Status
Checked out
Genres
Collection
Publication
Simon & Schuster Audio (2005), Edition: Abridged
Description
On the night of October 23/24, 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 and his six-year-old sister Kelly. Lissa, ten, was barely able to leap to safety from the garage roof into the arms of her mother, who was standing outside the house. When Michael Farrar returned to 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, blonde 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 hidden places in Debora and Michael's marriage bubbled to the surface in a series of almost unbelievable horrors. 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. Rule takes us deep in the psyche of a killer whose behavior was so twisted and so evil that it defies belief. Gripping, powerful, and ultimately terrifying, Bitter Harvest is a vivid recreation of an unthinkable crime - and a depiction of the unimagined depths of a darkness within the human spirit.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Whisper1
No one does the sociopathic personality better than Ann Rule.
LibraryThing member thorswitch
This case happened very close to where I live and was covered pretty thoroughly in the media, but Ann's book provides a much more detailed look at both Deborah and Mike Green individually and as a couple, and makes it clear just how manipulative and truly dangerous Deborah Green can be.
LibraryThing member bookheaven
True story about a crazy mother and her crimes.
LibraryThing member loubigfish
In Depth and riveting. Amazing characters and a chilling story that makes your heart ache and trying to understand what went wrong. The storyline is laid out perfectly and tell how each one interlocks together. Interesting interview with the main character at the end.
LibraryThing member ecw0647
Rule is well-known for her true crime writing and justifiably so. Ever since Truman Capote popularized the form in In Cold Blood, true crime has become a popular genre.
This harrowing book tells the story of Dr. Debora Green, a very bright Kansas physician whose life unraveled into a nightmare of
By the end of the story Debora had become a violent and irrational monster who had driven away her husband, as she descended into a maelstrom of alcohol, drugs and invective. In hindsight, a house fire that destroyed an earlier home was probably her doing. The final straw was apparently her husband's affair with Celeste Walker, a nurse whose physician husband had committed suicide. The family had returned from a long-awaited vacation to South America, when Mike became deathly ill. He could keep no food down and suffered constant diarrhea. His condition puzzled the clinicians because the symptoms did not seem to match anything in their knowledge base. The only thing they could think of was that perhaps Mike had picked up some kind of virulent bug while traveling, but none of the others who had been on the trip had suffered anything beyond the normal traveler's stomach problems that quickly disappeared.
Bouts of his illness always seemed to come after he had been released from the hospital and had eaten food served by his wife. After what seemed - to me - an interminable period he began to suspect that perhaps Debora might be trying to poison him. One afternoon when she was out, he searched her purse and discovered several packages of Castor beans. Warnings on the package labels revealed that these beans contain a very toxic poison called Ricin. Normally, the beans could be swallowed whole without much difficulty because they had such a hard shell, and the beans would pass through the system without causing any ill effects, but if crushed, they could be terribly destructive. Mike also realized his wife had just finished an Agatha Christie novel in which the murder is committed using Ricin.
Several months later, a fire, clearly arson, broke out in their house. Mike had moved out in preparation for a divorce. Two of the children died, trapped in their bedrooms by a fire, fed with accelerants, that blocked access to the hall and the stairs. The responding police and firemen were immediately struck by the mother's bizarre behavior, talking of her children in the past tense, even before anyone knew whether they had been killed or not. Eventually, she confessed to all charges and escaped the death penalty with a guilty plea.
A truly tragic story spellbindingly told by Rule, a master of the genre.
This harrowing book tells the story of Dr. Debora Green, a very bright Kansas physician whose life unraveled into a nightmare of
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murder and virtual insanity. After her trial for the murder of two of her children and the attempted murder of her husband, Michael Farrar, psychiatrists attempted to answer why something like this could have happened. Their diagnosis was that Dr. Green had a limited ego, was a very immature person with the emotional responses of a small child. Ostensibly, she was able to function quite well, until her marriage and the pressures of raising a family began to stress her life. She had an IQ of 165 and had zipped through medical school, married a brilliant cardiologist, and borne three children. The family lived in a large house in the Kansas City suburbs.By the end of the story Debora had become a violent and irrational monster who had driven away her husband, as she descended into a maelstrom of alcohol, drugs and invective. In hindsight, a house fire that destroyed an earlier home was probably her doing. The final straw was apparently her husband's affair with Celeste Walker, a nurse whose physician husband had committed suicide. The family had returned from a long-awaited vacation to South America, when Mike became deathly ill. He could keep no food down and suffered constant diarrhea. His condition puzzled the clinicians because the symptoms did not seem to match anything in their knowledge base. The only thing they could think of was that perhaps Mike had picked up some kind of virulent bug while traveling, but none of the others who had been on the trip had suffered anything beyond the normal traveler's stomach problems that quickly disappeared.
