Brad Meltzer has charted a successful career writing novels (the bestselling thriller “The Book of Fate”) and comic books (the critically acclaimed bestselling DC Comics mini-series “Identity Crisis,” eventually collected into graphic-novel format). With Meltzer’s new novel, “The Book of Lies,” he strikes bestseller gold again by combining his interest in both genres for the plot of this latest thriller. This book has a bit of “The Da Vinci Code” as the protagonists and antagonists search for the world’s first murder weapon — the item Cain used to kill Abel in the Bible. Meanwhile, Meltzer also pins the search for Cain’s weapon (or the mark of Cain) on the mystery surrounding the death of Mitchell Siegel, father of Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman with Joe Shuster. Yes, “The Book of Lies” ties together Superman and Cain, providing readers with a lot of thrills and second-guessing on each page. The story follows Cal, former federal agent who works with the homeless, and how he becomes involved in this search through the life of Superman’s creator to find the weapon or mark of Cain. In this search, he is reluctantly teamed with his estranged father, who disappeared from Cal’s life decades earlier after being sent to prison for killing Cal’s mother. Like “The Book of Fate,” there seems to be something missing, just below the surface of this book. Unlike his comic book stories, which bring new depth to familiar characters such as Superman and Batman, Meltzer’s books seem to lack substance. The characters seem bland and not fully formed, but the plot keeps the pages turning and the action fast-paced. Meltzer spent two years trying to solve the actual mystery of Mitchell Siegel’s death and that research makes for revealing plot twists in this volume. No lie, readers of mysteries and suspense should enjoy this book.