Bitter Harvest by Ann Rule

A small-town girl with a genius IQ, she achieved an enviable life: her own medical practice, a handsome physician husband, three perfect children, and 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. Piece by piece, Ann Rule digs beneath this placid Midwestern facade to unveil a disturbing portrait of strangely troubled marriages, infidelity, desperation, suicide, and escalating acts of revenge that forever changed dozens of lives.This book journeys inside the twisted mind of a killer, Dr. Debora Green, after the cancer specialist was arrested for the arson murders of two of her three children and the attempted poisoning of her estranged husband.

This is definitely one of Ann Rule's better books.Deciding on Ann Rule's best books is very hard to do as all of her books are really good.In fact I think I might have read all her books and to date found one only which I would say I didn't enjoy so much.This was more based on the actual story itself which was of a young man who robbed banks.

True to form,Ann Rule delves very deeply into the background of the main characters in the book.I love that as it helps me come to my own conclusions and raises a lot of questions which I try to solve as I read through the book.This one got me a bit worried as the murderer Debora Green loved reading and reading true crime books,no less.In fact the one copy of a true crime book on her nightstand raised a few questions for the investigators.I found myself thinking about a lot of what ifs? What if I was ever unwittingly involved in a crime,would the investigators suspect me immediately because I read true crime books??Luckily those were just thoughts while I was reading.When I was done reading,and realising the massive amount of proof they had before they even arrested her,my worried thoughts were put to rest.

I read somewhere that highly intelligent people are inclined to be a bit mad,hence the saying "nutty professor".Couple that with the fact that there is a very thin line between sanity and insanity (or is that love and hate?).Never mind,I think it applies to both examples.Try and think back to the really intelligent kids in school who,for me, all seemed very strange and anti social.Then as I grew older and started learning stuff from reading I also found out that you can only get along well with people who are 10 IQ points below or above your own IQ.I can now understand why they would not have so many friends.I think the list of possible friends gets very thin there in the top IQ range.

BUT this Debora Green with her high IQ also had a very intelligent husband who did not murder his children.This woman was pure evil and I don't think evil is allocated according to any IQ.After trying for so long to poison her husband,she then set the house on fire.Here is the true tragedy.Her son who could have easily jumped from his bedroom window into the pool chose to listen to his mother who told him to stay in his room until help got there.He subsequently died of smoke inhalation.Lissa,the one daughter,managed to climb out onto the roof and called out many times to her mother who eventually decided she better walk closer to the house(Debora Green was outside the burning house and safe the whole time)where she then told Lissa to jump.Lissa jumped and her mother let her fall at her feet,probably hoping the fall would hurt her.Luckily she survived.Little Kelly,the other daughter also perished in the house.I want to see what type of mother,whose house is burning,gets out the house and leaves her children inside,and then calmly waits outside for help.Not in my world do I know any mother who would react like that.

This book was brilliantly written as all Ann Rule books are.I would definitely recommend this book to any true crime reader.

Here are some more book details:
Bitter Harvest
Country: United States of America
Format: Mass market paperback
Publisher: Pocket Books
ISBN: 9780671868697
Publication date: February 1999
Pages: 496
Illustrations: Illustrated

Are You There Alone?: The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates by Suzanne O'Malley

On a June morning in a Houston suburb, a 911 dispatcher questioned the caller on the other end of the line: ARE YOU HAVING A DISTURBANCE? ARE YOU ILL? ARE YOU AT 942 BEACHCOMBER? ARE YOU THERE ALONE? It took a jury less than four hours to find Houston housewife Andrea Yates guilty of the drowning deaths of three of her five children,and a mere half hour to sentence the troubled woman with a stunning history of severe mental problems to life in prison. But beyond the media coverage of her heinous crimes, there is a story that only investigative reporter Suzanne O'Malley has fully illuminated. THIS IS THE BOOK THAT INCLUDES THE REVELATION THAT LED TO THE OVERTURNING OF ANDREA YATES'S CONVICTION. The updated edition of Are You There Alone? features a new chapter on the appeal of the Yates case, as well as personal updates on both Andrea and Rusty Yates. Having drawn upon hundreds of interviews,with expert witnesses, close friends, family advisers, and Andrea and Rusty themselves,O'Malley has produced a riveting true-crime account that shatters our notions about criminal law, mental illness, death-penalty politics, and religious fanaticism in America today.

