Rating: 
Summary: Biased By Far
Review: Became a recent Ann Rule fan after reading an article about her in Readers Digest. Have read 8 of her books in less then 2 months, with Bitter Harvest being the 8th. I can't begin to tell everyone how disapointed I was in her portrayal of Debora Green. I'm not in anyway siding with Dr. Green but Ann Rule had no right to appoint herself judge and jury from page one and try to get her readers to go along with her. I always do my own follow-up of the cases after I've read her book and I'm glad to learn that Debora may get a new trial and that her daughter Kate(Lissa) is by her side. Ms. Rule has updates on her website on all her books also but has neglected to mention this one. Shame on you ANN RULE!!!
Rating: 
Summary: To Bookworm
Review: Debora Green and her surviving child are vary close friends of my family and have been for many, many years. You notice I leave Mike Farrar out of the equation. There are reasons, and for those of you bright enough to spot the overwhelming bias in this book, bravo for you. I am a huge Ann Rule fan, mostly because I have always found her to be fair and unbiased when she writes these horrific tales, however, upon reading Bitter Harvest, I found myself disturbed, yes, but not just because of the terrors in the lives of these people. My disturbance came from the fact that it leans so heavily to Dr. Farrar being Mr. Wonderful and completely innocent.Anyone around knows the real story. I'm not saying Debora was, by any stretch of the imagination, perfect. Yes, Debora was a raging alcoholic. That is not a fact that she has ever denied. Yes, there were many problems in that family, but to Debora, her children always came first and formost, however, alcoholism is a serious disease and there were times she was ill-equiped to handle motherhood. That didn't mean she wanted her children dead. There are many things I could say about that night, the night of the fire, and how the investigation was handled. There was a disturbing lack of evidence in this case, and Debora is now serving a "hard 40" which in Kansas, is considered life. But the big thing I will say is, if you read this book, if you waste your time on this biased and completely unfair story, while you read of "Lissa," who is my friend, think of this...Lissa loves her mom dearly. She still does and always has. She visits her almost weekly, making the hour-and-a-half each way drive to spend just a few hours talking with her. She still has many demons to overcome and has had a hard road to trsvel. But she supports and stands by her mother steadfastly. I believe Ann Rule usually gets to know the people she writes of, but in this case, she has no idea about these people, Debora or Lissa, and she only knows of Mike the fascade he put on for her. Keep your eye on this case. There are new developments in arson investigation and some of the top experts in the world are interested in Debora. If you want to know, please feel free to email me. It is my hope that the truth of this story gets out someday.
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: 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: Boring Harvest
Review: I thought that the book was very well written on the facts that were presented. Maybe Ann presented Mike a little too well. But in the face of something so evil I can see the fault of this. Debora Green has not faced up to the fact of ANY of her faulty behaviors. NONE, ABSOLTUELY NONE! She thinks she is perfect. Mike admitted to his short comings. If Deora would have admitted to just ONE of her faults I would have a lot more sympathy for her.
Law Enforcement is not perfect. However, they do not make things up. They do not make up lab reports (ricin antibodies) or what a highly trained canine, Avon, detects (accelerants).
It seems as though there is a proponderous amount of evidence to prove that Debora comitted these crimes and I feel she should cop to it. Another words...be honest! If she is truly concerned about her daughter *Lissa, then she should be totally honest! And deal with it from there.
Ann Rule wrote as true an account as was possible from an objective stand point as one human being can. Remember...There is no reality only perspective.
Rating:
Summary: Riveting but disturbing
Review: It's been several years since I've read an Ann Rule book, but I remember liking her writing style. So, when this story didn't get off to a running start, I trusted Rule to have chosen an interesting story to tell and knew it would soon turn into a riveting tale. I was not disappointed. The cliché, "you can not make this stuff up", applies here. This is not a feel good story, but it's a very interesting read.
Rating:
Summary: Ann Rule, Rules
Review: Loved the book...Like the "victim" wife in Rule's book, "Last Dance" (who I just wanted to slap) I wanted to slap Green's husband for leaving those kids with her for a minute. This book is keenly written, and it is yet another book by her that I could not put down.. Great story..Way worth the time and money.
Rating:
Summary: To Bookworm
Review: Out of curiosity, how are we supposed to e-mail you without an address?
Rating:
Summary: fascinating book about an exceptionally troubled woman
Review: The true-crime story explored in Bitter Harvest is gripping and disturbing on many levels, underscoring the often imperceptible line between genius and madness, the curious combination of enviable professional achievement with a total disconnection from reality within an individual. Makes you wonder just how the human brain works. This was a fast read, very intriguing. Admittedly, the story is more interesting to me because I'm familiar with the setting and I've heard first-hand accounts of Debora Green's odd and somewhat antisocial behavior while she was in medical school and residency. I didn't notice any glaring flaws in the writing, but the story is so intriguing I'm not sure that I would have noticed. Rule does seem to be mighty sympathetic to Green's husband (an achiever who seemed to surpass his wife professionally, and who fooled around with a very attractive other woman while "chaperoning" a child's international field trip), but hey, it wasn't the husband who poisoned Green with castor beans, necessitating brain surgery. It wasn't the husband who set fire to the family manse. Though he's no saint, she certainly surpasses him in the hierarchy of bad behavior. This book left me concerned that mental illness is often overlooked, or at least minimized, in "accomplished" and professionally successful individuals -- a tragedy in itself that can lead to tragic results.
Rating:
Summary: Bitter Harvest is a very good attention getter book.
Review: The true-life crime book Bitter Harvest, written by Ann Rule, was quite unreal. As soon as I started reading Bitter Harvest, I was constantly waiting to see what happened next. I believe that Ann Rule writes well, but that she is to repetive at times. This is a story of a woman who is so intellectually gifted and normal acting, yet she has the ability to poison her husband and kill her children. Although the conclusion claims that this woman's mental capability has not developed past the age of an infant, it seems hard to believe that she could have lived a normal life as an adult without anyone knowing she had these problems. The main reason that I was so interested in this book was the fact that I knew it was a true story, and it easily kept my attention. For the most part, the book was well written, but the last hundred of pages or so seemed to say the same thing. I think that Ann Rule dragged it out too much. I feel that she could have condensed the long upcoming conclusion some and get to the point quicker. Overall, I liked the book's story. This was my first Ann Rule book, and I would like to read another one to compare my thoughts.
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