Cain: The Story of the First Murder and the Birth of an Unstoppable Evil

The Fall of Man #1

by Brennan S. McPherson

*This book has been de-listed . *

Genres: Historical Fiction, Biblical Fiction, Christian Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction

315 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2016

About the author

Brennan McPherson writes epic biblical fiction with an imaginative twist. With heart-pounding plots and lyrical prose, McPherson crafts a different sort of biblical fiction for readers who like to be challenged to think. Visit him at his website, brennanmcpherson.com, to sign up for a free weekly devotional and get two free e-books.

Reviews

[Daphne Self · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started reading this with an open mind. It is categorized as speculative, and I give it that; but this is NOT Christian fiction. I guess fiction could be the operable word here. It is nothing but a work of fiction, but it takes the Bible and skews The Word until it doesn't resemble any of the Truth that is told in the Bible.

Cain was banished. To Nod. There he took a wife.
Abel was not his twin. Seth was born after Abel's murder.
Cain was not redeemed at the end. He didn't "thirst for blood" (which I found to be that myth of Cain being a vampire).
Adam and Eve never saw Cain again. And Nephilim...I won't go there.
Rain. It never rained until Noah's time. Reason why people ridiculed Noah and mocked him.

Too many of biblical untruths peppered this book.
I enjoy a good sci-fi or fantasy, but not at the expense of Biblical truth.

Would this have been a good story if it was more of an allegory? Yes, it would have been.
But this isn't an allegory. It is fiction that borders blasphemy.

On a more analytical note, the book was well written with only one exception: midway the reader is thrown into present tense as the story of Seth learning about the Shrine, the Music, Sands the keep the Waters of Time, Watchers, Chamber of Science, Mystery of Life, and so forth.

[Loraine · Rating 1 out of 5]

When looking at the reviews for this book, I found them to be at both ends of the extreme. I found myself at the low end, and I did not complete this book. I really enjoyed the first 20 chapters, but once Cain leaves as a wanderer after killing Abel the book went from enjoyable to bizarre IMHO. Cain drifts into what appears to be either a fantasy world or the realm of Satan. That would have been fine if it was only for a couple of chapters; but skimming through other chapters until almost the end, it continues on and he pulls the remainder of his family into it.

I also found some of his writing not Biblical. Just one example, he has Cain and Able as twins, and the bible specifically says in Genesis 4:2 "She gave birth a second time to Cain's brother, Abel. Overall, there was just too much that bothered me to continue reading this book; and I would not recommend it.

[David Larson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brennan McPherson writes like a literary Christopher Nolan and a modern day John Milton; Nolan in the tone and symmetry, and Milton in the endeavor to explore in Cain's story in such great detail. Part of the ambition behind the book is to explore the spirit realm, which I found to be original and thought provoking-especially in the middle of the book, where I see it shine the most. The book also does a great job at bringing us into the consequences of Cain's choices, especially on how it effects his family. I think it's also important that you read the author's forward and see the intent of the book; which reflects the forward John Milton himself wrote for Paradise Lost, where he said "I may assert eternal providence, and justify the ways of God to men". In closing, the book is a bold and daring work of art that both challenges, entertains, and inspires.

[L.K. Simonds · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be a book that's best appreciated during the second read because the world of Cain is so different from ours, as indeed it must've been. I'm quite certain there isn't a person alive today who has any inkling what daily life was like for humanity's first family experiencing their first family crisis. We, who are two millennia downstream from a revolution in which good crushed evil, surely would need to put aside assumptions we don't even realize we have to understand that world. Kudos to Brennan McPherson for taking a stab at imagining a story set there. Mr. McPherson takes his readers on the ride of their lives into an era during which the physical and the spiritual weren't very far apart. He spins an epic drama with many elements that are common to dramas: Murder, brother against brother, and heartbreaking loss.But in Mr. McPherson's story, each of these elements is primal: the FIRST murder, the FIRST brother against brother, the FIRST heartbreaking loss of a loved one. My advise is to lay aside your assumptions and enjoy the ride.

[Coco.V]

FREE on Amazon today (11/10/2017)!

[Carolyn Dawson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Going by the reviews, this book is like Marmite... you'll either love it or hate it. For me, although I didn't hate it, I really didn't like it. I found the writing style difficult and jarring which did not allow me to picture-the-scene in my head (especially within the supernatural realms). I do applaud the authors vision as he endeavoured to capture the truth of the Word through this one story. There were elements that held my attention, namely the conversation between Cain and Satan, and the exchange between Seth and God. If more of the book had been written in this vain it would have been much more engaging (for me).

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I don't agree with some of the choices Brennan S. McPherson decides to take concerning some of the biblical concepts, he still did a great job of taking a well known story, and grounding it for a modern audience. He writes an intense story that isn't afraid to ask hard questions which not enough Christian fiction does.