When this story first made the news, I was shocked and horrified.The mother had murdered ALL five of her children.The reason she gave was that if they lived any longer they would be claimed by satan.So she essentially saved them.Then I started reading this book.I hate it when I form hard and fast opinions without having the facts from as many angles as possible and this book is definitely sympathetic to Andrea Yates and the issue of post natal depression.As a mother I know all about the crazy emotions we go through after childbirth.Goodness,even the pregnancy is chaotic for me.Crying at every traffic light where a poor person is begging for money.Actually I do that for a week a month as well.Okay,too much information but you all know what I mean.

Warning:some of the content below might be disturbing!

The book starts with this information:

April 17,1993-Russell and Andrea Yates are married
February 26,1994-first child born
December 15,1995-second child born
November 1996-miscarriage
September 13,1997-third child born
February 15,1999-fourth child born
June 17,1999-Andrea takes overdose of Trazodone
June 17-24,1999-Andrea Yates hospitalised
July 20,1999-Andrea attempts suicide with a knife
July 21-August 8,1999-Andrea Yates hospitalised
August 9-20,1999-Andrea continues hospital care as a day patient
October 1999-Haldol/Decanoate injections discontinued(this is due partly to cession of medical cover.This results in patient having to administer meds orally which means responsibility is passed to patient who is diagnosed schizophrenic by the way and caring for small children-in brackets is my own comments)
January 2000-Andrea's last visit with psychiatrist
March 2000-Andrea pregnant with fifth child.(Has to stop meds obviously-please note that by this time the Yates couple had been advised prior to not have any more children as pregnancy will worsen her symptoms of mental illness)
November 30,2000-fifth child born
March 13,2001-Andrea's father dies
March 31-April 12,2001-Andrea hospitalised(during this time Andrea's new psychiatrist requests a court ordered commitment)
April 13,2001-Andrea begins program as day patient(again medical coverhas run out for hospitalised care)
April 19,2001-mother in law comes to help Andrea with the kids
May 3,2001-Andrea fills bathtub with water but does nothing(she later states it is because she saw the water people and thought they had come to shut off the water for non payment and was just making sure there was enough water to carry them through until the water would be re instated)
June 20,2001-Andrea Yates drowns her children(right after husband leaves for work and before the mother in law gets there to help out for the day.About an hour window period)

By this time which is 3 pages into the book I am sympathetic.I remember how tired I was one month into my little one's birth and that was just from waking up once at night and my other child was 11 years old.Andrea Yates had 5 children under 7 years of age.And get this,she also did home schooling.And breast feeding! and keeping the middle children busy and happy!and cleaning the house and ironing!And with 4 children they had lived in a bus after taking the advice of some religious guru.I am going to assume that Andrea was too overwhelmed to make any proper decisions but does NO ONE in this family and extended family realise this is too much for one person!

The one thing with this story which made me the most sad was the fact that some news networks had reported that the oldest child,Noah, had actually tried to run away and was dragged back to be drowned.Andrea denies that this happened and I will give her the benefit of the doubt.But she then relates that between dunking Noah,he was blurting out that he was sorry.Obviously the little man thought he was being punished.This is even worse for me than the running away.This absolutely breaks my heart!Add to that the fact that she had the 6 month old sitting on the bathroom floor as she drowned each child and then placed each one on the bed and went for the next one.The baby was the 4th child to be drowned.She left this baby's body floating in the bath and that's how Noah,the eldest was called into the bathroom.He actually saw his little sister floating there and then suffered the same fate.

