Rating: Summary: A Christian Frankenstein? Review: 'Cain' is the book which established Huggins in mainstream fiction and was later developed into a movie. It follows the formula he began with novels like 'Leviathan', where scientific experimentation unleashes a super-human creature hell-bent on destroying the world. In this case, the scientific meddling has resulted in Cain, a virtually indestructible super-soldier with an unquenchable thirst for human blood. Cain is especially after the blood of Amy, a young girl whose blood he needs for an occultic ritual that will guarantee his complete supremacy. Like 'Leviathan', Cain's hunters are faced with an ultimatum ' they must kill the unkillable within ten days, or else he will destroy the world. Cain was the first murderer, and he threatens to be the last (p45). What to expect:1. Action thriller. The novel starts with a bang, and rarely slows down. Huggins has a style that leaves your heart pounding, and you'll find yourself racing over words and through pages. The roller-coaster ride of action never lets up. Only one problem: expect the same scenery. The 'terrible roar' of Cain and the 'hate-filled rage' of his hunters rapidly wears thin after the umpteenth time. While the action is fast and furious, the battles become rather repetitive and tiresome, and are marked by episodes that defy credibility. Also be warned that the extent of blood and gore is unsuitable for children. 2. Apocalyptic themes. Unlike most thrillers, Huggins clearly works with deeper themes. There is a clear and cosmic conflict between good and evil, a picture of the conflict between God and Satan. Cain is no ordinary super-human, because his body has no human soul but is inhabited by Satan himself, who allies himself with various occultic associates. Over against Cain is the soldier Soloman, whom Huggins identifies in the line of king David, and representative of the God's kingdom. Both David and Soloman are shadows of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Christ Himself. Because 'the Nazarene' (Christ) has already defeated Satan once, Cain/Satan is eager to exact vengeance. Huggins clearly intends the conflict against Cain to be a spiritual picture of the great struggle against Satanic evil (p.40,55). 'The present, if we are to survive at all, must mirror the oncoming final conflict between God and Satan.' (p114) The battle against Cain is ultimately a microcosm of the great and last battle between Christ and Satan, as Huggins reveals in the acknowledgements: 'I have done my best to capture what we cannot see ' the heart of an eternal war, if it be true, between the two most powerful beings in the cosmos.' In this war Soloman and the Catholic priest Marcelle are Messianic figures, Marcelle in Christ-like fashion sacrificing his own life for the sake of victory. However, it is doubtful whether Huggins is successful in his depiction of spiritual war. The spiritual war that the Bible speaks of is a very real war involving true Christians, whereas Huggin's protagonists are far from that. Moreover, Huggins cheapens spiritual war, turning it into a techno-thriller combat movie with repeated bloody battles between thugs and goons. It is more like cheap Hollywood violence than a serious treatment of spiritual war. But the real war against Satan is not like Hollywood's entertaining blood and gore. Admittedly Huggins has developed as a writer since his earlier novels, and his characters are more developed. But this doesn't detract from his fatal flaw: this is more in the style of Hollywood than in the style of heaven and hell, more about Rambo than about religion. Whatever religious meaning the novel does have to offer is further undermined by the stream of hate and curses unleashed by its heroes, the surprisingly frequent instances of blasphemy and unnecessary oaths, and the overdose of murderous hate. Consider these brief excerpts: 'Stumbling, he cursed savagely as he tripped backwards over a small golden couch. And Cain roared in laughter, horrific bestial fangs violently exploding from his jaws like prehistoric tusks. The hellish mirth made his face fiendish, fangs hurling back the light with an ultimate killing wrath.' (p.141) 'With a curse, Soloman leaped the hood of a car and went into the stairwell, expecting to be hit instantly. But he didn't give a damn because he was in a hot mode to kill anything that got in his way regardless of what happened to him in return.' (p.336) 'Heated, on fire with killing rage, Soloman slammed six fresh rounds into the shotgun, cursing as he racked it'' (p.357). It's not hard to see why Hollywood find it an attractive book to make into a movie. That fact alone should make sincere Christians suspicious. It's more about the glorification of violence as a form of entertainment than it is about a serious message. In fact, the focus on murderous rage violates the sixth commandment, and doesn't fit the Scriptural standard for what Christians should be thinking about (Phil. 4:8). Using apocalyptic themes doesn't justify joining Hollywood in violating the sixth commandment. In the end, I felt that I was reading a formulaic script for a Hollywood Frankenstein movie, rather than a Christian thriller novel. That a serious spiritual message can be communicated to fans of violence is highly doubtful. They are too busy giving kudos to Hollywood's blood and gore to take home any truth about heaven and hell. As long as people identify the real Satan with a warped scientific Frankenstein, they remain blind to Satan's very real supernatural threat to today's world. Sorry James Byron Huggins, but this is the last of your books I'll be reading. Not recommended.
Rating: Summary: AWESOME!!! Review: A GREAT story! A GREAT Author! I can't wait to read more by Huggins. This story has it all...mystery, suspense, action, and intrique. Top it off with a great biblical message and a true-to-life depiction of Satan's demeanor. I would highly suggest this book to anyone who likes action thrillers.
Rating: Summary: AWESOME!!! Review: A GREAT story! A GREAT Author! I can't wait to read more by Huggins. This story has it all...mystery, suspense, action, and intrique. Top it off with a great biblical message and a true-to-life depiction of Satan's demeanor. I would highly suggest this book to anyone who likes action thrillers.
Rating: Summary: This is what action should be Review: After reading this book, I thought it would be a definite movie. First you got Cain who would easily be played by Van Disel (the guy from Pitch Black), Soloman played by Hugh Jackman (wolverine of x-men), but thats just my opinion. James Huggins is a brilliant writer who takes you on a jouney of good vs. evil and gives you every gruesome detail that makes it oh so much better to read.
