Cain

Rating:
Summary: Remarkable...that such drivel actually got published!
Review: PERSPECTIVE: sci-fi/fantasy/horror fan, unfamiliar with Huggins' work

Its unfortunate that I come away from this book disliking it, as I tried hard... really hard... to find the goodness in it. What hooked me into initially picking it up was the cool concept - an evil being possesses the scientifically enhanced body of a dead former CIA operative, and just what those responsible were going to do about it. As I read, I was also intrigued by the pseudo-science surrounding just what makes Cain tick, and what ultimately needs to be done to stop him.

Some things were done well, as some of the action sequences are reasonably thrilling, and Huggins' writing style is very straightforward and easy to follow. Unfortunately, that's all I can say from a positive standpoint. The novel is essentially a screenplay for a B-level action/horror movie. Both protagonists and antagonists have meaningful things to say at times, but every chapter, and towards the end, every section, seem to end with a snappy one-liner ("I'm going to see if a dead man can die", etc...) or some dramatic sub-cliffhanger statement that remind me more of a bad film script than a novel. The characters aren't completely static, but it is almost transparently predictable as to what the ultimate fate of every main character will be from early on in the book. A lot of the situations seem somewhat contrived, as Huggins seems to make some of the players do momentarily irrational things in order to advance the plot or further a situation.

All of the above would have been more forgivable if it weren't set into a background of pseudo-science that, while convincing to the average layperson, is just plain inaccurate, coming from a biology/medical background. The same can be said for the religious ideas presented - it's okay "pop mythology" for a B-movie, but to have this as the basis for a novel just doesn't fly with readers with any theological training.

All in all, this wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but the most disappointing aspect was that the cool ideas were only mediocrely researched and presented, and dragged down by contrived drama and a story that while fun at times, wasn't well-developed enough to make me care.

FINAL WORD: Don't read this book - life's too short and there are too many good-to-great novels out there to waste your time on this.