A True Story of Desire and Death - Heart Full of Lies

Ann Rule writes in her afterword to "Heart Full of Lies:"
"My last four books have been about women who were("were" is italicized) abused, killed or nearly killed by someone who promised to love them and care for them, and I have long been a strong advocate and contributor to domestic violence support groups. So I had to struggle with my own preconceptions and prejudices as I began my research."
Rule performed the research in her usual meticulous, exhaustive style, guided by both the facts and her own intuitive, expert insights derived from her long experience of investigating crimes.
"Heart Full of Lies" emerges as a finely balanced look at the Oregon murder of Chris Northon, a Hawaiian Airlines pilot. His gifted, ambitious, troubled wife Liysa was accused of the crime. The case includes a large number or people who passionately defend Liysa and believe her account, that she was a victim of domestic abuse and feared for her own life and the lives of her two young sons; and another large group of people who, just as firmly, see Liysa as a cold-blooded killer.
It is her own words, found on the hard drive of a computer she reported "stolen" but actually had placed in the possession of friends, that convict Liysa. A prolific e-mailer, obssessive journal-keeper, and would-be screenwriter, Liysa poured out into words, her feelings about Chris and her plans to rid herself of him.
In addition to the computer evidence, Rule reconstructs the murder scene with the common-sense, familiar police-procedure evidence. For example, she points out that when Liysa shows up at a friend's house, after driving for four hours away from the campground where the struggles occured, she is still wet and bedraggled. In the October night chill, she surely would have turned up the heat in her Ford Explorer, and her clothes would have dried. The only reasonable inference is, to win sympathy for her story, Liysa re-doused herself somewhere near her friend's house. From this and from many other facts of the scene, Rule comes to the undeniable conclusion that Liysa did indeed murder her husband.
Rule's latest book is sure to please her existing legions of readers as well as draw in new ones. Highly recommended!

Ann Rule, perhaps my favorite true crime writer, knows
how to pick compelling characters to write about . . . in her
latest effort, HEART FULL OF LIES, she made me glad
that I never met one of them: Liysa Northon . . . this was a woman
who seemingly had it all, yet kept going through guys as
she searched for still more money and property . . . it
seemed in Chris Northon, she had finally met the man
who could give her everything she wanted . . . yet that
did not turn out to be the case.
Amazingly, Liysa Northon only received a sentence of ten
years for first using drugging her husband and then using
a stun-gun before shooting him in cold blood . . . I got caught
up in her tale, virtually from page one, and was disappointed
when the taped version of the book ended . . . Blair Brown's
excellent job of narration most likely added to my enjoyment.

I was fortunate enough to have received this book from a dear friend as a Xmas present.I have all of Ann's books but no one has ever bought one for me. I had no idea that Ann had a book out, and was absolutely excited when I realized that she was the author. Her writing is always on point. She takes you through the lives of all who are intimately involved, and you can't help but feel that you were in Oregon, Hawaii, and Washington. The horror of it all is that this is a TRUE STORY regardless of how one feels about Ann's ability to tell the story, it happened. She does not play favoritism in telling her story. I found it hard to believe that Chris was such a doper taking coke, popping pills, and alcoholic of the worst kind, and still be an exemplary Pilot @ Hawaiian Airlines. Lisa (Lisya) took great pleasure in making sure that NO ONE ever blabbed to Chris about the horror he put her through because she was LYING!, and had he found out about the lies, I'm sure he would have divorced the Monster and quite possibly still be alive. She is a sick, manipulating beast who didn't deserve a plea bargain. Her histrionics hopefully will not cast doubt on true victims of domestic violence. She was no victim at all. Chris(may his soul rest in peace), Nick, Bjorn and Papako are the true victims here.

This is the story of a very disturbed woman, Liysa Northon who, through pure greed, self-interest, and an inflated sense of self, premeditatedly killed her husband, Chris, whom she no longer loved.

This woman attracted (and married) tall, handsome, talented men of means and still she wasn't satisfied! Liysa married three times before and no man stuck by her after finding out that she wanted expensive ranches that none of her husbands could afford.

If she didn't get it, it was over with them. She had two children, both boys with 2 different men, and she was a great mom, and came across as a very loving caring person, when she was anything but. Her real character was actually manipulative. She claimed to have been a battered woman who killed her husband in self-defense. Unfortunately for her, as the evidence showed, nothing could have been further from the truth. Liysa Northon began laying the ground work for her husband's murder well in advance of it actually happening

Highly recommend this true story.

