The Cradle Will Fall
by Mary Higgins Clark
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A minor road accident landed county prosecutor Katie DeMaio in Westlake Hospital. That night, from her window, she thought she saw a man load a woman's body into the trunk of a car...or was it just a sleeping pill induced nightmare? At work the next day, Katie began investigating a suicide that looked more like murder. Initial evidence pointed elsewhere, but medical examiner Richard Carroll saw a trail leading to Dr. Edgar Highley. He suspected that the famous doctor's work "curing" show more infertile women was more than controversial -- that it was deceitful, depraved, and often deadly. But before Richard could tell Katie his fears, she left the office for the weekend and an appointment for routine surgery...in Dr. Highley's operating room. show lessTags
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Prosecutor Katie DeMaio has a car accident and ends up in the hospital. Tired, drugged, and groggy, she looks out the window of her hospital room and thinks she sees a man putting a dead lady in a trunk in the parking lot outside. Weak and weary, she thinks she dreamed or imagined this, and she tries to forget it. When Katie gets out of the hospital and goes back to work, her office is investigating a supposed suicide of a pregnant lady (Vangie Lewis). Remembering what she saw from her hospital window, she thinks the dead woman she thought she saw could have been Vangie. But thinking it was a dream, she is unsure. Along the way, there are more suicides, deaths, and murders. And they all seem to be connected to Westlake Hospital…
I show more really enjoyed this book, I had a hard time putting it down. The story was very captivating and I liked the large cast of characters. The villain was cold, sinister, and creepy, and I was looking forward to them being caught. I enjoyed the suspenseful moments at the hospital towards the end of the book.
An exciting read by Mary Higgins Clark. show less
I show more really enjoyed this book, I had a hard time putting it down. The story was very captivating and I liked the large cast of characters. The villain was cold, sinister, and creepy, and I was looking forward to them being caught. I enjoyed the suspenseful moments at the hospital towards the end of the book.
An exciting read by Mary Higgins Clark. show less
Wow can this woman write a mystery! This is the third or fourth novel that I have read of hers and I have to admit that she has quickly become one of my favorite Mystery writers. Every single one of the books that I have read by her I have not been able to set down, at all! They keep you interested and they keep you in suspense. You are never quite sure who is the villain or really what is going to happen. Love it! I will keep reading until I read every single one of her published books! Thanks to Mary Higgins Clark! Nobody could ever replace her writing. She's like a V.C. Andrews but in another genre!
I love Mary Higgins Clark. Even if many of her books are similar, they always keep you guessing.
This one seemed a little different than her usual books, and I loved it just as much. Always a who-done-it of course, but this one took an unusual approach!
This one seemed a little different than her usual books, and I loved it just as much. Always a who-done-it of course, but this one took an unusual approach!
This was the first book of this thriller-mystery-boardering on horror (at least to the 13 year old I was when I read it) genre I ever read. What I like about it is that it opened my mind to the perspective of the vicitm and antagonist.
This hospital-based horror tale features abduction and a research project that violates every principle of modern medicine.
Typical Mary Higgins Clark, murder and romance. This was a book I won in a raffle at the local public library, not normally something i would choose. A light easy read.
Mary Higgins Clark always keeps me in suspense. I love her stuff. It's always clean too.
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Mary Higgins Clark was born in the Bronx, New York on December 24, 1927. After graduating from high school and before she got married, she worked as a secretary, a copy editor, and an airline stewardess. She supplemented the family's income by writing short stories. After her husband died in 1964, leaving her with five children, she worked for show more many years writing four-minute radio scripts before turning to novels. Her debut novel, Aspire to the Heavens, which is a fictionalized account of the life of George Washington, did not sell well. She decided to focus on writing mystery/suspense novels and in 1975 Where Are the Children? was published. She received a B.A. in philosophy from Fordham University in 1979. Her other works include While My Pretty One Sleeps, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Moonlight Becomes You, Pretend You Don't See Her, No Place Like Home, The Lost Years, The Melody Lingers On, As Time Goes By and Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry. She is the author of the Alvirah and Willy series, which began with Weep No More, My Lady. She is also the co-author, with her daughter Carol Higgins Clark, of several holiday crossover books including Deck the Halls, He Sees You When You're Sleeping, Santa Cruise, The Christmas Thief, and Dashing Through the Snow. She writes the Under Suspicion series with Alafair Burke. In 2001, Kitchen Privileges: A Memoir was published. She received numerous honors including the Grand Prix de Literature of France in 1980), the Horatio Alger Award in 1997, the Gold Medal of Honor from the American-Irish Historical Society, the Spirit of Achievement Award from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University the first Reader's Digest Author of the Year Award 2002 and the Christopher Life Achievement Award in 2003. Many of her titles have made the best sellers list. Her recent books include All By Myself, Alone, I've Got My Eyes On You, and You Don't Own Me. Bestselling suspense novelist, Mary Higgins Clark died on January 31, 2020 at the age of 92. (Bowker Author Biography) Mary Higgins Clark has written nineteen novels & three short story collections since 1975. She has served as president of the Mystery Writers of America & lives in Saddle River, New Jersey. (Publisher Provided) show less
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Reader's Digest Condensed Books: And No Birds Sang • The Cradle Will Fall • The Covenant • A Piano for Mrs. Cimino by Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest Best Sellers 1980: The Cradle Will Fall | Horowitz and Mrs. Washington by John T. Beaudouin
Reader's Digest Condensed Books 1980 v04: Sadie Shapiro, Matchmaker / The Cradle Will Fall / Man, Woman and Child / Bess and Harry / The Wolf and the Buffalo by Reader's Digest
Hochspannung. - Hausmann, Manfred: Der Hüttenfuchs. - Paretti, Sandra: Maria Canossa. - Higgins Clark, Mary: Wo waren S by Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest Condensed Books: The Cradle Will Fall • Horowitz and Mrs Washington • Control Tower • Baker's Hawk by Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest Condensed Books: The Lord God Made Them All • Licence Renewed • The Cradle Will Fall • A Very Private War by Reader's Digest
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- La clinique du docteur H.
- Original title
- The Cradle Will Fall
- Original publication date
- 1980
- People/Characters
- Katie DeMaio; Vangie Lewis; Dr. Edward Highley; Chris Lewis; Richard Carroll; Edna Burns (show all 7); Dr. Emmett Salem
- Important places
- Westlake Hospital; Valley County, New Jersey, USA
- Related movies
- The Cradle Will Fall (1983 | IMDb); The Cradle Will Fall (2004 | IMDb)
- Epigraph
- "...for some patients, though conscious that thier condition is perilous, recover their health simply through their contentment with the goodness of the physician." Hippocrates
- Dedication
- In Tender Memory of
Laura Mary Higgins
May 4, 1961-August 30, 1962 - First words
- If her mind had not been on the case she had won, Katie might not have taken the curve so fast, but the intense satisfaction of the guilty verdict was still absorbing her.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you, Doctor?" she asked him crisply.
- Original language
- English
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- ASINs
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