Rating: Summary: The Cain layout Review: Cain is a formerly dead agent, who was brought back to life by a top-secret government expirement. During the expirement, he was equipped with internal body armor, the speed of a racehorse, and the strength of 50 people. During the resurection, lucifer takes over the body, and breaks out. Now he's after a child which holds the key to making him immortal. Until then, the only thing that can kill him until then is the Marburg virus. A Priest, a scientist, and a soldier are the only ones that can save Earth now.
Rating: Summary: The perfect killing machine...only he's dead! Review: Cain is a monstrocity: a massive giant genetically engineered to be indestructible, equipped with a deadly virus that flows through his veins. Oh, yeah: he's dead, and inhabited by Satan. Soloman, a soldier with a brutal past, is called out of forced retirement to track Cain and kill him within 10 days--before the virus lurking in Cain's system reaches its threshold level, and basically contaminates the world. Joining him are a troubled priest who's only chance to redeem his faith is through contact with the devil, and the scientist who's responsible for Cain. Huggins isn't necessarily the best writer on the planet, but he does have a way of entertaining you. While not in the least bit frightening (you feel too much sympathy for the villain), "Cain" is a novel that combines horror, science fiction, technology, medicine, and good ol' Christian mythology into one thrilling ride. A haphazzard novel at best, this is still one that makes a great summer read.
Rating: Summary: Could have been much, much better Review: Cain is an engineered superhuman, created from a dead body of a speacial forces maniac who becomes possessed by Satan. He escapes from the experimental lab and goes on a relentless, bloody rampage. He must be stopped before he brings the world to total destruction, which is the plan of Satan. Excellent on action but too long on chapters with repeating narratives about several meanings of life - which after awhile simply becomes boring. Could have been much shorter and thus much better.
Rating: Summary: More creature-feature mind candy Review: Cain, one of several creature-feature-action-adventure novels by Huggins (also Leviathan, Hunter), is great if you love action films. I certainly enjoyed it. Plenty of action, nasty monster, superhuman good guy, all the standard clichés. The problem, however, is the abundance of said clichés. With the exception of an interesting Jesuit priest, the story and characters are all run-of-the-mill stereotypes. All the action scenes are standard set pieces. The Biblical allusions are heavy-handed (the demonic Cain's previous incarnation was defeated by King David, Cain fights a character named Solomon, i.e. David's son). Character resolution is tied too neatly (Solomon loses his wife and daughter, then rescues a single mom and her daughter). Huggins overuses the same adjectives over and over again, like "volcanic" and "titanic." And apparently there are some inaccuracies in his use of biology and military facts, but see other reviews for more details. Still, entertaining, but check out "Leviathan" for a better monster and "Hunter" for a better book overall.
Rating: Summary: cain Review: cain..what a phenonenal book! once you pick it up you will find it hard too put dowm its one of those that you try and read too fast so you can see whats comming next.i cant stress how much i enjoyed cain. the book delves into religion slightly but only enought too exsplain the colossial battle that is being fourght between a man and a god...being a royal marine it is obvious too me that tatics used in the fights are obviously well researched.the battles are bloody and with out mercy which is to be exspected when you realise that cain is infact the dark angle,but cain is not what he once was and he fully intends too regain all of his cellestial might and only soloman and his partners stand in the way. there is a love issue in the book altho it is only lightly touched on and helps us understand the phenominal determination and indonidable spirt that soloman shows when faced with the ultimate adversaity.the fight is as ever between good and evil and as the book eludes to it as a struggle that has gone on since the dawn off time.with our hero soloman basicaly a reincarnation of the warrior king david who onced was face too face with the evil lord and defeated him in our distant past....but he rises again in the form of cain. cain was was constructed for want of a better word in a goverment project made too be the ultimate soildier,self releasing steriods,titanium armour intigrated into a already collosal body,a regainirating d.n.a system so he can heal at frightning rate and various othere bits and bobs....this is where u go ot-o but it is written in such a way that it becomes belivable.with mordern sciance alread playin with genetics ect the idea fits neatly into place. when cain was modified he was no longer human what ever makes us so had long left his body leavin a empty vessal worthy of a god,through decite at the highest levels a deciple of his uses this body of destruction too enable his lord a physical body on earth,and so it begins. soloman a man driven by pain of the past and love of the future is dictaded by fate to fight gods battle with the help of some of the worlds crack fighting teams,a preist,a nun and the love of a mother they might just stand a chance.....anyway a truly well thourght out book which will keep you turning pages faster than you should cain is a must....
Rating: Summary: A DEPRESSING book Review: Christ, this is the most depressing book I've ever read? Why? Well, take someone who could read anything a thousand years ago. He probably had to become really well educated to do it; he just didn't learn to read and then stay an idiot. Nowadays we have the opposite, like whatever so-called editor must have been stupid enough to approve this thing, or any reader dumb enough to like it. I can't even begin to catalog the errors in this piece of trash, from the made-up history to the misuse of words like "epiphenomenalism." And I'll tell you one thing, Huggins doesn't know biology worth jack and neither does whoever was supposed to be editing him. Viruses are made of RNA not DNA. If someone had to replenish himself with "human DNA" he might EAT people but he sure as hell wouldn't drink blood, since it's mostly plasma and red blood cells, which most fifth graders know lack nuclei. Then again, replenishing with "human DNA" would be pretty close to impossible when nucleic acids are broken down in the digestive tract anyway. (I won't even go into why having steroid- producing" cells in your arms and legs wouldn't make you superhumanly strong.) Hope I haven't burst anyone's bubble but if you read this and don't get depressed that something this bad got published and made someone a truckload of undeserved money, no one should have taught you to read in the first place.
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