Book review
Cradle and All
James Patterson
Little, Brown, 325 pp., $25.95
No. 22 on the Aug. 27, 2000, New York Times Best Sellers Plus list for hardback fiction
One of the most successful novelists of the day, James Patterson ("Along Came a Spider," "Kiss the Girls" – this one made into a hit movie), has opted to weave a different type of book this time, one that veers off into new territory and does it in a most unsettling way.
In "Cradle and All," Patterson has departed from his usual route of mystery and murder to take us into the backyard of the evangelist to meet. . . the devil. There's no doubt about it, he is the real thing, in flowing day-glow garb with "fathomless eyes, vengeful, bestial eyes."
The plot focuses on two teenage girls, both virgins and both pregnant, who are of prime interest to the Roman Catholic Church – and, indeed, to the world at large. With an ex-nun private detective on the case, the news media go all out to exploit the one girl in New England, while the other lives quietly in Ireland, each wondering what will become of her and her baby.
We go with them on a roller coaster ride of worldwide attention, intrigue and secret negotiations beset with plots and sub-plots. But throughout all the excitement, we never lose sight of the real power behind it all, "Beelzebub, the Evil Presence, Moloch, Mormo, which means King of the Ghouls." From the halls of the Vatican to the Ocean Walk on the shores of Rhode Island where John Kennedy is said to have courted Jacqueline Bouvier, the heroines of Patterson's saga flee the Prince of Darkness.
You will find yourself looking over your shoulder at a slight noise, checking out a shadow a second time.
One thing about this book that is the same as with its predecessors is that once you start it, you'll have a tough time putting it down. Don't start cooking and then sit down to read a bit – burnt dinner ahead!
Editor's note: Bette Davis, a longtime St. Thomas resident, will periodically review current top-selling works of fiction for the Source newspapers.
