Fans of Ann Rule will find much to relish in Bitter Harvest, the tale of a brilliant Kansas physician who holds herself together well enough to put on a decent show for the outside world, but in the heart of her horror-struck family is a violent and baffling monster. She drinks, abuses drugs, spews invective, and even lights fires. At one point she learns from an Agatha Christie novel about a potent toxin contained in castor beans, and she starts poisoning her long-suffering husband. Yet until the final fire that consumes two of her children, they continue to love her and defend her to attackers. Rule tells the story with flair, conveying all of the heady feelings involved, but still the book has a flaw: Rule fails to understand the main character. When a psychiatrist testifies that the doctor is at a younger age than a toddler in her ability to process or sustain emotions, Rule writes, "That was a shocker. Could a woman with an IQ of 165 and a biting, facetious wit, a woman who had zipped through college and medical school, be a child emotionally?"Yes, she could. Bitter Harvest would've been a stronger book if Rule had shown us how.


From Library Journal
Dr. Deborah Green was a brilliant, wealthy, married mother of three who was convicted of repeatedly trying to poison her husband and of killing two of her children in a fire she methodically set in the family home. Rule (A Fever in the Heart, LJ 11/1/96) proves once again that she is a master of the true-crime genre?she builds the narrative from Green's days as a student of superior intelligence through her years in an increasingly unhappy marriage to her physician husband. Rule carefully chronicles Green's bizarre behavior and takes the reader through the arson investigation as well as Green's husband's illnesses, surgeries, and attempt to rebuild his life with his remaining child, who escaped the fire. Peppered throughout the narrative are quotes from Green herself, which expose her twisted thinking and her attempts to rationalize her behavior. An outstanding chronicle of a crime investigation as well as a riveting profile of a brilliant mind and empty soul.-?Christine A. Moesch, Buffalo & Erie County P.L., N.Y.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


The New York Times Book Review, Carolyn T. Hughes
"...an unnerving book."


From Kirkus Reviews
A tour de force from America's best true-crime writer (Dead by Sunset, 1985, etc). Rule's fans will recognize shades of the pretty poisoner Pat Allanson in Dr. Debora Green, a Kansas woman with a lot of anger. She envies her husband, Mike Farrar, his youthfulness, his successful medical career, and his easy manner with women. Though the two have been married for 18 years and have three children, their relationship has always been rocky. Debora is cruel, vindictive, and has at various times been dependent on pills and alcohol. In 1995, with the family in quiet disorder, Mike and Debora plan to go to Peru. The trip is, in Mike's mind, their final act as a couple. While there Mike meets Celeste Walker, the beautiful wife of an unhappy doctor and an old friend of Debora's. After the trip, they begin an affair; Debora finds out, and Mike suddenly begins to suffer debilitating stomach problems, causing him to be frequently hospitalized. Mike eventually discovers several packets of castor beans in Debora's handbag. The bean is the source of ricin, a deadly poison that is later discovered in Mike's bloodstream. As he begins to recover, he moves out of the house and announces plans to divorce Debora. Only weeks later, a suspicious house fire occurs, the second to strike the family. This time it's fatal: The couple's son and younger daughter die; Debora and the middle daughter survive. An investigation leads back to the furious, defiant Debora, who confesses to both the poisoning and the arson after a carefully rendered and gripping preliminary hearing. She is now in a Kansas prison doing ``a hard forty.'' Impossible to put down (though a little skimpy on psychiatric details), this is, thanks to the vivid, fascinating portrait of Debora and of the slow unraveling of her homicidal schemes, one of Rule's best. (24 pages b&w photos, not seen) (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Review
Kirkus Reviews Impossible to put down....A tour de force from America's best true-crime writer.

People A must-read story of the '90s American dream turned, tragically, to self-absorbed ashes.

Publishers Weekly (starred review) Tension filled, page-turning...


Review
The Washington Post The case of Debora Green -- a woman whose promise seemed boundless -- is intriguing.


Review
The Washington Post The case of Debora Green -- a woman whose promise seemed boundless -- is intriguing.