[Lynn's · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate giving a book a low rating and would never want to be a discouragement to an author, especially one that is just starting their writing career. However, for readers like me, who would see a book with the title “Cain” and think, “Ooo! Biblical Fiction!” in a historical sense - I feel the need to write an informative review of McPherson’s first work of fiction in the Christian market.

When I bought “Cain,” I did not realize that the story was in the Speculative genre. I assumed, because the title shared that of a Bible character and written by a Christian, that is was a Historical Biblical Fiction novel. I confess, that was totally my bad! So, you may ask, “How does ‘Speculative’ differ from what we’d call ‘Biblical Fiction’?” My definition for this specific case would be: “Cain” begins with an outline of a familiar Biblical story, but, because we know so little of that story the author used creative licence to bend the plot we know into something completely fictional. This story delved into being controlled by demons, re-creating the Garden of Eden by supernatural power and even had some creatures taken from pre-Islamic Arabian and later Islamic mythology that warred against humanity. I have no doubt that there are a lot of readers who would enjoy this kind of story, but if you’re thinking along the lines of author’s like Mesu Andrews, Jill Eileen Smith and Connilyn Cossette, you’ll need to keep in mind that “Cain” is more Science Fiction than Biblical Fiction.

As mentioned above, McPherson didn’t follow what the Bible says happened to Cain. He took the people and places of the Bible and used them to create his own story, using much creative licence. For example, what stood out to me the most was that we never got to see Cain banished and build his city. I kept waiting for that to happen in the story, and it never did. Though Cain was banished in McPherson’s story, the plot was more about Cain returning to his family to take over as their leader. Another thing that was completely the author’s imagination was Seth’s death and resurrection. I know that Jesus came through Seth’s line, but still, that part of the story was a little creepy for me. Seth wasn’t Jesus and there’s no account in Genesis suggesting that Seth died and came back to life. (Sorry for the spoiler…) If you’re thinking about reading this book, just realize that the Cain you’re going to read about is not the same story from the Bible.

Conclusion: “Cain” was by far the most unusual and strange book I’ve read set in Biblical times. It reminded me a lot of C.S. Lewis’s “Space Trilogy,” though I must confess I liked Lewis’s Sci-Fi a lot more. The thing I had the most trouble accepting was the idea of combining a Sci-Fi story with the Bible and then using a lot of creative license that made the Biblical story unrecognizable. It’s not that the book was written poorly - because that’s not the case. The story was well thought out and quite intriguing, I just wish the author would have written a Sci-Fi without mixing the people, places and stories of the Bible in with such a dark story of his own. To close, if you enjoy Biblical Fiction from author’s where the lead character are women who experience redemption and romance, I would not recommend “Cain.” However, if you’re into Sci-Fi, you may enjoy this book!

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those of my friends who enjoy fantasy fiction and digging into the mysteries of Scripture and who, like C.S. Lewis, love a good "supposal," Cain is worth a read. It is a steam-punky flight of exotic, extra-biblical fancy.

The gospel truths are spot-on and never did the words, "Sin is crouching at your door and its desire is for you," come more to life for me in a novel! So, those are two strong elements in this story's favor.

I see wisps of Tolkien (Galadriel, specifically) in a few of the lines in the book and I get some whiffs of N.D. Wilson in terms of the bizarre elements of this story, which makes me feel a kinship with the author. I am betting we could hang out at a church picnic and chat it up for hours talking about all the books we both treasure.

For me personally, there are elements in the story that I did NOT enjoy. . .there are graphic descriptions of gore and violence which might challenge the squeamish with delicate gag-reflexes like myself. However, the orcs in Middle Earth gross me out, too, and I read through LOTR every year without permanent scarring!

I would not personally consider this a book for children who are not yet solidly catechized in Biblical orthodoxy. . .this isn't Narnia, or even the Shire. . .but older teens who have their worldview screwed on right and who enjoyed Lewis' Space Trilogy, or MacDonald's Phantastes, will most assuredly dig it. (And if, like my 16yo son, your kids have been reading N.D. Wilson for a while they will not be as unsettled by the action/gore as this ol' Marmee was! Wilson's Ashtown series is right at the threshold of what I can handle!)

For the theologically minded, there are many wonderful conversations to be had upon finishing Cain. Genesis 6, anyone? I'm always up for a good Genesis 6 throw down!

[Davyd Klimov · Rating 3 out of 5]

One can speculate on the book’s “Biblical accuracy” till the end of times, and it ain’t gonna make it better or worse. One thing is certain though, this dude McPherson definitely knows the source material he’s working with, and the fact that he had taken way too many liberties with it when writing this book is kinda surprising.

