Rating: 
Summary: Very interesting case
Review: I just finished this book today -- the second Ann Rule book I've read this week (the other was _Heart Full of Lies_).As I've said about Ann's books before, she has a tendency to repeat information, and it gets tedious sometimes. I particularly noticed this during the court trial section, where much of that information was given in earlier parts of the book. However, despite the repetition, this book outlines a very sad and tragic case. I have a hard time reading books where children are the victims, and this one was no exception; many times I had tears when I had to read about the kids. Unlike the other books I've read by this author, I noticed that there was no clear good person v. bad person in this case. Yes, Debora is quite demented and obviously is mentally unstable, however, her husband can't quite win any awards for honesty and truthfulness. His affair added another degree of tragedy to an already horrific situation. I hope that the remaining daughter is able to live some sort of normal life, despite all she's been exposed to. For those of you who read Ann's books regularly and are continually amazed at how warped some of these killers are, you won't be disappointed with this novel.
Rating:
Summary: Dr. Deborah Green Had Serious Problems!
Review: I enjoyed this book most of the way through. It is hard to believe that a person with such intellect had so many other shortcomings. The book probes the case of Debora Green, a doctor and a loving mother who seemed to epitomize the dreams of the American heartland. A small-town girl with a genius IG, she achieved and enviable life: her own medical practice, a handsome doctor-husband, and three perfect children. She also had an opulent home in an exclusive Kansas City suburb. But when a raging fire destroyed that home and took two lives, the trail of clues led investigators to a stunning conclusion. Did Dr. Debora Green set that fire? Piece by piece Ann Rule digs beneath this placid Midwestern facade to unveil a disturbing portrait of strangely troubled marriages, infidelity, desparation, suicide, and escalating acts of revenge that will forever change dozens of lives.
Rating: 
Summary: A fascinating story but only adequately told
Review: This may be the last Ann Rule book I ever buy. It does not come close to the standards of writing and research I came to expect after reading Small Sacrifices and Everything She Ever Wanted. Rule did not give me any real insight into Dr. Debra Green, the deeply disturbed woman whose life disintegrates during the course of this book and who tries to kill her husband with a rare poison and ultimately sets a fire to their home that kills two of her children. This book feels hurried, like it was written quickly, and the reasearch is only adquate. I wanted to know when Debra Green started drinking excessively, but there was no evidence of this presented. Green's first marriage was covered in about 5 pages, and there is very little information about her college or medical school education. Where is the in-depth information on her life and rearing that would help a reader understand [somewhat] how this woman ended up the wreck she did? There is also too much information about secondary figures, such as three pages about the life and career of Green's divorce attorney. Irrelevant! Rule's obvious sympathy for Green's husband, Dr. Mike Farrar, colors much of this book. She makes him out to be an exemplary husband, one who only had an affair after he could no longer cope with his difficult wife and strained family situation and that was all right, given his situation. He seems to me to be an utterly decent man but indecisive, incapable of even broaching the topic of divorce because he is afraid of another screaming tirade from his wife, of hurting the children, and of failing at something. This is one situation where a clean, quick break seems like the best way out. The question of Debra Green's mental illness in only tangentially addressed, like her incipient alcoholism that suddenly springs forth. This baffling, heartbreaking crime deserves a much better book than this one.
Rating: 
Summary: It ALWAYS takes TWO
Review: I gave one star just to show my appreciation for Ms. Rule for taking the the initiatives to write the story.
However if Ann Rule would like to continue writing True Crime stories, it may be helpful for her to take some classes in Psychology. I'm not a psychologist nor an expert in human's behaviors, but it's a common rule that it takes two to make any relationships work or a disaster. Mike Farrar to me, sounds like a whiny, irresponsible, selfish husband/father. He's also a womanizer who chases women around, and somehow Ann Rule made it sound ok for him to have an extra-marital affair, because his wife was 'crazy'. Ms. Rule tried really hard to make him sound so perfect - too perfect that to me it starts to sound that he may be the guilty one. I read Ann Rule's books before, and liked her writing styles until the two last books that I read: "Every Breath You Take" and "Bitter Harvest".
