Before the Cradle Falls [Mass Market Paperback]

James F. David (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 2004

Paralyzed by drink and despair since the accidental death of his young daughter, Shelby, Detective Kyle Sommers nonetheless must lead a task force to catch a brutal serial killer. Nicknamed the Cradle Robber, this murderer has methodically snuffed out the lives of children all along the California coast. Now he's come to Portland.

While investigating, Sommers learns that a strange man has been saving local children from various dangers-then mysteriously disappearing. With the help of Sherrie Nolan, a brilliant and embittered scientist, Sommers learns that the man is a time traveler who, grieving for his own murdered child, has vowed to use his brilliant mind to create a way for a future generation of children to live.

And Sommers hungrily hopes to save children who have died in the past as well. Particularly Shelby. Laughed off the task force as word spreads of his theory, Sommers investigates on his own. Desperate to undo his tragic history and rebuild his career, Sommers determines that the way to stop the Cradle Robber is to get to the time traveler.

But the Cradle Robber has hatched a diabolical scheme. Intent on continuing his carnage, the baby-killer has laid a trap for both Sommers and the time traveler . . . one sure to destroy every adult and child in the city.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this superbly paced mix of science fiction, thriller and police procedural, set in contemporary Portland, Ore., police detective Kyle Sommers has taken to the bottle to fight the memories of his daughter Shelby's death in an accident for which he was responsible. To rehabilitate him, his superiors put Kyle in charge of a task force to fight the Cradle Robber, a vicious child-killer who has now moved to Portland. But some of the Cradle Robber's intended victims are being saved at the last minute. With the help of double-amputee and writer Sherrie Nolan, Kyle figures out that the child rescuer is a time-traveler. Fired from the task force, Kyle decides to pursue both the Cradle Robber and the time-traveler on his own. He and Sherrie eventually confront both as they try to end the Cradle Robber's trail of deathand allow the time-traveler to save his own lost daughter. Despite the high body count, the author carefully calibrates the violence for emotional impact, never crossing the line into gratuitous gore, and even a serial killer and various gang-bangers have internal lives. There's also an agreeable minimum of tokenism in Sherrie's disability, and likewise little voyeurism in the endangerment of children. David (Ship of the Damned) has contributed a fine novel to that popular genre, the well-told tale. One can only hope that the survivors will make a return appearance.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

It's always risky for an author to inject elements of fantasy into a mystery novel-- sometimes the disparate ingredients fail to emulsify--but David manages to mix it up just right. The story begins as a straight mystery: a serial killer dubbed the Cradle Robber has claimed his latest victim, a teenage girl. Detective Kyle Sommers, still distraught over the accidental death of his own young daughter, learns that an elderly man was at the scene of the crime just before the murder took place--and that he knew it was going to happen. Soon there are other reports of an elderly man appearing just before something awful is about to happen to a child. With the help of an imaginative scientist, Sommers is forced to consider the impossible: the old man is a time traveler, on a mission from the future to rescue imperiled children. Can Sommers find the traveler before the Cradle Robber does? David turns this implausible premise into a believable thriller that will appeal to both mystery and fantasy fans. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (May 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765342154
• ISBN-13: 978-0765342157
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,308,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Light years of improvement., November 25, 2002

By 

Kevin T. McGuinness (Virginia, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Before the Cradle Falls (Hardcover)

I just finished reading this book and it is light years ahead of the author's previous books in terms of the writing. The dialog was much better and flowed more naturally. I was also able to get to know the characters better and become emotionally invested in what happened to them.

I started reading James David with his second book, "Fragments," and then his third, "Ship of the Damned." Over the course of those two books, and now with this one, he has shown a steady improvement in terms of translating an interesting concept into a readable novel. I found myself zipping thru the dialog in much the same way I would with a John Grisham or Stephen King novel.

In terms of the book's resolution, I would've liked to have seen Sherrie's brother and Kyle's partner Mac brought into the final scenes in the epilogue. It would've been nice to know what happened with them. I was also curious to know what Kyle told the Sinclairs about their daughter.

Overall, though, a good job by James David. This is a book to be proud of.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grabbed my attention and held it, February 4, 2003

By 

Dawn Kessinger (Lima, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Before the Cradle Falls (Hardcover)

There are some books that you have to allow a few pages or chapters to "get into" it; this book grabbed me from the first page. Something is always happening, but it's not confusing or overwhelming - the characters are easy to get to know and easy to distinguish. I really appreciated the personal tone of the story - I enjoyed "getting to know" the characters and their feelings, thoughts and motivations; it just adds a new dimension to the story to be able to see what's going on from the different viewpoints of the characters involved (not just to see one person's "side"). There's Cradle Robber, an elusive monster (who doesn't see himself as a monster, but as a kind minister who saves children from inevitable pain had they continued living) who has been traveling from city to city, suffocating young children in their beds and leaving a small baby toy in the dead child's hand. There's Detective Kyle Sommers, who has recently returned to work after taking a leave of absence to recover from his young daughter's death. Kyle feels an especially urgent interest in solving the Cradle Robber case because every time a child dies, his daughter's death hurts that much more. There's Sherrie Nolan, a dynamic woman in a wheelchair who believes in time travel and who puts herself on the line to help Kyle, young children, and people she's never even met. And there is the mysterious and elusive man in the hat and overcoat, who witnesses say has blue skin... why is his skin blue, and why is he showing up at numerous catastrophes, all involving children, in the nick of time to lend a hand in saving lives, but then disappearing before anyone can speak with him? Who is he, why does he leave newspaper-like columns for the detective to find that contain incorrect information about a crime or tragedy that has just occurred where he has intervened, and what is he trying to do? When the mystery man crosses Cradle Robber's path, a chain of events is set in motion that threatens to not only change the past and the future, but to destroy the present world as Kyle knows it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't stop...!, May 20, 2004

By 

SheaLuna "Travel Goddess" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Before the Cradle Falls (Mass Market Paperback)

I think I'm an addict. Once I start reading a James F. David novel, I can't put it down. After reading his first 3 novels (Footprints of Thunder, Fragments, Ship of the Damned), I knew this one would be edge-of-your-seat action mixed with creative plot twists, and I was right!

In my opionion, David has the perfect blend of paranormal/sci-fi and mystery/action/thriller down pat! As with his other novels, David takes a standard sci-fi theme (in this case time travel), and presents it in a way I have never read before, with interesting theories to back it up. I have no idea how scientific said theories are and don't really care. They're fun and unique.

One of the things I really enjoy about his books are the settings. Before the Cradle Falls is set in current day Portland, Oregon, my hometown. James F. David, who lives in nearby Tigard, is very familiar with Portland and uses real landmarks, Parks and businesses for much of the book. A few things are made-up (our real newpaper is the Oregonian, not the Oregon Chronicle), but for the most part, Portland is exactly as he describes it. It gives me the feeling that I could step out my door one day and see Kyle Sommers driving by in a police car...