Cain

They wanted to create a superman who could kill anyone – or anything – at their command. But they created something far more terrible. They tried to use a fantastic combination of technology and science to create an ultimately controllable and yet ultimately unstoppable killing machine. But when the body of the legendary assassin rose from the dead in their laboratory, they realized that the soulless void within it had been seized by an ancient, malevolent evil that would use this titanic strength to destroy them all. Now CAIN must be stopped or at the end of ten days the virus within him will mutate into an airborne plague so deadly that Cain will be able to simply walk through any city on Earth and kill everyone in it. Three desperate people – a soldier, a priest, and the regretful scientist that created Cain have ten days to hunt him down and kill him. But Maggie, his creator, just spent a trillion dollars and the most radical science and technology known to mankind resurrecting Cain from the dead and making him unkillable. How do you kill what can’t be killed? That is the question that Solomon, the soldier and team leader – and a man who has his own score to settle with the devil – keeps asking himself as he loses one bloody battle after another with an unstoppable Cain. For now Cain is, quite simply, a superhuman, indestructible body inhabited by Satan. And yet, to exist, Cain must drink fresh human blood every night. But that is why Maggie equipped him with the fangs of a vampire … The hunt begins. The battle is joined. And this frantic team of broken people has ten days to stop Cain before he makes his ancient kingdom over Death his new kingdom over the Earth.From Library JournalIn this new horror/techno/medical thriller by the author of several Christian fiction best sellers (e.g., Leviathan, LJ 9/1/95), readers are treated to the distinct possibility of evil incarnate taking over the world. The plot is murky at best: a hideous being is running amok, drinking blood and kidnapping an innocent child who holds the key to its survival. The good guys are a tormented priest, a disillusioned soldier, and a beautiful doctor (mother of said innocent child). The baddies are double-dealing government agents who are working for "The Dark Side." The main quibble with Huggins's story is a common one, particularly in Christian fiction. Stephen King can mix and match his monsters, blending characteristics, but most authors simply lack the talent. What is Huggins's evil being? Is it a golem? A vampire? A saber-toothed terminator? Lucifer? Cain, son of Adam and Eve? Or just a big, mean, genetically engineered predator who wasn't too nice in the first place? Whatever he is, the novel is a poor blend of Satanic philosophy, Christian platitudes, and garbled Hebraic mythology. Not recommended.-?Lesley C. Keogh, Bethel P.L., Ct.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. From BooklistBruce Willis has acquired the rights to Cain, a supernatural thriller from Christian crossover writer Huggins, author of the rather turgid Leviathan (1995) and the chilling Wolf Story (1993). Why would Willis be interested? Well, Cain is the first and the eternal killer, and here he is awakened from the chamber in which the Nazarene sealed him away 2,000 years ago. His spirit links with an almost indestructible body, built as part of a hush-hush military project headed by Maggie Milton, who is young, brilliant, and beautiful. Her monster escapes and goes about fulfilling prophecy, killing soldiers right and left, devastating cities. Enter Colonel James Solomon, a retired commando who nearly died killing the terrorists who slaughtered his family. With incredible rigor, he has slowly brought himself back into good enough shape for a Bruce Willis part. Solomon, Maggie, and an old priest battle the bloodthirsty, blood-drinking Cain, and Huggins turns in a suspenseful performance, no question. He also has a freer hand in the mainstream market: his soldiers talk a lot tougher, and the bloody scenes are bloody, indeed. Somewhat reminiscent of Barry Sadler's eternal soldier, Casca, protagonist of a pulp series with huge sales in the early 1980s. John Mort