So my end conclusion is that I do accept that Andrea Yates had a mental breakdown but that doesn't deter from the fact that 5 children were murdered.Regardless of the fact that the medical practitioners were partly to blame for an incorrect diagnosis on Andrea,the fact that her husband was for the most part oblivious to this unfolding drama,that the extended family decided to choose conscious blindness,that the medical care provider decided that profits took a higher priority over the lives of human beings,Andrea Yates drowned and murdered her 5 children on June 20,2001.

Allowing a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity will open the floodgates for similar pleas where the mothers have just realised that their children are inconvenient and in the way,similar pleas where mothers are instructed by voices that God is requesting that they do this and the list goes on and on.

This book details a lot more information some of which is updated regarding Andrea Yate's original conviction being overturned and the results thereof.One more bit of information for those who did not know this,Russell Yate's wish was for Andrea to be found not guilty so she could get medical help and then be released.They would then have more children and resume their lives as normally as possible.Seriously?Should this man not be in jail as well,if for nothing else than for gross and lawless stupidity.

Little Noah (the first born)was born exactly 23 days after my daughter.He would be the impossible teenager my daughter is today.He would be going out to movies and probably have inspired a few crushes by now.The last born,Mary would be turning 9 in November,no doubt developing her own taste in clothes and being silly like only little girls can be.

If you would like to read this book,it offers valuable information on the treatment of mental diseases,tips on what to look out for,possibly ways to avoid disaster like this family encountered.It wil re iterate for most people how any business (despite a social name like "medical care provider")is actually a business and they are there to make money first and foremost and let's not forget it.






More Book Details:

Are You There Alone?: The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates
Country: United States of America
Format: Mass market paperback
Publisher: Pocket Star Books
ISBN: 9780743466295
Publication date: May 2005
Edition: Updated
Pages: 432
Illustrations: Illustrated

Whatever Mother Says by Wensley Clarkson

To neighbors, she was the brave single mother... Raising her five kids alone in a rundown section of Sacramento, Theresa Cross Knorr seemed like the ultimate survivor. But her youngest daughter, 16-year-old Terry, told police another story: one almost too terrible to believe. But accused of imprisoning her children in a house of horrors... According to Terry, Theresa,no longer the petite brunette she once was,had turned insanely jealous of her pretty eldest daughters and enlisted the help of her two teenaged sons in a vicious campaign against their sisters. Of beating, torturing and killing her own flesh and blood... Terry's gruesome tale told how Theresa had drugged, handcuffed and shot 16-year-old Suesan, allowing her wounds to fester, until the day she ordered her sons to burn their sister alive. Next, Terry said Theresa severely beat 20-year-old Sheila and then locked her in a stifling broom closet, so that when the girl finally starved to death, her brothers dumped her body in the same desolate mountain range where they had cremated Suesan. She could be one of the most evil murderesses of our time... It took Terry five agonizing years to convince authorities to investigate her grisly accounts of burning flesh, starvation and torture...of a mother from hell, so sadistic and so deranged, she had become her children's own executioner.

First off,I wholeheartedly recommend reading this book.Despite the extremely disturbing content which includes the torture of these girls,it is well written with no bias or trend towards sensationalism.In the foreward by the author Wensley Clarkson he himself expresses disbelief and horror at this crime.He wrote this book with very visible compassion towards the victims and I believe he did the story full justice.

I watched the tv program on this true crime story on the C&I network after I read the book and the program did not include all the information that I got from this book.I was definitely more able to formulate my own opinions based on the book rather than if I had only watched the tv program.

I really appreciated the chapters dedicated to explaining the mind of the mother Theresa Cross Knorr.With input from various psychologists on crimes of this kind and the mind set of the criminal,the information provided is extremely insightful.

I was shocked at how long the one daughter Terry had to try to get authorities to believe the crimes that had happened and to eventually investigate.With this investigation other crimes were revealed which even the daughter Terry had not known about.This was a one woman crime spree which spanned many many years,involving many victims,and yet she very nearly got away with it all.I wonder how many people out there are still fancy free who should actually be in jail.