The way Biblical text was interpreted in this (and let’s be honest here) work of fiction, is mostly a hit or miss, depending on your genre preference. And given the scarceness of the source material’s contents themselves on this particular episode from Genesis, it’s easy to understand why the author had gone overboard with creativity in order to fill in the gaps and expend the story to “book proportions”. But the reader needs to take into account that Cain and his deed(s) were mentioned more than just that one time in Genesis. There were numerous mentions throughout the Bible itself in different capacities, at times metaphorical, at times - literal. There were a whole bunch of references, which the author decided to woven into the story, in a way - putting certain puzzle pieces where they need to go, and that’s a good writing decision.

The story itself is interesting enough to a degree, but at times it went too far and too long with them spiritual realm deviations, which seemed like an attempt to stretch it out, rather than to contribute to the overall plot. Some stuff seemed rather unnecessary, or even odd, for example the whole blood thirst thing (making Cain a vampire of all things? Lol). But the light nod towards Cain’s supposed redemption at the end was not a bad (or like some would say “blasphemous”) plot twist. It did need a better elaboration, cuz what we got was a bit underwhelming, but it wasn’t bad. Speculative, sure. But not “wrong” or “right”. After all, none of you were there to say it happened, or it didn’t. And most importantly, there was no real reason (even when you look at it from the dramaturgy rules perspective) to kill Cain off at the end like that. It not only didn’t need to happen, but didn’t make much sense story wise. And no, I’m not talking about the apocryphal texts (or the non-canonical biblical stories) as something to lean on. Just in general. After all, God put a mark on him, so no man could kill him. That’s one contradiction that ruined the book for me.

One other thing this book needed to have more focus on was the world building. There needed to be more details about the early world, it’s structure, dwellers, all of it, in order to give reader more in-depth understanding of the setting of the story.

Overall, I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. I can’t recommend it to religious fanatics alike, or those who can’t be openminded about certain elements in this story, or can’t get over the abundance of some biblical scripture not followed throughly.

6.5 (maybe even 7) [out of 10]

[Andrew Scholes · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was expecting a book like Paul Maier's "Pontius Pilate" and "A Skeleton in God's Closet". Those are novels that, where they intersect with scripture, they are true to the Word. These rest of those novels are speculative which is what navels are to be. With "Cain" I was sorely disappointed. There were a number of instances in which any semblance to accounts in scripture are purely coincidental.

1. The books states that Cain and Abel were twins (Gen 4:1-2); In the Author's Note he states that "Some scholars believe the original Hebrew implied that Cain and Abel were twins". I have never heard that, not saying that I have heard everything. My questions are, How many are "Some" and who are they?

2. Shortly after Abel was killed, it talks about Seth and his wife. Since Seth was not born until after Abel was killed, it don't think that was possible (Gen 4:25);

3. As Cain dies, Adam cradles his head "as if to repent for turning his back on him all those years ago out of pride and shame." Ummmm, What? I can't find the pride and shame anywhere.

4.Also as Cain dies Adam "curled his arms under him final son's body." Adam had other sons and daughters (Gen 5:4)


This is a very bloody book, a lot of killings. It reminded me of the Illead but it was not near as good.

I got the book through BookBub and got out of it the same that I paid for it $ 0.00.

[Christie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was expecting Biblical fiction based on Adam: The Mirror of the Almighty. This is not. In fact, I would say this is borderline science fiction, especially considering the time period this was set in. Yes, Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, Cain killed Abel. That’s about where the Biblical truth ends. By the time I got to the half-way point, I was seriously considering whether I’d finish this book, which speaks volumes for me. Once I’m a few chapters in, there is no turning back, but this book caused me to seriously consider it. I did finish. It didn’t get any better as it went along. I’ve read Biblical fiction before and loved it. Those stories left me feeling like there is a chance that that’s the way the story may have actually happened thousands of years ago. This one makes way too many leaps to leave anyone with that feeling, in addition to the Biblical inaccuracies. One could argue it’s about the symbolism and deeper meaning. Generally, those type of books cause me a great deal of introspective thought. This book caused none of that either. Basically, the only feelings I was left with were disgust and self-pity, that I had subjected myself to hours of reading this book.

[Lynne Modranski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is just a review of the first 10 chapters . . . still not sure I'm going to finish it. I won't mention the things I see as just a bit off scripture because I can see where they could be my opinion. However, this author so far has missed the opportunity to build characters. He jumped from the birth of Cain to 150 years after the fall. Really?! There's so much to be said about how the boys are raised and how they interact as youth. Not to mention, if you didn't know scripture, the whole sacrifice problem would be tremendously confusing.

Additionally, there are just too many words . . . unnecessary description to fill up space, while the characters go undefined.

As I said, not sure I'm going to finish this book, but I'm going to give it a little bit more of an opportunity to catch my attention.

