The Book of Cain: A Novel of Suspense

This is a great first novel. Quite accurate in psychological aspects. A little different as there were few "twists and turns" as it was more a "police procedural". The characters were well developed and believable and real. I am looking forward to his next. Well look for his website and see what is forthcoming. Long and held my attention. Very well written.

Herb Chapman's "The Book of Cain" is easily the best suspense thriller I've read in a year, and one of the most impressive fiction debuts I can remember. The reason this book succeeds so well is deceptively simple: author Chapman obviously took the care to plot his story well, and it largely succeeds at avoiding the contrivances that undermine so many other thrillers.Chapman knows the story is his book's strength, and he always plays to it. The writing style doesn't often stand out, but neither does it get in the way. A few scenes bog down along the way, but all in all Chapman--drawing from his real-life experience as a youth counsellor--has written a smart, lucid, and perceptive thriller that will hold your attention and stay with you long after you're done. Not as elegant as Thomas Harris, but nearly as nightmarish, "The Book of Cain" puts a bright spotlight on misery and the human capacity to do harm, and doesn't pretend to have all the answers. Mr. Chapman should be proud of a job well done. With a minimum of fanfare, he's crafted a thriller that puts many of his undoubtedly higher paid and more profilic counterparts to shame.

This book was recommended to me by a friend and was well worth every penny I spent on it. It has more than the standard two or three main characters, yet each is well-drawn and believable. Normally, when I read a mystery, by the time I'm 75% of the way through it, my main goal is to determine "whodunnit". This book totally engrossed me, so that I paid as much attention to all the details of the tale at page 275 as I did at page 25. It also left me contemplating the legacy that various 'ripples' in our lives create in the world of those around us. I suspect that Mr. Chapman's book will remain on my bookshelf for many years to come.