Review by edztan15 -- Killing Abel by Michael Tieman

[edztan15]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Killing Abel" by Michael Tieman.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Being the most widely read book in the world, it is not a surprise that most people are familiar with stories from the Bible on some level. From Adam and Eve's exile from the Garden of Eden to Cain's treachery toward Abel, the Bible is rich with stories that will shock, amuse, inspire, and uplift its readers. The Bible, however, doesn't necessarily contain detailed accounts of everything that transpired within its stories. In Killing Abel, author Michael Tieman speculates on what happened in the backgrounds of these stories by adding his personal touch to them.

Adam and Eve have just been recently created in the Garden of Eden when an evil entity tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. She then entices Adam to try the fruit, and to his reluctance, gives in eventually. This disobedience causes a great deal of disappointment to the Creator which leads to a series of consequences and tribulations for the succeeding generations, from Cain's internal conflict leading to his brother's murder to the sheer magnitude of Noah's task for a prophesied worldwide calamity.

Killing Abel cannot, by any means, be considered canon to the Bible. As the author himself stated, the book is a work of fiction. Tieman's approach is to fill in the spaces of the stories from the Old Testament with the most sensible interpretation mainly focusing on the message and narrative rather than theological accuracy. There are Bible verse annotations throughout the book to indicate that a certain event or saying is pulled from the Bible distinguishing it from the rest of the narrative which I think is a nice addition.

I quite liked the book's narrative flow and it found the right balance between character development and plot. Even for those unfamiliar with the Bible, the readers could still find something to enjoy from it. At first, the characters' dialogues can be awkward and out of place since they use today's style of conversation, though the reader would get used to them after a few chapters. I also liked the aspect in the book where mankind copes with Adam and Eve's curse by evolving into a civilization by creating legal concepts that we employ until today such as taxation and the judicial system. It is also important to note that the primary message of the book is about the love of a father to his children, despite their shortcomings. God's challenges in raising his children have some parallels from our lives today, and I'm sure parents would be able to relate to these challenges as well. The book's editing is of professional quality as the number and type of errors in it are almost negligible.

What I loved most in the book is that it works on so many levels. People whose religion is based on the Christian Bible, or just those knowledgeable with the Bible, will have fun identifying which events are based on it and which ones are added under artistic license. People who have different beliefs or even non-believers, as long as they keep an open mind, can still enjoy the book just like any other fiction novels. It can also bring some insights to those who want to learn a little about the Old Testament.

The only minor thing I disliked about the book is that one of its main characters in the beginning just drifted away from the story without so much of a closure and has only been mentioned passively in the latter chapters. I even had to reread some of the chapters just to make sure I didn't miss anything.

I'm giving Killing Abel 4 out of 4 stars. Despite the minor criticism, this is an amazing book deserving of a perfect score. The book can be appreciated through different viewpoints. Readers can analyze it in-depth, or they can just breeze through it and enjoy the story. Either way, the book is a satisfying read. Although the book covers a wide range of readers, it is not for everyone. Other people of faith might find the fictional embellishments of the Bible offensive. There are also some graphic scenes of violence in the book. Although there are no explicit sex scenes in it, some of the internal monologues of the characters might be considered inappropriate for a younger audience.

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Killing Abel
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[gelli_baranda]

Don't you just love it when it transcends all religions? We all have different beliefs but we are united in faith.

[AbbeylincolnSty]

Everyone rates the book 4 out of 4. Must count for something for a book that's so read as this.