Bouts of his illness always seemed to come after he had been released from the hospital and had eaten food served by his wife. After what seemed - to me - an interminable period he began to suspect that perhaps Debora might be trying to poison him. One afternoon when she was out, he searched her purse and discovered several packages of Castor beans. Warnings on the package labels revealed that these beans contain a very toxic poison called Ricin. Normally, the beans could be swallowed whole without much difficulty because they had such a hard shell, and the beans would pass through the system without causing any ill effects, but if crushed, they could be terribly destructive. Mike also realized his wife had just finished an Agatha Christie novel in which the murder is committed using Ricin.
Several months later, a fire, clearly arson, broke out in their house. Mike had moved out in preparation for a divorce. Two of the children died, trapped in their bedrooms by a fire, fed with accelerants, that blocked access to the hall and the stairs. The responding police and firemen were immediately struck by the mother's bizarre behavior, talking of her children in the past tense, even before anyone knew whether they had been killed or not. Eventually, she confessed to all charges and escaped the death penalty with a guilty plea.
A truly tragic story spellbindingly told by Rule, a master of the genre.
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LibraryThing member sbenne3
While a little longer than necessary in some sections, this is a very well written account of true crime. I was very wrapped up in the story and continued to wonder about how and why Debra Green got into the position she was in. A must read if you love true crime and/or are from the area.
LibraryThing member maryreinert
I vaguely remember reading about the trial of Deborah Green in the Kansas City Star a number of years ago so I was fascinated when I discovered this book. Dr. Deborah Jones Green was in a second marriage to Dr. Mike Farrar with three children. Their marriage was unhappy but to the outside world
Dr. Green was exceptionally intelligent; however, she had many difficulties getting along with people and had changed medical specialties a number of times. In her youth she was attractive and vivacious; now she had gained weight and let her appearance go. She was an at home mom with three children: Tim, the oldest who was especially angry with the father; Lessa, who was also an angry child; and Kelly, apparently the happiest. After Dr. Farrar asked for a divorce, Dr. Green's actions became violent and all of a sudden Dr. Farrar was suffering from some kind of unspecified disease which caused him great pain and weight loss. Dr. Farrar moved out of the mansion in Prairie Village and into an apartment.
In October, 1995, the mansion caught on fire and Tim and Kelly were killed in the fire; Lissa managed to escape. Dr. Green's initial interviews with the police and fire personnel was extremely strange never even asking about her children. Soon charges are filed against her for murder. During this time, Dr. Farrar has figured out that he has been gradually poisoned by the use of an extreme poison found in castor beans. Charges of attempted murder were added.
The book goes into great detail regarding the lives of Dr. Green, Dr. Farrar, the children and Dr. Farrar's lover, Celeste Walker, whose husband committed suicide. Intriguing story of someone with so much intellect, yet without any kind of sensitivity to others. One psychiatrist claimed she had the emotional level of a toddler. Today she is still held in the Kansas Correctional facility in Topeka after she did plea guilty to all charges thus avoiding the death penalty.
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everything seemed fine until Dr. Farrar went on a trip to Peru with some students and parents of their children's private school. Here he fell in love with a very attractive woman who was also in an unhappy marriage.Dr. Green was exceptionally intelligent; however, she had many difficulties getting along with people and had changed medical specialties a number of times. In her youth she was attractive and vivacious; now she had gained weight and let her appearance go. She was an at home mom with three children: Tim, the oldest who was especially angry with the father; Lessa, who was also an angry child; and Kelly, apparently the happiest. After Dr. Farrar asked for a divorce, Dr. Green's actions became violent and all of a sudden Dr. Farrar was suffering from some kind of unspecified disease which caused him great pain and weight loss. Dr. Farrar moved out of the mansion in Prairie Village and into an apartment.
In October, 1995, the mansion caught on fire and Tim and Kelly were killed in the fire; Lissa managed to escape. Dr. Green's initial interviews with the police and fire personnel was extremely strange never even asking about her children. Soon charges are filed against her for murder. During this time, Dr. Farrar has figured out that he has been gradually poisoned by the use of an extreme poison found in castor beans. Charges of attempted murder were added.
The book goes into great detail regarding the lives of Dr. Green, Dr. Farrar, the children and Dr. Farrar's lover, Celeste Walker, whose husband committed suicide. Intriguing story of someone with so much intellect, yet without any kind of sensitivity to others. One psychiatrist claimed she had the emotional level of a toddler. Today she is still held in the Kansas Correctional facility in Topeka after she did plea guilty to all charges thus avoiding the death penalty.
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Subjects
Awards
Edgar Award (Nominee — Fact Crime — 1998)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1999
ISBN
0743542363 / 9780743542364