Are women deadlier than men? Ann Rule attempts to tackle this question in her latest book,"Heart Full of Lies". Liysa and Chris Northon seemed to have it all. He was a well respected pilot for Hawaiian Airlines, she was beautiful and was becoming well known for her photography and writing. She had a son from a previous marriage and together they had a son. They traveled between a home in Hawaii and Oregon. She had a penchant for sometimes embellishing the truth,or even abandoning the truth all together,but she seemed so nice and there was no real harm in that. When Liysa began to confide in friends that she and the boys were suffering because of Chris's abuse of drugs and alcohol,and that Chris abused her physically, they had no reason to disbelieve her. Then Chris is found dead after a family campout.

Painstaking work by the prosecutors laid bare the woman Liysa really was. She had systematically planned ways not only to kill Chris but also to be in the best financial position as his widow. The vivid stories she had shared with friends and family were true only in her mind. She had always searched for the "perfect love",had probably made up past lovers, past traumas,tossed aside two previous husbands because they no longer met her exacting needs. When faced with the overwhelming facts proving her guilt and her endless attempts to

manipulate the trial her defense team stopped trying to prove innocence, and worked to get her as little time in prison as possible. The damage is done. Her sons no longer live with her and one's father and the other's stepfather is dead.

Ann Rule is undoubtedly one of America's best true crime writers,using her own experiences and years of police work. She is at her best when she slowly unpeels the layers of a person, revealing the evil that lies beneath an attractive veneer. The one aspect that makes this story so chilling is the absolute belief the killer has that she is entitled, and that her "truth" is the real truth. Not only did she kill, she infected so many lives that can never be completely healed.

I had read the reviews before reading this book and I admit, I was concerned that Ann was biased as I poured through the first half of this book. However, once I got towards the middle, end, and once I read the afterward, my concerns floundered. Liysa is a phsyco who should have gone to prison for the rest of her life for what she did to ruin and end her husband's life and how she subsequently affected the lives of everyone who knew both her and her husband. Ann says Liysa wants a new trial. I hope she gets one and this time is convicted of first degree murder and spends another 25 plus years in prison. If that doesn't happen, I sincerely hope she receives some sort of psychological help while behind bars for her mental problems, before she is among the free again. Anyone who believes her claims of domestic abuse needs to think about the fact that she had multiple opportunities to get help, if not from domestic violence shelters, from one of her many friends who believed her at the time, and she chose not to. Not only that, there are many, many more instances of women who really are abused who do not resort to drugging their abusers and killing them as they lie in a helpless, drug induced slumber. Ann reported that most all of Liysa's former friends and her exhusband admit that she was the one with the problems in the marraige, not her dead husband. It is a shame that people like Liysa get away with fabricating domestic violence claims. I hope her actions do not make it more difficult for women who really are abuse victims to be believed.

I recommend you to read it and make your own judgement. It is an absorbing, fast read.

In this true story that centers around a woman, Liysa Northton, Ann Rule uncovers the story about what a terrible person she was, (sociopath), in the story. The book begins right away with her latest husband, of whom they discover his body in the park wrapped in a blanket. Then the story gets uncovered from there as Ann works backwards, telling us the cold hard facts.

Liysa was married three times before, and no man stuck by her after finding out that she had big appetite for money, and property. If she didn't get it, it was over with them. She had two children, both boys with 2 different men, and she was a great mom, and came across as a very loving caring person, when she was anything but. Her real real character was actually manipulative, and deep down she was a killer.

At her trial after the murder of her late husband Chris, all of her secrets comw about, shocking everyone. I will not go any further here, as I will ruin the last part for you if I do. But you must read and find out what you think made her tick. Was it the abusive childhood she claimed having had? Or something else much deeper?

Liysa is innocent. Of course she is. Just ask her. Even when she eventually gets out of prison she will consider herself innocent. Psychology is pretty good when it comes to labelling people with different sorts of personality disorders but almost helpless when it comes to rehabilitating them. Certainly prison isn't the place to do it but, unfortunately, it is the only place that society currently has for housing people who commit criminal acts.