Book Description
GIFTED WITH A BRILLIANT MIND, BLESSED WITH A BEAUTIFUL FAMILY -- AND CURSED WITH A DESTRUCTIVE MADNESS In this harrowing New York Times bestseller, Ann Rule is at her masterful best as she winnows horrific truths from the ashes of what seemed like paradise in Prairie Village, Kansas. Rule 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 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.


Download Description
Ann Rule's twelfth astounding New York Times bestseller is a "tension-filled, page-turning" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) account of a shattering modern tragedy. With her exacting insight into the psychopathic mind, Rule flawlessly reveals the tangled downfall of a successful woman driven to lethal acts of vengeance. Bitter Harvest 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 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.


About the Author
Ann Rule is a former Seattle policewoman and the author of nineteen New York Times bestsellers, including her acclaimed Crime Files volumes: Empty Promises, A Rage to Kill, In the Name of Love, A Fever in the Heart, You Belong to Me, A Rose for Her Grave, and The End of the Dream. Her eighth, all-new Crime Files collection, Last Dance, Last Chance, is available now from Pocket Books. She is also the author of Every Breath You Take, the only true-crime book written at the request of the murder victim -- a woman ensnared by the violent obsessions of her millionaire ex-husband; ...And Never Let Her Go, the nationally renowned case of deadly seducer Thomas Capano, which was made into a CBS miniseries; and Bitter Harvest, which unravels the shattering case of Debora Green, a doctor and loving mother driven to lethal acts of vengeance. Her other titles include the bestsellers If You Really Loved Me, Everything She Ever Wanted, Small Sacrifices, Dead by Sunset, The Want-Ad Killer, The I-5 Killer, Lust Killer; and her classic The Stranger Beside Me, the unnerving chronicle of Rule's dawning horror as she realized her friend and coworker, Ted Bundy, was a serial killer. She has also written a #1 New York Times bestselling novel, Possession. Ann Rule has testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee and regularly presents seminars to law enforcement agencies, including the FBI Academy, as well as district attorneys and victim support groups. She served on the U.S. Justice Department task force that set up VI-CAP (the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program now in place at FBI headquarters) to track and trap serial killers. She lives near Seattle. For more information, visit her Web site at www.annrules.com.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter One The wind had blown constantly that fall, but that wasn't unusual for Kansas. Most Kansans scarcely acknowledge the wind; however, on October 23, 1995, gusts were strong enough to scatter carefully piled mounds of leaves and make lights flicker on and off. Housewives set out candles and flashlights -- just in case. In Prairie Village, Dr. Debora Green went about all her usual errands. With three children to take care of, she practically needed a timetable to coordinate their activities. She would have welcomed a power outage so they could stay home, light faintly scented candles, and just talk to each other. Late that day, they were all back together in their beautiful new house on Canterbury Court: Debora; her son, Tim; and her daughters, Lissa and Kelly. After supper they went to bed in their separate rooms. Debora thought she had turned on the burglar alarm and the smoke alarm was set on "Ready." Fire can erupt with a raucous explosion or be as furtive as a mouse skittering silently along a wall. It was after midnight when the wind coaxed out the first tongues of fire and blew them into billows of orange before all the sleeping neighbors on Canterbury Court even knew they were in danger. The magnificent homes were so close together that squirrels could leap from one yard's trees to those next door. And the roofs were made of picturesque wooden shakes, dry as bone from the long midwestern summer. Debora Green was barely able to escape the flames that engulfed her house. She rushed to her neighbors' house and pounded on the door, pleading for someone to help her save her children. Then she looked back at the fire and her heart convulsed at what she saw. Silhouetted against the glow the sky, the small figure of a child scampered ahead of flames that were already eating away at the beams of the garage. As the child moved north, the roof just behind her began to give way and cave in. The child -- it was Lissa -- miraculously made her way up over the peak of the roof and down the other side, where she perched precariously on the edge of the disintigrating roof. In moments she would surely fall into the fire below and perish. "Help me!" Lissa screamed. Even through the thick black smoke, she had seen her mother standing by neighbors' house. The little girl called again and again, small voice lost in the roar of the flames. Finally -- as Debora was moving through quicksand -- Lissa saw mother head toward her. She saw her! She was coming! Lissa knew she would be all right now; her mother would save her. Debora stood beneath the edge of the roof, her legs spread wide and her feet planted firmly so that she would not slip. She held her arms open and beckoned to Lissa to jump down to her. But it was such a long way to the ground. For a moment, Lissa hesitated -- and then she looked her shoulder and saw that the garage roof was almost gone. "Jump!" Debora ordered. "Jump! I'll catch you." "I'm afraid...." "Jump! Now!" There was urgency in her mother's and something else, something that frightened Lissa more than the fire. Lissa obeyed. With her arms above her head and the heat licking at her back, she leaped from the garage roof. But Debora didn't catch her, her arms were not spread wide enough, or maybe she was standing too far back from the garage. Lissa crumpled to the ground at Debora's feet. But the lawn was carpeted with a cushion of leaves and she was not hurt. Lissa felt safe now. She was with her mother. She didn't how many houses were on fire, or if it was only their house. It seemed to her that the fire was everywhere, and the smell of smoke was also a taste of smoke in her mouth. Her mother led her toward their neighbors' house, and Lissa looked around for her brother and sister. Lights began to appear in windows up and down the block. She heard sirens far away, then coming closer and closer until they died out, whining, in front of the burning house. And in her head, she kept hearing a voice crying, "Help me! Help me!" She tried to tell her mother about that, but Debora seemed to be in shock. She said nothing. She did nothing. She was just there, looking at the fire. Lissa didn't see her brother and sister and she began to scream for someone to save Tim and Kelly, someone to save Boomer and Russell, their dogs. Still her mother said nothing. When Lissa saw a police car screech to a stop in front of burning house and a policeman running toward them, she begged him to save her brother and sister. He listened to her screams and then ran by without even stopping. Lissa clung to her mother and looked up into her face for reassurance, but she saw no expression at all. Debora was transfixed by the fire. The two of them just stood there, braced against the wind that was turning their house into a raging inferno. Debora had saved one of her children. Was it possible that the other two were trapped in the fire, unable to escape? It was every mother's nightmare. And it was happening to her. Copyright © 1997 by Ann Rule