If you would like to know more about this book then South African readers can access via Kalahari Books and for more reviews then the Amazon link below should sort that out
Whatever Mother Says...: A True Story of a Mother, Madness and Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library)

I read this book in April 2007 and it has 8 pages of photographs some of which are of this mad mother and her two sons who helped her kill their own sisters.

Here are some more book details:

Country: United States of America
Format: Mass market paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 9780312955427
Publication date: March 1995
Pages: 288

My Question:
Do you think that the two sons who helped her carry out the murders should have been convicted as well?Considering that many women have used the defence of spousal abuse to explain why they helped their partners kill people,should these two boys not also have been granted this choice of using child abuse as an effective defence strategy?

Sleep In Heavenly Peace by M.William Phelps

In May 2003, an Arizona man who had bought dozens of sealed boxes at an auction of unclaimed property made a horrifying discovery: the bodies of three plastic-wrapped infants, one of which had become mummified over the years. Police traced them to Dianne Odell, 50, a mother of eight children, who admitted the babies were hers but claimed that they had died of natural causes. Prior to that in 1989, police had found the remains of a long-dead infant in a suitcase in the trunk of a car Odell had abandoned. The statute of limitations on manslaughter had saved her then from prosecution. She maintained that the fetus was the product of a rape by her father, and stillborn. Odell said her own domineering mother had forced her into teen prostitution and murdered what she viewed as bastard children.Both parents were dead and unable to contradict her.

My views on the writing style:
It is obvious from reading this book that there was extensive research done by the author M William Phelps.The investigation portion occupies a major part of the book.M William Phelps chose to have chapters on the background of Diane Odell mixed in between with the running current investigation.Each chapter would end with an exciting bit of information but not all of it.Then it goes back to the investigation again.The positive thing about this is the "edge of my seat" feeling the reader gets but the negative for me is I could never truly relax and enjoy the investigation part as I would rush through it to get to find out the whole story he "hinted" at in the previous chapter.If you have ever watched CSI and felt that you would love to investigate crimes then you should perhaps read this book.You will get a real idea of what is usually involved in the investigation of a crime.It is time consuming and tiring.The book is also far too long and could have told the story in much less pages but in the same breath provides an extremely well researched book.I was a bit put off by the obvious author bias against Diane Odell.I need to include this portion to better explain what I mean.Diane Odell had said that with each birth she had passed out and when she came round the babies would be dead.This is what M William Phelps chose to include in his book."And one would have to imagine that after being pregnant for the better part of 9 years,her body was used to it by 1999".I took this to mean as well that a woman would have less pain giving birth the more times she has done so.I do believe Diane Odell was responsible for the deaths of those children,one way or the other,and in no way do I condone this crime,but I was disgusted by remarks like this.From glorifying law enforcement and demeaning Diane Odell,the bias was unrelentless.After all of this bias,M William Phelps then concludes by saying he does not believe she should be in jail but should be in a hospital instead.I believe she should be in jail and she can then access a psychiatrist from there to help her battle her demons.

My views on this crime case
I believe that Diane Odell passively allowed those babies to die by wrapping them up in a blanket and putting them in a closet.She was able to do that becasue she was always alone at home when she gave birth.The babies either then suffocated or starved to death.She did this because they were illegitimate or "bastards" as she called them and her mother would not have approved,which is why she kept the pregnancies concealed from her mother.This part also convinced me that Diane adds to her story to try and embellish a lie.Alice,her one daughter,had reported that her step father,Robert(Diane Odell's common law husband and father of 5 of her children)had assaulted her.This is how Diane Odell explained it "I had asked the children what happened and Alice had given me her story.I had asked Maryann what took place and she said that Robert never touched her sister.Because of what I had gone through with people not believing me,I believed her"How convenient!!! And what about believing Alice??
Despite this,I believe she did not receive a fair trial.The number of times I shouted out in my mind "leading the witness" and yet her lawyer never objected once.As her lawyer,I would have brought an expert witness to testify to how a human would react when suffocated i.e. the knee jerk reaction.Then I would have gone back to the skeleton of Baby No 3 which shows the baby in a foetal position and not spasmic.Not conclusive,I know, but it does establish reasonable doubt.Bear in mind,that she was questioned without a lawyer for 3 days and the only reason she was indicted was on her statement that she heard a sound and slight movement from the babies.Without that,the state would never have been able to prove that the babies were born alive and hence,no case.