I was angry while reading this book and I still am. This woman did everything she could to destroy someone's reputation, someone who loved her. Chris even went on their last camping trip (where she murdered him) thinking and hoping that it might help their marriage. She murdered him largely because she believed that it was in her financial interests to do so. She had much more to gain as a widow than a divorcee. These are the actions of a truly wicked person.

A large part of my anger is reserved for Liysa's friends and family who listened and uncritically believed. Many tried to do the correct thing in protecting her from what they understood was a violent man. But when she continually refused their help didn't that make them just a little suspicious? Some went beyond reasonable assistance and provided her with poison, a firearm, stun gun, and strong sleeping pills. That almost crosses the line into making them an accomplice in my opinion.

How many of us come across a true psycho like Liysa in our lives? Not many for sure. How would Chris ever have known that Liysa would never be satisfied? How could he have known that, despite his many accomplishments in life, there was absolutely nothing that he could have done to help their marriage? The ONLY thing you can do when you are in a relationship with someone like Liysa is to get as far away from them as you can and stay away. Unfortunately Chris had a child by this woman and that made it much more difficult to follow that action. It caused him a lot of misery and eventually his life.

Liysa's family would do well to stop trying to defend her at this point. It isn't helping her get out of prison. Their only defence for her heinous actions is to impugn the integrity of a fine person who isn't here and cannot defend himself. It could also cause Chris and Liysa's son to believe these slanderous accusations when he gets older. A person with an emotional illness can be in terrible pain. What this person needs is love not justification. The worst thing that can be done for Liysa now is to keep rehashing the past and trying to justify her actions. More than anything, she just needs your love and acceptance.

Ann Rule has always meticulously checked out everything she writes in her true crime books.
This book is no exception. This is a case where a man was found drugged and shot to death in a sleeping bag that he would not have been able to escape from because it was different than the usual style. The wife of this man had bruises on her and claimed that he had beaten her a number of times but drugging a man so he goes unconscious, tying him into a sleeping bag and shooting him is a far cry from shooting an abusive husband who is actively coming at her to do harm to her.

Liysa DeWitt, a victim of domestic abuse?
Liysa DeWitt, a mentally ill woman?
HELL NO! Pure Bull Sh..
Liysa DeWitt = an idiot...a smart one that deserves not the ten years in prison but to be put in death row so she could serve as a lesson to other yet undiscovered killers like her.
Socrates hated to see that people knew what's right and yet they carried on doing what was not right!
Poor Chris when he met Liysa, she was married yet this fact wouldn't stop him from seeing her.SO WRONG! He slept with her despite that she was married to someone else.ABSOLUTELY WRONG...then Chris made the biggest mistake of all and married this sociopath.THE BIGGEST MISTAKE ONE COULD DO. Then she killed him in 'self-defense'...
Rest in Peace Chris and with all due respect "she didn't kill you" - you've killed yourself by trusting a woman who was cheating her husband in front of her child. I mean what else could you expect from a greedy wh...?
That one day she'd have enough???
...
This book will absolutely shock you. It'll make you mad and very upset for seeing what's happening and what'll happen in the future and yet there's nothing you can possibly do to protect the innocent people in this drama.
The most shocking fact of all is that this idiot woman got only ten years sentence! I wonder if the Judge got brainwashed by the idiots excuses too? Well, one thing is for sure, this idiot will never change and may Good Luck save us and our loved ones not to meet and have anything to do with her when she comes out from her only house she is now.
"Heart full of lies" is another page turner by the Queen of True Crime books, Anne Rule.

A clue to Liysa Northon's personality lies in the silly spelling of her name - the sort of "I'm so interesting" nonsense that most of us grow out of after the early teen years.

Liysa, however, didn't, & according to Ann Rule she lied & manipulated her way through life until she killed her third husband basically because he wouldn't let her have her own way about everything. Liysa says she killed in self defense.

I found Rule's book mesmerizing, with a few caveats. Chris Northon, the victim, comes across as rather a hollow man - bland with few personality traits other than being "nice." Certainly he seems commitment-shy & someone who drifted through life. It's no great step to conjecture that the abuse claims by Liysa began as an attempt to get his attention.

Another caveat is the claim by Rule that Liysa was a devoted & good parent. Naturally the author needs to look at both sides of the story, but it's hard to believe that this self-obsessed, manipulative woman could parent effectively.