FROM THE PUBLISHER

On the night of October 23rd-24th, 1995, in Prairie Village, Kansas, a fierce, wind-driven fire devastated the luxurious mansion of Dr. Debora Green and her husband, Dr. Michael Farrar. Trapped and burned to death in the flames were twelve-year-old Tim Farrar and his six-year-old sister, Kelly. Lissa, ten, was barely able to leap to safety from the garage roof while her mother, arms outstretched, urged her to jump. When Michael Farrar arrived on the scene, he had lost more than his children and his home. His entire life was in ruins. The fire was the climactic event of Michael and Debora's lives. Until that summer, they seemed to have it all - a happy marriage, successful medical practices, three bright and beautiful children. Then they went on a trip to Peru with their son. There, they met attractive, blond Celeste Walker, whose husband, John, was also a successful doctor. But after that trip, nothing was the same again for either couple, and all the dark, submerged forebodings in Debora and Michael's marriage bubbled to the surface in a series of almost unbelievable horrors. First there was Tim's rebellious behavior, which erupted into physical violence against his father. Then there was Michael's illness - mysterious episodes so violent that he had to be hospitalized and came close to death. Then John Walker was found dead in his garage - was it suicide or murder? Perhaps most inexplicable of all was Debora herself, whose personality and even appearance underwent dramatic changes that summer. Bitter Harvest is the chronicle of this tragedy in the heartland of America, the true story of the disintegration of a marriage and its horrifying consequences. Ann Rule has no equal in the delineation of the aberrant criminal mind. As in her earlier books, she takes her readers deep into the psyche of a killer whose behavior, so twisted and so evil, defies belief. Her book is also the story of the tireless and skillful arson investigators, forensic scientists, and pros.

