing thrillers about "normal" things like greed, lust for power, corruption, revenge, etc. and forget the mystical stuff.

I recommend that fans of Brad Meltzer skip this book and re-read one of his earlier books.

Meltzer has a bad habit of giving his characters ungainly speeches and diatribes when they're in situations that would normally require immediacy. A parade of shallow, trite persons amble through the narrative: the estranged father, the angry abandoned son, the spunky single-mom cop, the emotionless assassin, etc., etc. The central plot concept could have been interesting, but here it's executed more like the novelization of a mediocre summer movie screenplay. Verdict - meh. Didn't throw it against the wall in frustration.

This was the first book by Brad Meltzer I have read and will be the last.

The cover and title intrigued me, but the fascination ended there. As I read the book (hoping it would improve until finally I was so far in I decided I had to finish), I kept noting how ham-fisted it was written. Poor character introduction and development, leap-frogging to various characters without tying it all together and an overall ludicrous plot. In addition, it was written as if the author couldn't decide whether to make it a first person or overall story, he kept jumping from a third-party perspective to a first-person (using "I saw this..."), very annoying.

The straw that broke the proverbial camel's back was the introduction of the typical vindictive partner out for justice. Besides the introduction of this character 1/3 of the way through the book, her omni-present and "can do anything" side-kick in her ear was preposterous. Her "knack" for showing up everywhere, traveling all over the place and ordering all levels of law enforcement (local cops, FBI, etc) into action (this for a local DEA agent) just had me shaking my head in pity for the author.

Don't waste your time or money, I'm sorry I did.

Good plot, fine mystery, but the shallowness of the characters made me want it to be over with.

Maui H.S.
I didn't think Brad Meltzer could top my favorite novel of his, "The Zero Game". Brad Meltzer did. The Book of Lies kept me attached to the story, the plot, trying to figure out who is who, and the characters became real to me. I still think I will meet Cal on the street.
You will be hooked on the story from the beginning. Who is Ellis? What is Thule? Don't forget the Jewish hating Russians and Nazis. Figure out who is the Prophet. On your seat and trying to figure out the plot right to the end.
The Finish is EXCELLENT. It is the best ending any author could achieve. The treasure is treasure, but not what you believe it to be. It is the greatest prize and the greatest power on earth, but I doubt anyone could guess it. Way to go, Brad. You beat my favorite Zero Game down to second place. The Book of Lies is now my favorite Brad Meltzer novel.
If I could give this a six star instead of the limit five star, I would.

I'm torn between 2 and 3 stars. The book was mildly entertaining-if you are able to seriously suspend your disbelief and rationality. I admit-the suspense kept me reading. But, I had to give it two stars though, because there were just too many cliches. Lots of action doesn't make up for a poorly constructed, ludicrous plot composed with a cheesy delivery.

I have not finished this book yet - I'm about 32 chapters in and, already, I hate this book.
I read about it in Wizard magazine; I'm a big comic geek. It sounded interesting.

It's not.

I hated the DaVinci Code and this is worse than that; rather its a bad knock-off. The metaphors are weak or reaching or both. The symbolic imagery is over-played. The dialog is preachy & monology; very unnatural. It is not unlike some of the denser over-explaining dialog in comic books; but comics have the excuse of needing to tell the entire story with pictures and dialog (many modern comics don't use much narration). This book has no such excuse.
Also, comics often avoid using swear words - which is fine - but they generally don't put in juvenile substitutions like "effing". Swear or don't, but don't use elementary euphemisms.

I just started reading Mr. Meltzer's book as a result of watching his TV show on the history channel. This book held my attention from the beginning to the very end. I could not put it down. I was born in the Cleveland area and found it fascinating to hear his description of the places his characters visited. He was right on point with the various locations. I would actually imagine myself riding along with these characters passing those Cleveland landmarks. Once I got half way through the book, I had to stay up one night to finish it. The last time I stayed up to finish a book was the last in the Harry Potter series.

I enjoyed this book. Some of the supositions in the story don't make any sense, but I still thought it was an enjoyable read. I really enjoyed all the info about the Siegal family. I was also entertained with the whole idea of the weapon used by Cain to kill Abel. I knew from the start that part of the story would be ridiculous, and it was, but it was still entertaining. Overall, I enjoyed the book and I'll be looking up Brad Meltzer again to read some of his other books.

I had a hard time putting this book down. Honestly, this was so creative on the author's part. To work off historical events and make such an edge of your seat story! I loved every second of this book and couldn't wait to see what happened next!! A must read!!