Her children would merely be an extension of herself, accessories for looking good in the eyes of the world. We can be sure that as they begin to grow up & think for themselves she'd be unable to cope. And if the story related in this book is true - a court thought it was - we all know what happens when people don't do what Liysa wants!

We also hear how Liysa is a talented writer, but no evidence of this is given. Surely a talented writer would have done more with her skills than journals & an aborted film script. Perhaps Rule is trying to find positive things to say about Liysa, which couldn't have been easy.

I would have liked this book to be longer - I suspect Liysa's guilty plea cut short what would have been a lengthy description of the trial. Overall well worth reading, a fascinating story very well told.

If you enjoy intelligent, non-exploitive and well-written true crime than chances are you are already an Ann Rule fan. If you haven't read Ann Rule's books before you're in for a treat and Heart Full of Lies is as good a place as any to start. At the center of many of Ms Rule's books are sociopaths and Liysa Northon is a prime example of a classic sociopath. Whether feigning amnesia for 4 months or shooting her husband in "self-defence" while he was asleep, Liysa is a piece of work. Ann Rule tells her story and the story of her victims and their families. She doesn't glorify murderers or their crimes, she focuses on what creates them, enables them and the damage they leave behind. IMHO, along with Shana Alexander, Truman Capote and Thomas Thompson, Ann Rule is a true crime author who elevates the genre every time she writes.

How on earth could an intelligent, productive woman, sociopath or not, believe she could get away with murder in such a ridiculous, haphazard way? And all her life, people for the most part admired and liked her, in spite of her cruel, selfish behavior. Anne Rule once again triumphs in another study of a destructive sociopath who almost gets away with murder. It is Ann that I and all her fans admire. A good read, though not up to some of her books, such as "Small Sacrifices" and "Everything She Ever Wanted". I highly recommend it.

"Heart Full of Lies" offers a detailed account of a type of homicide case which is seldom discussed -- apart from fragmentary news reports that are scattered in newspapers across the counttry for that past few decades. This type of case maye be referred to as "Homicide as Parental Kidnapping" -- the murder of a parent by the other parent with the primary motivation being the securing of the custody of their mutual child. This type of homicide is quite common and many of these cases involve the attempted hiring of a "hit man" by the perpetrator. While there may be some identifiable differences of modus operandi in general between men and women who perpetuate -- or attempt to perpetuate -- these killings, both sexes are fairly equally represented as perpetrators and overall both sexes are quite similar in the aggregate in their approach. Within the category "Homicide as Parental Kidnapping" there is a subcategory of cases involving the strategy of emplying false accusations against the victim as a means for the perpetrator to escape punishment. Ann Rule's gripping account of one particular case of this kind is a stunning eye-opener which alerts us to a homicidal phenomenon that is on the rise.

Living the High Life, Lisa (self renamed Liysa) Ann DeWitt Moran* Mattson* Northon (for those unfamiliar with the conventions of True Crime writing, names are often changed to protect the innocent and marked with an asterisk*) "traded up" through 3 husbands, the last of whom she thought easier and better to kill than divorce.
Ann Rule's tale of the tanned widow begins with a confusing start that is really the middle as Lisa (and Ann in her wake) hop back and forth between the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii. This is not Ann Rule's best, but I still would have given it a 5 star rating except for the ending speculative "Whydunnit?"
Rule plays amateur armchair psychoanalyst, assuming (and we know what happens when one assumes, eh?) up a mash of unfounded diagnoses, apparently ascribing Bipolar Disorder as a Personality Disorder. Ann needs to add the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) to her WishList! Reviewed by TundraVision, the store Reviewer.

The more I read of Ann Rule, the more disappointed I become with her. Her newest story, in my opinion, has been her worst yet. Her editor really let her down on this one. Choppy, disjointed and repetitive. Back and forth in time and place. Very hard to follow, and the writing is never smooth.
Liysa Northon is, by anyone's standards, a sociopathic killer. She's a hystrionic, self-centered narcissistic who has victimized scores of people by what she did. This is the story of Liysa Northon, a mother of two boys and wife to a third husband, Chris (whom she ultimately murders), a woman who is now residing in the Oregon State Prison for a dozen more years. The book chronicles her life, her relationships with all three husbands and her two young boys, and her quite successful career as a writer and photographer. She came from a divorced family; she claimed to be abused by her mother, but remains close to her father, a retired college president.
The writing is not brilliant -- it is rather flatly journalistic.

