The Book of Lies

Brad Meltzer has larded his proven cliffhanger formula with Da Vinci-esque conspiracies and comic-book lore, and the results aren’t pretty. In his latest, The Book of Lies, ex-customs agent Cal Harper searches for the object Cain used to slay Abel. ”The world’s first murder weapon” might be anything: a jawbone, a rock, even an occult tome. Alas, Meltzer’s plot, which drags in Nazis and the history of Superman comics, is just as hard to pin down. (Clues hidden in the cartoon illustrations explain little.) His muzzy mythologies are more baffling than thrilling. C