My Rating System

Low-little info
Medium-acceptable info
High-above average research and details

Description
History & Background of Main Characters-Low
Irrelevant Info/Embellishments-Medium
Graphic Details Of Crime-Low
Investigation Process-High
Court Case Details-Medium
Conviction(s)-Yes
Author Bias-High
Insight into Psychological Profiles-Medium
Disturbance Factor-Low


I would recommend reading this book because of all the information it provides on investigations,especially if you read true crime books because you love the investigation part of the crime cases.It does succeed in getting you thinking about court cases and fair trials and how influenced we really are by the media.For readers from South Africa who would like to find out more about this book please go to Kalahari Books and for all the readers who would like to access some more reviews on this book then the Amazon link below will provide that.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace: Library Edition

I read this book in April 2009 and I found the author interview with Diane Odell to be very insightful and one of the best parts of the book.I wondered for a while who was the man on the book cover and then realised that it was Diane Odell's eyes.What this book did teach me is that if I am ever in trouble I will say nothing to the police except for "I want a lawyer,I want a lawyer,I want a lawyer" over and over again until I eventually get one.

Sleep,My Child,Forever by John Coston

This is the true crime story of Ellen Boehm,who appeared to be a typical single mother,full of love for her children.She worked hard and enjoyed close family ties.Yet within 2 years' time,two year old David and four year old Steven Boehm mysteriously died,leaving doctors baffled about the exact cause of death.In addition,her eight year old daughter suffered a near fatal mishap.
Although Ellen told everyone her sons died of illness,Detective Sergeant Joseph Burgoon of the St Louis homicide division wasn't buying it.Relentlessly pursuing the truth,he slowly unraveled a labyrinth of deceptions and lies to reveal Ellen as a cold-blooded killer who could not wait to collect on the insurance policies she had secretly taken out on her chilren.

As per my one blogpost where I requested from readers that they choose which crime book I should review next,I received this request from Lucy @ yahoo so this one is for you.I could not work out from your e mail where you originate from so I hope you are not from South Africa as Kalahari Books in South Africa is no longer stocking this book so it is only accessible from the Amazon link or if you like you can let me know and I can send you my copy.(Rebecca the next review is for you for Invisible Darkness,I should do that one tomorrow).

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.I love the way that John Coston wrote this book with past events intermingling with the current events being the investigation.It was easy to follow and I enjoyed having access to past events just before a current part of the investigation as my mind was clearer to understand the investigation at hand.

It was mind boggling to follow this woman's(Ellen Boehm) obsession with the WWF circuit and the "stalking" involved.I think this woman's life was so empty and she obviously did not have the capacity or mental power to create activities more becoming of a mother and head of a small precious family.

You might have noticed from previous reviews that I have absolutely no sympathy for mothers who do not take their duties as mothers seriously,such as allowing boyfriends or friends to abuse their children or even better using the excuse that they had to allow the abuse because they had nowhere to go.Well those sins pale in comparison to the sins of this despicable mother Ellen Boehm.To kill your children for money,for the love of all that is good,....

I have a book blogger friend from the US who stated that this book contained a lot of mistakes concerning the St Louis area as some feats performed by Ellen Boehm such as driving west on a certain street which would have apparently ended up in a collision as the street does not go west at all.I obviously have no problems concerning this as I do not know the St Louis area and in fact do wish that Ellen Boehm had gone west on that street and collided into a building before she got the chance to kill her children.

A silly thing that I enjoyed about this book is that the print is really clear and bold which made for even easier reading.I wish all books were printed that way.Otherwise I probably need glasses.

If you would like to read some more reviews about this book then access the Amazon link below.
Sleep, My Child, Forever (Onyx True Crime)

I read this book in April 2007 and it has 316 pages and pictures of the precious little children.A photo of the couch where the murder took place and how, was very disturbing for me.