Ann has been one of my favorite true crime authors for many years. At one point in my career as a Forensic Crime Scene Analyst, I had the privilege and honor of helping Ann research and obtain information regarding a local homicide. Her research included sitting through the trial of the suspect, interviews, and gathering copies of photos and reports. Her books are factual and well-written. I have read all of her books and highly recommend them for those who want to know the truth.

While some of Rule's earlier books are great, this one to me falls in the category of Rule's less inspired works. The killer this time is a wife who kills her third husband while on a camping trip and claims he abused her. Unfortunately, as with some of Rule's other latterday books, the killer and victim are not that interesting, and the resulting story, with its speculation and padding, are about on the level of a Lifetime channel movie rather than a great true crime full of interesting twists. The killer wife comes off like a demanding shrew and a general pain in the butt, the dead victim comes off like he's too immature to be married and a father, and it's clear they were mismatched and had an unhappy marriage. In short, a pretty pat story that you can get in any number of other true crimes or even newspaper articles, nothing special here. I didn't get any sense that Liysa might have actually been abused or was doing anything more than just continuing to be manipulative as she had already been throughout her life. I wish Rule had picked a case where there seemed to be more of a question than there seems to be here as to whether someone who committed murder and blamed it on abuse really WAS abused, rather than just trying to make up an excuse.

It is seemingly rare, and therefore perhaps most interesting, when it is a woman/wife is the "bad guy" of the story. So often men are portrayed of brutal, mean and uncaring. However in 'Heart Full of Lies' we see that sometimes men are complete suckers and women can manipulate, lie and even resort to physical violence when they don't get what they want. When such a story is told by Ann Rule it clearly becomes an engrossing read.

In 'Heart Full of Lies' we have a young, beautiful and talented woman who thinks she can convince the world her husband is monster. For years she spins a web of deceit, and is generally successful in her efforts. Quite remarkably, it seems that all this negative energy is spurned on by not one single motive (eg, greed, jealousy) but rather by spitefulness and, no doubt, mental illness. Her husband remained remarkably tolerant of his tormentor until the very end. An unconventional marriage to say the least!

Bottom line: Ann Rule worked hard to create a balanced view of a very complicated woman and her uncomplicated yet doomed husband. Recommended.

I hate to give anything by Ann Rule two stars - - but here it is. I just did not like this book. It seemed very rushed, compared to some of her "classics", like The Stranger Beside Me and Small Sacrifices. The principals were not fleshed out and Liysa Northon was just not that interesting of a character. Certainly no one deserves to be a victim of any type of crime, but I did not find myself compelled with Chris Northon's story or his death. There was no mystery as to who killed him and Liysa's eventual plea bargain stopped the court proceedings in the book.

I would have to say that this weak story might have been better served in one of Ms. Rule's True Crime files, where it might have gotten less than 50 pages, versus the devotion of an entire book.

I just finished reading 'Heart full of Lies' and I am absolutely in awe. Not only are Ann's descrriptions and photos very vivid, but the case itself draws you in. The complexities and details are astounding.

I found myself, more than once, yelling aloud at the murderer, Liysa, for her abuse of the justice system,and for her abuse of anyone who has ever come into contact with her.

The book drew me in so much that I felt like contacting this woman in jail to let her no what a disgusting and dispicable human being she is, in detail. No other book I've read has been so amazing, and no other author could have done it better. This is a MUST read for any fan of Ann Rice, or even of true crime novels. Ann is a woman who goes far and beyond the call of duty. PICK THIS BOOK UP NOW!

The author carefully unfolds the motivations and scheming that led to Chris Northon's death at the hands of his wife Liysa. Rule's ability to pull together information from interviews and trial records into a coherent and compelling read outshines most other true crime writers.

She excels at setting the scene and describing the people involved so the reader can follow the complex crimes and really understand how and why it happened.

Thank you Ann for telling this tragic story, and bringing some kind of justice to our families.This was the hardest book I will ever read in my life time. I am Chris Northon's cousin and had known and loved him for 45 years.I lived in Bend,Oregon and taught swimmming to Liysa's oldest sweet boy along with his two other cousins. Chris also asked if I would be interested in cleaning his home when they went back and forth to Hawaii since it was such a filthy mess, I think he was really embarrassed. I personally read the emails that the FBI culled from Liysia's long lost (stolen-another lie) computer, which by the way is public knowledge to anyone from the court house. She writes Drowning is the best, but I need a backup and Daddy gave her a .38 revolver! Isn't that aiding and abetting? She should have been convicted 25 years to Life. The true facts are the facts and we don't get our beloved Chris back in 10 years when she gets out. Chris' little boy doesn't get his dad back.
Our lives will never be the same, but our love for him forever.