I decided not to read anymore of her books. To me, her judgement is so black and white. I don't recommmend this book at all.
Rating:
Summary: Inside a criminal mind
Review: This book tells you just how far a woman will go to keep her family together, irregardless of the outcome. Deb Green wanted, it seems, more financial security than emotional. She sunk quickly into depression and that would change many people's lives forever. The only downside to this book was the second half. The trial seemed to drag on and on. But it was still a great book.
Rating: 
Summary: I like the book but....
Review: I agree with some of the folks on here who say that it came off as biased. Ann Rule has one bad habit of describing people as "handsome" and "beautiful" when they are most certainly not! Michael Farrar was/is geeky-looking, not at all anything to write home about. Although I don't believe he deserved to be poisoned or his kids murdered, he is not a saint. He seemed more attracted to Debora Green's sports car and her income as a doctor than to her. He comes off as sex-obsessed (he USED "Celeste Walker", I think), and his need for "order" struck me as pathetically anal! He expected an antiseptically neat home with three children around. Moreover, an adulterer is far from a paragon of virtue. Sorry, but Farrar just struck me as a guy who thinks women (wives or girlfriends) are there to make HIS life wonderful. That said, Ann Rule did her usual job of telling the story and trying to get a handle on what makes someone like Debora Jones Green tick. I think Green was molested as a child, even though she continues to insist her childhood was idyllic. I guess we will never know.
Rating: 
Summary: Story does not ignite my imagination-OOPS
Review: I think that Ann Rule might be carrying a flame for Mike too. She clearly presents him as the angel in the first few chapters, and continues to paint a dismal picture of Deb throughout the first half of the book. It is obvious she is guilty, so the story really never heats up. So we lose the fun of trying to figure out the ending, right? The story was horrifying, so it kept me entertained, but I never really felt that I got any kind of closure as to why she did what she did. I guess the answers to lifes problems get a little diluted seen through a liter of gin. Ann needed to fan the flames a little more in her interview with Deb at the end of the book to get more interesting answers out of her. All in all, an O.K. read, but fails to really light my fire.
Rating:
Summary: Well-Written But Ultimately Unsatisfying
Review: Although Anne Rules wrote well enough to keep me reading, I was disappointed with the book's progression. A woman commits arson, purposefully killing two of her three children and their pets, but the reason for her actions are left unstated. This is one story that Rule should have dropped; she admits that no one connected with the crime or family wanted to talk to her (except a few of the key players), leaving her bereft of the deep material she usually presents in her work. Tantalizing hints of psychological abuse and personality disorder are dangled before us, though never validated or discounted. Read "Small Sacrifices" or "And Never Let Her Go", for the true genius of Anne Rule.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping and Disturbing
Review: How could a mother set fire to her children? Such disturbing subject matter and such a thorough, matter-of-fact look at the crime. If there's a flaw, it's that it's too thorough.
Rating:
Summary: Ann Rule writes brilliantly on an unremarkable subject..
Review: Bitter Harvest is the true story of a very disturbed woman accused of setting her home alight while her children sleep inside, and of attempting to poison her husband. True to form, Ann Rule expertly "peels the onion" of this story starting with a thorough examination of this woman's background, her family life, the events leading up to the tragedy, the tragedy itself, the trial, and finally the outcome of the trial. But surprisingly this winning formula which worked so well in her other books failed to ignite this reader. Why?... Ann Rule's books succeed when the main villian is either a dangerous, violent psychopath (as in her wonderful Stranger Beside Me), or a manipulative, evil yet clever monster who almost gets away with murder (as in her superb If You Really Loved Me). But in Bitter Harvest the villian is just a very depressed, somewhat deranged substance abuser who ultimately commits an irrational crime which she (and her family) will always regret. Interesting yet not exactly enthralling stuff. Bottom line: expertly written, balanced journalism by Ann Rule. Too bad she didn't select a better true crime story to write about.
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