Hush Little Babies by Don Davis

HUSH LITTLE BABIES is the true story of Darlie Routier, the neighbourhood's most wonderful mum, who, one night, coldly, calculatingly and brutally stabbed her two sons and watched them die in a pool of their own blood.Darlie claimed an intruder had come through the window, fatally stabbed her sons, six-year-old Devon and five-year-old Damon, slashing her throat with the same knife, then fled, while her husband and infant son slept upstairs. At first Darlie's testimony evoked fear and sympathy in her safe Dallas community. Then police became suspicious after these troubling questions were raised: * Why, according to the police report, didn't Darlie make any attempt to help her dying sons? * Why, when she called the police didn't she tell them that her own fingerprints would be on the murderer's knife because she had picked it up? * Why did the trail of blood left behind contradict Darlie's testimony?

This book's first chapter starts with the actual murder and they way it is written will send chills down your spine.It describes how the father tries to help his dying little boys while the mother is on the phone with 911.You will feel part of that scene while it is evolving and while I knew that the little boys died,a part of me was hoping they made a mistake on the cover and the little boys were just hurt badly.Such is the great writing in this book.But to no avail the little boys did die.You have to see the pictures of these little boys to understand what I went through reading this book.They look like little angels and another writer Barbara Davis wrote a book about this case entitled Precious Angels.I have not read that one but instead bought Hush Little Babies by Don Davis.I have not been able to find out if Don Davis and Barbara Davis are related but you will see later why I tried to find that out.

I am writing of my opinion on this specific book Hush Little Babies and I would definitely recommend reading it.The storyline is very engaging I think more so if you are a mother yourself.I think us mothers are constantly trying to make sense of mothers who do that,trying to find a solid reason,maybe of mental incapacity,to explain a crime like that since we cannot imagine any other reason of why a mother would snap and murder her own children.

But what happened to me upon reading this book is that I did not believe she had done it.This very rarely happens to me in a book and believe me if you read the book in no way is the writer trying to give that impression.The write up is relentless.

This book struck a chord with me and I was constantly swaying between she was innocent and she was guilty.The party she had at the childrens' graves made me think she was guilty and then the pictures of her injuries after the incident made me think she is innocent.I have really been keeping track of what has been happening to her since she was sent to jail and I will provide some of the links below so you can see for yourself.

I just want to give some information of what has been happening since then.Darlie Routier continues to maintain her innocence and had and still has the full support of her husband and entire family.This is another issue which makes me believe in her innocence.You can get updates on her case via the Darlie Routier website.

After you have read the book and you feel as I do then you can state your opinion via this website on the contacts link which gives you an option to state whether you think she is innocent or guilty or to join a petition to have her released or if you are sympathetic enough to actually write directly to her as her address is also supplied.

This case continues to receive a lot of publicity and the public seems to be divided right in the middle as to whether she is truly guilty or not.For some more insight on that you can go here

To really help you decide whether she is innocent or not there is another link which comes up with other possible scenarios and one of these is that they were in financial trouble and the husband paid someone to break into their house(i assume for the insurance money) but he did it on the wrong night when Darlie and her two little boys were sleeping downstairs and in a panic attacked them.To access this info click here

One other amazing fact is that Barbara Davis has since writing her book Precious Angels publicized of her feeling that Darlie Routier is indeed innocent.She wanted to have her book taken off the shelves but Darlie's family asked her not to do that as they feel that this information is important for the public as their next court appearance is going to highlight all the things done wrong in the investigation.You can read of her pleas of Darlie's innocence via the Barbara Davis website.

And to add even more intrigue to this story a new book has been published by Christoper Brown which highlights all the flaws in the investigation and obviously fights for Darlie Routier and the fact that she is innocent.I am including the link below for the book Media Tried,Justice Denied.

I want to apologise for this long winded post but I have been on this journey since I read the book and the more people who believe in Darlie the better her chances of being released.I want to believe in a better world and if there is one less mother out there who did not murder her children then the world is a better place.