SYNOPSIS

"A tour de force from America's best true-crime writer." --Kirkus Reviews

Dr. Debora Green and her husband, Dr. Michael Farrar, seemed to have it all: a happy marriage, successful medical practices, and three bright and beautiful children. This image was maintained until a fire broke out at the luxurious mansion owned by the couple, taking the lives of two of their children. When the fire was labeled arson, the police began to focus on Deb Green, who is the fascinating subject of bestselling author Ann Rule's most recent true-crime epic, Bitter Harvest: A Woman's Fury, A Mother's Sacrifice.

A chronicle of a tragedy that took place in the posh suburb of Prairie Village, Kansas, Bitter Harvest is the true story of the disintegration of a marriage and its horrifying consequences. Rule follows the arson investigators, forensic scientists, and prosecutors who had to untangle Green's intricate puzzle of psychopathology. Could a mother and a doctor, committed by the Hippocratic oath to "do no harm," deliberately set a fire that took the lives of her 13-year-old son and six-year-old daughter? Were the near-fatal episodes of intestinal distress suffered by her estranged husband caused by his wife? Could a woman be so full of vengeance that she would destroy her children and watch as her husband grew deathly ill from the poisoned food she fed him?

None of Rule's previous subjects -- not Diane Downs of Small Sacrifices nor Brad Cunningham of Dead By Sunset -- have inspired such an enthralling study of the criminal mind.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Dr. Deborah Green was a brilliant, wealthy, married mother of three who was convicted of repeatedly trying to poison her husband and of killing two of her children in a fire she methodically set in the family home. Rule (A Fever in the Heart, LJ 11/1/96) proves once again that she is a master of the true-crime genreshe builds the narrative from Green's days as a student of superior intelligence through her years in an increasingly unhappy marriage to her physician husband. Rule carefully chronicles Green's bizarre behavior and takes the reader through the arson investigation as well as Green's husband's illnesses, surgeries, and attempt to rebuild his life with his remaining child, who escaped the fire. Peppered throughout the narrative are quotes from Green herself, which expose her twisted thinking and her attempts to rationalize her behavior. An outstanding chronicle of a crime investigation as well as a riveting profile of a brilliant mind and empty soul. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/97.]Christine A. Moesch, Buffalo & Erie County P.L., N.Y.

Kirkus Reviews

A tour de force from America's best true-crime writer (Dead by Sunset, 1985, etc). Rule's fans will recognize shades of the pretty poisoner Pat Allanson in Dr. Debora Green, a Kansas woman with a lot of anger. She envies her husband, Mike Farrar, his youthfulness, his successful medical career, and his easy manner with women. Though the two have been married for 18 years and have three children, their relationship has always been rocky. Debora is cruel, vindictive, and has at various times been dependent on pills and alcohol. In 1995, with the family in quiet disorder, Mike and Debora plan to go to Peru. The trip is, in Mike's mind, their final act as a couple. While there Mike meets Celeste Walker, the beautiful wife of an unhappy doctor and an old friend of Debora's. After the trip, they begin an affair; Debora finds out, and Mike suddenly begins to suffer debilitating stomach problems, causing him to be frequently hospitalized. Mike eventually discovers several packets of castor beans in Debora's handbag. The bean is the source of ricin, a deadly poison that is later discovered in Mike's bloodstream. As he begins to recover, he moves out of the house and announces plans to divorce Debora. Only weeks later, a suspicious house fire occurs, the second to strike the family. This time it's fatal: The couple's son and younger daughter die; Debora and the middle daughter survive. An investigation leads back to the furious, defiant Debora, who confesses to both the poisoning and the arson after a carefully rendered and gripping preliminary hearing. She is now in a Kansas prison doing "a hard forty." Impossible to put down (though a little skimpy on psychiatric details), this is,thanks to the vivid, fascinating portrait of Debora and of the slow unraveling of her homicidal schemes, one of Rule's best. (24 pages b&w photos, not seen) (Author tour)