[Matt Starr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very thoughtful and thought provoking. Quite a bit of religious and/or philosophical research went in to this story. Plus, the battle with the Jinn was as fun as it was brutal.
That being said, the battle takes a long time to get to. The narrative lags between Cain’s murder of Abel and the aforementioned battle. The thought-provoking nature of the story causes the narrative to drag out. At times, I felt like it was more of a treatise than a story.

[John W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brennan S. McPherson

[Jamie (The Kansan Reader)]

I am going through my TBR and closely looking at books that drop below a 3.5-star rating. This is the first one I found with a 3.38 rating. I looked a little deeper into it and have found bad news.

First off the synopsis gives this away but this book doesn't follow the bible closely. So I think I will bypass it.

[David Pyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love historical novels but to my mind, this one tries to mix the historical with fantasy. To say more would constitute a spoiler and some may love it. The ending was good enough, but persevering through it was a labor of determination for me.

[Val Shaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to say, this one was rough. I loved Noah! This one though was too much. It didn't invoke the feeling of God being present and in control like Noah did, even through the bad stuff, it was just bad stuff. Sorry Brennan.

[Jack T · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not finish this book as it was all fiction based on a biblical story in Genesis about Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel but this account became so bizarre and contrary to the Bible that I had to put it down. The Author pretty much ignored the Biblical account and created his own.

[Richard H. Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. McPherson is a good writer. I really enjoyed Flood when I read it back a ways. But I did not enjoy reading Cain. The subject material was not interesting to me. I wouldn't be too surprised that hell and the demons operate the way they are shown but I just did not enjoy it.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could not finish this book. It was too hard to follow. I sure hope The Flood is better.

[Trick Wiley · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was just so far fetched from the Bible,didn't even finish the book!!

[Amy Crutchfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn’t finish it. It was pretty good until about chapter 19 and then it just lost my interest.

[Marcia Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

This story was moving and made me stop and think about what really happened to mankind when Cain killed Abel. Go read it for yourself.

[Blubonnet1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

02/20/2022

[Barbara Laramie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Certainly not biblical more like science fiction, weird and violent. Disappointed! tried to find a grain of good NOT there.

[Ida Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I want to purchase the physical copies of these.

SOOO GOOD. :L)

[Tyrean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This extra-Biblical fantasy novel gave Cain, Abel, Seth, Adam, Eve, and many other extra-Biblical characters a heart-wrenching depth. The action and character development are spotless. The struggle Cain has with evil is excellently done. Although many readers might not like the veering off into supernatural (paranormal style) fantasy for the creature of evil who tempts Cain, I felt it was an interesting, fantastical style into a possible spiritual realm. The unknown and otherworldly places and creatures were fascinating throughout the book - they weren't comfortable places, but they made "sense" in a unearthly way.
I did have trouble with the presense of a Lilith character (I put the book down for a bit when she showed up). I feel like nearly every extra-Biblical fantasy has a Lilith character although this one wasn't the source of all evil this time. The timeline and the presence of a City of God created by God outside the Garden of Eden was one that I struggled with a bit, too, along with the timing of Seth's birth - although Seth's "birth" timing made more sense by the end of the book.
The Bible verses at the beginning of each chapter were perfectly chosen to fit the sequence of events and helped explain some of the author's more creative exploits in a way that showed he had done is Biblical research and was immersed in a relationship with Christ as he wrote this novel.
All in all, for readers of Christian fantasy - especially those who like extra-Biblical Christian fantasy - this is a good read that I recommend.
Note - even with putting down the book at Lilith, i did read it in one day - so it is riveting!

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure how you could call this Biblical fiction, except that there are Bible verses at the beginning of each chapter. There are so many un-Biblical concepts in this book that I found myself reading just to see if it would all straighten out in the end, and it didn't. I think the one that bothered me the most was the concept of the "jinn," murderous demon creatures that attacked and killed the characters at every chance. I am an avid reader and often enjoy books that require quite a bit of thinking, but this was just so abstract and out there that I couldn't get into it and simply plodded through to the end.

[Don B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forget everything you thought you knew about human history after Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden! Where the Bible omits so much, Brennan McPherson fills in the gaps with some of the most imaginative storytelling I've ever read.

Weaving elements of historical fiction with fantasy and science fiction, the author managed to suspend my disbelief and transport me into his complex vision of the world in the years after the Fall. With skill and nuance surprising in an author so young, McPherson brings to life Adam, Eve, Able, Cain and other members of the first human family, and helps us contemplate the internal and relational conflicts they faced, conflicts that literally altered the course of history.

I confess that at times I found myself thinking, "What???" But McPherson’s sheer creativity and storytelling abilities kept me turning the page because I had to know what would happen next. By the end of Cain I was left with my mind boggled and only some of my questions answered. Hopefully, the next book will fill in more of the blanks and further explain some of the astonishing scenes in this one. I have to know what happens next!