I would suggest that you buy or borrow either Hush Little Babies or Precious Angels then if you have this same feeling I did about her innocence then read up on the articles above and then further get the book Media Tried,Justice Denied before
signing onto any petition.

To find out more about these books access Kalahari Books for South African Readers or below for access via Amazon




I read Hush Little Babies in April 2007.It has 320 pages and 8 pages of the most poignant family pictures ever of these little angels.

Small Sacrifices by Ann Rule:a True Crime Book Review

'Somebody just shot my kids!' Diane Downs brought her car to a halt in front of a Springfield, Oregon, hospital, her three gravely wounded children beside her. Thus begins the shocking tale of a truly unthinkable crime that shattered the tranquility of a tight-knit community. As police searched for the 'shaggy-haired stranger' Diane accused of shooting 8-year-old Christie, 7-year-old Cheryl, and 3-year-old Danny in cold blood, a suspicion grew that was even more horrifying than the crime itself: Did Diane shoot her own children? A dedicated district attorney, haunted by this question, searched for the destructive forces that seemed to possess this beautiful young mother and uncovered a chronology of incest, psychological wounding, desperate affairs and surrogate motherhood.

You may have been wondering that there are no reviews yet on Ann Rule's book but Ann Rule is my best writer?Well at the moment I just grab a book from my "crime library" and I do a review on whichever book I have in hand.I have a backlog of books which I need to do a review to bring this blog up to date and then I will post monthly on whichever books I have read for the current month.

Well this is my first Ann Rule book review.Where do I start?The woman is brilliant and her books are brilliant.I do not even bother to read what a book is about when I see it is a new release by Ann Rule.I just buy it and I know I will love it.And yes so far I have not been proven wrong.

This book,Small Sacrifices,will break your heart.I could not stop crying.This is one book which I will not have in the swop corner because it is too close to my heart.I need to keep the book close by.I feel this is the only way I can do my part to keep the kids safe seeing as their own mother was a miserable attention seeker totally oblivious of her children's love,instead seeking the love of any man,especially men who did not want her.To get to her age and still not realise the fulfilment of a child's love is pathetic at best.

The first chapter begins with the mother driving to the hospital and reporting her children have been shot.It evolves effortlessly from this to the background of the mother,her early life and her life experiences until the day she appears in hospital with her children shot.Then there is the court case which has drama of its own as this mother continues to live a drama filled life even through this period to the point of being pregnant again when she gets sent to jail.(and then a lesbian affair)You will find it very difficult to put this book down and will try and complete it in one session which is virtually impossible as it is a very thick book.Every page is filled with information and there is very little filler "description of the day" passages.Spell binding,gripping and edge of your seat kind of book.

I had and still have no sympathy for this woman despite her being abused as a child and so forth.This act is unforgiveable and nothing will change my opinion.I do not believe in putting any man before my children.There is a part in the book where she says to whatever man?(in surprise) that she thinks she might love her children more than him.That should have raised some red signals.I also watched an interview once where a woman could not decide if she loved her husband or children more.For goodness sake,your children are yours forever,your man is only yours until he meets the next woman.You cannot compare the two relationships,one is real the other is on a deadline.One is unconditional and the other is full of conditions.One is instinctive and an absolute pleasure the other is a lot of work and ok, I will stop...

Basically if you are a mother or parent this book will leave you flabbergasted and emotionally spent.Do not read this book unless you are in the correct state of mind to deal with the many emotions which will run through as you read this book.

The book as it looks in the picture above is the one that I have and is published by Time Warner Publications but I see now that they have a cheaper version published by Signet Books.I assume the books are exactly the same so I have included both links below.




This book has 611 pages and pictures all throughout the book as opposed to a few pages in the middle of the book.You will not believe how sweet and innocent this woman looks in those pictures.Definitely this proves you should not judge a book by its cover(pardon the pun)
I read this book in September 2007.

I just discovered this update on Diane Downs where she is up for parole and is really interesting.To find out more