The author carefully unfolds the motivations and scheming that led to Chris Northon's death at the hands of his wife Liysa. Rule's ability to pull together information from interviews and trial records into a coherent and compelling read outshines most other true crime writers.

She excels at setting the scene and describing the people involved so the reader can follow the complex crimes and really understand how and why it happened.

Ann doesn't disappoint in the telling of this story about a beautiful-but-manipulative woman who tried to use the "battered spouse" defense after killing her sleeping husband. Ann's methodical presentation of this woman's life and the lives of her family as she flew back and forth between Oregon and Hawaii was easy to follow, and Ann's extensive research and interviews of friends and family of Liysa and Chris were laudatory. I listened to the book on CD while on a road trip, but brought the last CD into the house after my trip ended so I could find out how Liysa's mountain of lies would come crashing down on her. Thanks Ann!

This book was interesting and well-written. However, there is a hint of bias against Liysa Northon that begins soon into the book and becomes more and more evident as the book goes on. And, there are several repeated things, which is annoying.

I believe that Liysa is guilty of murder and should be in prison for a time. But, the bias against her had no place in this book.

I was bothered by the fact that the author dismissed Liysa's acccounts of abuse. Personally, I think it's great that she told about it. Too many victims of abuse don't. I wish they'd all scream it from the rooftops.

Do I think Liysa was an abused child? Definitely. Do I think she was abused by Chris Northon? Yes, both verbally and physically, but not to the extent physically that she claimed.

I do believe that there was a struggle between them on the camping trip and he may have thrown her in the river. There was definitely evidence of a struggle that two people would have had to be involved in and I believe that was brushed aside in the book and possibly in the investigation. I also believe that she did shoot Chris while he was sleeping, rather than in self-defense. Whether she'd finally had it and decided enough was enough or she did it out of cold blood, only she and God know.

Another thing that bothered me was that there was mention of a flight attendant who claimed to be assaulted by Chris. The investigators apparently didn't look into it or try to locate the flight attendant. And, Ann never followed up on it in the book, so why even mention it?
Chris didn't deny abusing Liysa when confronted by her friends. He would simply say things like "She was doing it, too." It was like he was justifying his actions or trying to weasle out of it.

What I found most disturbing about the book was that it was dedicated to Dane, Chris and Liysa's son, but then had a photograph of his dead father in a sleeping bag. I thought that was a pretty morbid thing to do.

Also, it took me less than a minute to find the real names of the children, Aukai King and Dane Northon. So, I don't see the point in changing their names in the book.

Once again Ann Rule builds the character block by block, helping the reader see the whole spectrum of the person. People can be both good and bad, likeable and detestable.
Her research of subject matter and interviewing of witnesses is impeccable. I didn't find this book to be written in a bigger font to make up for content. This isn't fiction. The story was told, start to finish, does it really matter how many pages it did or didn't take to tell it? I hope Ann continues to tell the story for those who can no longer speak for themselves. People, who, by all accounts, were in very unfortunate situations and who deserve to still be living. Victims to be remembered as having been alive! Ann honors those unfortunate by spreading their story. Thanks for another fine writing.

