Cradle and All

Rating:
Summary: HANG ONTO YOUR HATS AND GLASSES...
Review: ...This is one very bumpy ride! Kate McDonald, a hospital social worker and mother of an 8-month-old boy has it all. She is married to a young attorney with a promising career and has a rock solid job.

Cracks in the seemingly flawless image appear early on. Kate receives obscene e-mail; she is targeted by her supervisor; her son is attacked by somebody planting rats in his crib; she picks up a questionable illness and her son is later kidnapped. To upset the apple cart further, her marriage ends and she is hounded out of her job.

Is Kate really guilty of having Muchausen's Syndrome by Proxy? Is she the one who has harmed Alex and made him ill? Secrets from her past come out; alarming encounters with neighbors, hospital personnel and others all provide a long list of possible suspects.

The one part I found completely implausible were the "Alex sightings" Kate experienced after the boy was kidnapped. The story behind those sightings is just as implausible. Even so, I really liked the book.

Questions abound; who kidnapped Alex? Who planted the rats? And what is REALLY happening behind the scenes at the southern California hospital? This book is truly a modern telling of "Gaslight" and it will certainly keep one riveted.

Rating:
Summary: Experience This One!
Review: From start to finish, this book is just too idiotic and amateruish to believe. The characters remind us of short-circuted robots, saying and doing all the wrong things in all the wrong places. If the book is any indication of how much the author knows about women, my condolences to his wife. The book is an insult and discredit to women and mothers.

One of the main characters, Kate MacDonald, is both a working mother and devoted social worker at a very busy hospital. To begin with, working in that capacity, one would hope she is a reasonably well-educated and intelligent lady. The book portrays her character as a bumbling idiot. Rats attack her baby but she believes as her "good husband tells her" that they fell out of the trees! Then there is swine fever and herpes to deal with. At this point, the book is already so far-fetched, we expect a little green creature from the lagoon to pop up. Then, there is the issue of "Munchausen's syndrome by proxy." Having studied psychology, and based solely on the facts we have been presented with, there would be little evidence to indicate this diagnosis.

What the author does seem to have, however, is a very severe case of an over-active imagination. From the first page to the last, the story plays out as an array of crazy mismatched ideas crammed into one book, regardless of whether they fit the picture or not. As for the predictable ending, you can almost see "the handsome prince swooping his true lady love astride a gallant white horse and riding into the sunset.... to live happily ever after."

Rating:
Summary: I really enjoyed this book
Review: I couldn't put this book down. I thought it was well-written and full of twists and turns. I was sure I had it figured out and was so relieved when I didn't! I really found myself caring about Kate and wishing bad things would stop happening to her. Great ending.

Rating:
Summary: I really enjoyed this book
Review: I couldn't put this book down. I thought it was well-written and full of twists and turns. I was sure I had it figured out and was so relieved when I didn't! I really found myself caring about Kate and wishing bad things would stop happening to her. Great ending.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I had read Mr. Fox's previous novels and was pretty sure I was in for a good read. I wasn't disappointed. It may have been a bit overblown but, then, so is Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy, which is a central theme in this book. I didn't know who done it until the author chose to reveal the answer, which is exactly what I look for in a good psychological suspense -- heartily recommended to fans of same.

Rating:
Summary: This book was awesome!
Review: I LOVED this book! It was easy to follow but had so many twists. Every time I thought I figured it out, there would be another twist!
I just finished reading it last night, and had to read for three hours straight because I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it!

Rating:
Summary: This book was one of the best books I have ever read!
Review: This book was one of the best books I ever read! I love psychological suspense thrillers and this book is definetly one of those. Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down till I was finished reading it. This is the first book I have read by this author but definetly not the last. I intend to buy his other books in the near future.