Cain

June 30, 1997
This breakneck action thriller by an author who has written three Christian market bestsellers is a world unto itself. Its denizens include Cain, the archetypal murderer and fallen angel who's been transposed into the scientifically strengthened body of a dead CIA killer, and who must drink blood to keep up his strength; Soloman, a hardened former special forces hero determined to kill Cain; Maggie, a plucky CIA scientist who helped create Cain; Amy, Maggie's equally plucky six-year-old daughter whose blood is Cain's planned beverage of choice; an aged priest; an even older nun; a blustery Army general; a sleazy CIA operative; and various warriors on both sides. Much blood is spilled even before a gruesome climax in an English seaside castle during a spectacular thunderstorm. As an added kick, there's the deadly virus in Cain's body that, if released into the air, will kill everyone on Earth. But there's also a lot of dry technical talk about weaponry and too many overheated theological diatribes. Huggins (Leviathan, etc.) gets a few things wrong, describing Santeria as "only a Cuban" religion and making a brigadier general head of the Joint Chiefs. He also uses more than a few portentous cliches ("in many ways the ancients remain wiser than us, despite our science"). Twice, a character takes a "sobering" belt of whiskey. But the action never stops and the book becomes more entertaining as its events become increasingly incredible. Film rights to Bruce Willis.