Interesting true crime story by Ann Rule. The case involved people living in Oregon and Hawaii. ( )

true story of wife murdering her husband camping in Oregon

An idyllic Hawaiian wedding held the promise of a wonderful future for handsome, athletic Chris Northon, an airline pilot, a confirmed bachelor-turned-devoted family man; and Liysa, an acclaimed surf photographer, loving mother, and aspiring Hollywood screenwriter. But few, including Chris, had seen Liysa's other side -- her controlling behavior and dark moods, her insatiable hunger for money and property. And no one anticipated the fatal outcome of a family camping trip in an Oregon forest. Liysa soon revealed herself as a victim of domestic abuse that culminated at the campsite, where she shot Chris in self-defense. But crime scene evidence led detectives to wonder if Liysa was a killer, not a victim. Her controversial trial stunned all who thought they knew her. A lifetime of sociopathic manipulations and lies had been expertly hidden behind her façade of perfection -- as was her rage to destroy any obstacle to her ultimate happiness, even if it was the man she vowed to love forever.

While I was looking for this book on my shelf because this was the one where I noticed how biased Ann Rule started to write and I use it a lot as an example,I discovered I had forgotten to register it on Goodreads.
Checked bookcrossing where I am not active anymore and bingo.

Here is what I wrote about this book back then.

Journal Entry 4 by CrazyDutchwoman from Heemstede, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Hi,I am at around page 80. It was a nice surprise for me to see it weren't a lot of stories but just one story.
I prefer those. I agree that her stories are very good, although I read A Rage to kill (short stories) and did not like that one at all.
Anyway this one seems like a good one. Curious what is going to happen.

I will update this journal while reading.
take care

Update January 18 2005

Finished reading this morning. In between I had to read another book so it took me longer then I,d normally would)

I do not know what it is Ann Rule is one of the authors, that got me hooked to the True Crime genre but I think her older books are much better written or it is me?

Her writing in this book started to annoy me. Every thing Chris did was good . I do not understand stuff. Lyisa told everybody he hit her. I do not believe he did not know that. He was once confronted about it, well if it was me and I would constantly hear my wife told everybody I hit her, I would definitely take action.

Plus I think I had trouble reading this book because I hated that she got away with so many stuff. She always got her way, the houses ,the kids with Nick. It made me so angry.
I am glad she is in jail.

Still have questions after reading it. I think it is a depressing book. It is good do not get me wrong but maybe I was not in the right mood while reading? ( )

Good Book. Liysa is quite a woman. I started out liking her, and then hating her. Just like everyone else! I would recommend this to all True Crime lovers like me. ( )

I am torn on how to rate this book. As with most of Ann Rule's books, it is a very brisk read and the story is interesting. I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but there were a couple of points where I felt as if I was getting too much background information. It wasn't that the background information wasn't interesting; it just felt as if it was going on forever and ever. Ultimately, though, I still enjoyed the book and looked forward to coming back to it, which (for me at least) is the deciding factor in rating a book. It is definitely not on par with "The Stranger Beside Me," but it is a worthwhile Rule book, which is why I am giving it four stars. ( )