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The Book Of Lies
Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News
N
ovelist Brad Meltzer always
seems to keep his University
of Michigan experiences
in the back of his mind. Each of his
seven novels has referenced the state
where he earned his undergraduate
degree.
Meltzer's latest writing project,
The Book of Lies (Grand Central
Publishing; $25.99), is a thriller that
links biblical characters with a mod-
em icon of fiction, and the author puts
some of the action in Detroit.
The page-turner connects Cain's
murder of Abel to the murder of
Mitchell Siegel, the father of Jerry
Siegel, creator of Superman.
"I'm a proud University of Michigan
alum:' says Meltzer, 38, who will sign
copies of the mystery 7 p.m. Tuesday,
Sept. 9, at the Borders in Birmingham.
"Bringing the state into the writing
is a way to tip that hat and say thank
you."
Meltzer, fascinated by biblical
narrative, also has been a longtime
Superman fan. Meeting members
of the Siegel family at a book sign-
ing for an earlier work of fiction
led to his discovery about the Siegel
murder and Jerry Siegel's resulting
fantasy to create someone who was
bulletproof.
Connecting the first murderer,
Cain, to the murder of Mitchell Siegel
moved on to bigger themes as Meltzer
inserted fiction into fact.
"I put an author's note at the end of
the book that shows what's real and
what's fake Meltzer says. "I believe
that the things people may think are
fake are the ones that are real.
"When I thought about one murder
that gives us the first villain in Cain
and one murder that gives the world's
greatest hero in Superman, I suddenly
had far bigger themes than what I
dealt with before.
"The reason these stories persist is
not because they are interesting sto-
ries but because they say something
about us. In this book, the stories
come to be about being able to accept
ourselves for who we are
Meltzer, who went on to earn a law
degree at Columbia University in New
York after graduating with a history
major and an English minor at U-M,
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began his first novel while studying
law. His interest in writing about legal
issues quickly surpassed his interest
in practicing.
Meltzer, whose family is active
with a Conservative congregation in
Florida, dealt with a personal trag-
edy while working on this book and
brought those feelings into the narra-
tive.
"I started this book when my mom
was diagnosed with breast cancer, and
it's not a coincidence that the main
character was dealing with the loss of
his mother," Meltzer says.
"When my mom passed away, our
synagogue was there for us:'
Through his writing projects,
Meltzer tries to be there for people in
need. The author assigns some of the
proceeds from each book to various
charities.
With The Book of Lies, he
launched a Web site, www.
ordinarypeoplechangetheworld.com ,
to further his efforts.
"I think the world gets changed
because there's greatness in all of us:'
says Meltzer, already working on his
next novel.
"We just have to find what we love
to do and accept ourselves for who we
are." ❑
Brad Meltzer signs copies of his
book 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9, at
Borders, 34300 Woodward, in
Birmingham. (248) 203-0005.
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September 4 Q 2008 Cli