I’d read one novel by Brad Meltzer, the similarly-titled but otherwise unconnected THE BOOK OF FATE, as well as one trade paperback reprinting a story arc from his run as the writer of the Justice League of America comic book. Both of them were pretty good, so I didn’t hesitate to give his most recent novel a try. THE BOOK OF LIES combines two of Meltzer’s interests, thrillers and superheroes.
Cal Harper is a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who resigned after fouling up a case, and now he works with a homeless shelter in Fort Lauderdale. One day he runs across a homeless man who’s been wounded in a shooting, and this victim turns out to be Cal’s long-estranged father, who went to prison when Cal was a kid for accidentally killing Cal’s mother during an argument. It doesn’t take long for Cal to discover that his dad is now mixed up in some sort of dangerous conspiracy and trying to help him out puts Cal in danger, too, from a mysterious assassin. All of this turns out to be tied in with the unsolved 1932 murder of Mitchell Siegel, the father of Jerry Siegel, who was one of the creators of Superman.
Meltzer takes this actual bit of comic book history and spins a very elaborate yarn around it involving centuries-old conspiracies, war, murder, crooked federal agents, and a mystery dating back to biblical times. Does the whole thing border on being a little silly and over-the-top at times? Yeah, probably. But Meltzer keeps the pace moving along briskly and creates a likable protagonist in Cal, along with several hissable villains. It’s all pretty entertaining, and I definitely intend to read more of Meltzer’s novels, as well as his comic book work.
One stylistic note: There was a time when I wouldn’t have read a book like this, because it mixes not only first-person and third-person POV, but also past tense and present tense (first person present and third person past, to be specific). But I’ve gotten a little more tolerant of such things in recent years, and Meltzer makes it work pretty well here.
My introduction to the Justice League of America was the tenth issue of the comic book of that name, cover-dated March 1962 but published in late ’61. I bought it in the fall of 1962 at the Halloween Carnival held at the elementary school I attended at the time. Kids always donated comic books for the carnival, which were then sold for a nickel each. If I recall correctly, the issue of JLA #10 I bought was coverless, but that didn’t stop me from reading it and thoroughly enjoying the tale of DC’s leading superheroes teaming up to battle the evil sorcerer Felix Faust. I’d read comics featuring Superman and Batman before that, but that issue featured characters new to me, like Green Lantern and Wonder Woman and Aquaman.
Skip ahead to a couple of years ago when DC relaunched the Justice League in a new series with ties to the old one. The first seven issues are reprinted in a volume entitled THE TORNADO’S PATH, and not only does Felix Faust make another appearance, but so do numerous other characters, mostly villains, from the early days of the JLA. It’s a very nice blending of old and new, with plenty of nods to the group’s history over the past 45+ years while still being grounded in the current DC continuity.
I stopped reading comics for long enough that I wasn’t totally familiar with some of the characters here or the relationships they have with each other, but it wasn’t difficult at all to follow what was going on. The story centers around the Red Tornado, a character that goes back in one incarnation or another all the way to the Golden Age. In this version, which I believe first appeared in the Seventies, he’s an android who wants to become fully human. He gets his wish in this story arc, but of course, things don’t work out quite the way he wanted them to.
The script is by Brad Meltzer, better known for his bestselling political thrillers, but it’s easy to tell that he’s a comics fan from ’way back. His script has plenty of action, some humor, and lots of nice touches for the geezers among us who remember those early days. I’ve read one of his novels, THE BOOK OF FATE, and liked it fairly well. It’s no surprise that he spins a pretty complex plot here. Also, the art by Ed Benes is very good. His layouts are a little tough to follow at times (a common complaint for me where modern comics artists are concerned), but I really like the way the characters looked. His versions of the JLA’s core characters – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Black Canary – warmed the heart of this old-timer. All in all, I liked this version of the JLA quite a bit. I’d recommend it to anybody who’s a fan of the DC Universe, old or new.
I’d read one novel by Brad Meltzer, the similarly-titled but otherwise unconnected THE BOOK OF FATE, as well as one trade paperback reprinting a story arc from his run as the writer of the Justice League of America comic book. Both of them were pretty good, so I didn’t hesitate to give his most recent novel a try. THE BOOK OF LIES combines two of Meltzer’s interests, thrillers and superheroes.