For the reviewers above: I wonder who the heck reads Ann Rule for her "skillfull prose?" The story is what compells readers! I have an English degree and the lack of fluent prose does not even faze a reader who is caught up in the skillful depiction of real-life people. Those complaints are pointless. If you want good prose, try other literary genres. True crime is supposed to be relatively journalistic. I disagree with people upholding the Ted Bundy book as an example of wonderful prose by Ann Rule; I found it blowsy and distracting. This book was fascinating and absorbing, and the people involved make a deep impression on any reader. The story comes to life very quickly. A good author makes that happen, even if the style is not fluent. This book is also very relatable, we all have charismatic friends who (even though they may not be murderers) find a way to be the center of attention through dishonesty and manipulation.
Also, I am still reeling from shock at the reader above who claims that Ann Rule ignored all of these problems from Chris Northon and wrote a story based on the skewed versions of the Northon family and Liysa's old relationships. I hope it's a relative posing as an unbiased reader. I agree Ann Rule paints her victims as more saintly, (women as well as men!) but this person actually seems to believe that there was a plausible side to Liysa's allegations of abuse! Ann Rule did an excellent and merciless job showing the inconsistencies in Liysa's story, over and over. Also, she made the point very clear that Chris Northon was willing to seek therapy for his family, and included the therapist's notes about how his anger is nonviolent! She also wrote repeatedly that Chris did not appreciate Liysa's intellect and mental gifts, and ignored her ambitions. This, I agree, can be damaging to any person and is not the earmark of an attentive spouse, but it is FAR from abusive behavior. Used to feeling desired, Liysa of course was hurt when she realized Chris was used to his autonomous lifestyle. However, in her this hurt became a drive to rid herself of him in the way most beneficial to her, instead of working it out. And who were the "credible sources" who were ignored that knew about Chris's problems with alcohol? The reviewer above mentioned this, and where he or she got this knowledge is very unclear. Liysa not only murdered her husband but may have helped destroy the credibility of real abused women with her carefully concoted lies. The faking amnesia with her first husband was a practice session in her skillful deceit.
The most interesting issue this book raises is that of abuse of a male. It sounds like Chris was a victim of spousal abuse; emotionally. The damages to his character are pervasive. Anyone who still tries to find a solid thread of truth to Liysa's story of fear and abuse is doing a GREAT DISSERVICE to abused victims all over the world and is ignoring the real signs of abuse. Hopefully this woman's lies did not do damage to anyone's real story. Hopefully she asks for a new trial and gets NAILED with a life sentence so that her stories do not harm her sons.

Book Full of Yawns
What makes for a quality true crime book is not just good writing (although good writing compensates for many weaknesses in the story) but one or more of many important components: a compelling mystery or riveting plot, accessible and likable victim(s), despicable or at least interesting villains, and often a well developed history and sense of place. In Ann Rule's 2003 offering, Heart Full of Lies, all but one of these ingredients is sorely lacking in this listless and tedious narrative that was both a chore and a disappointment to me as an admirer and patron of Ms. Rule's work. The only explanation I can deduce for this author's surprising nosedive into substandard is that she must have gotten involved in this case after the trial, and committed to writing the book before she rolled up her pant legs and waded out to what would be extremely shallow, flat, and sterile waters that represented the lives of the main characters of this story.
Of the 379 pages in this book, roughly half of them are redundant repetition of the same tired manipulative meanderings of the murdering wife, Liysa DeWitt's(plus three married surnames) attempts via electronic mail, feigned or self-inflicted injuries, unsupported allegations and other trumped up histrionics to demonstrate to her friends, family and acquaintances that she was a battered spouse. The fact that so many of her friends, who were themselves professionals and worldly individuals, believed her stories lends support to my continuing observation that people are very naive and terribly ignorant about the ubiquitous problem of domestic violence. The more you know about domestic violence, the more readily you can identify the signs, and after initial investigation, the perpetration of a fraud by a disturbed individual with a sinister agenda.
Ms. Rule frequently describes Liysa as a "devoted mother" and a "brilliant writer," but shows absolutely no documentation or anecdotal support for either. We see no examples of Liysa's prolific writing: her countless journals, screenplays, story outlines or voluminous correspondence, perhaps because the author was unable to secure permission to publish any of them. Considering Liysa, in the 37 years before she was incarcerated, never had a single thing published or made a dime writing, I find it difficult to believe she was all that great, especially without sampling her wares.
With regard to Liysa's wonderful parenting skills, this was a woman with no sense of boundaries whatsoever, and typical of the Narcissistic mother, her children were vicarious personifications of herself. She was so entrenched in their lives, she breast fed them until they were over four years old, home schooled them, never let them visit any of the grandparents, dragged them on airplanes from Oregon to Hawaii, and moved them to various homes like luggage. She went to such great lengths to make her sons so utterly dependent on her, that when she was jailed for the murder of her husband (the second child's father) her eldest son, who was about ten, suffered from post traumatic stress and was incapacitated for months. I don't think that a woman who deliberately denies her children the skills for self-sufficiency deserves to be called a "devoted mother." Sick, yes.
And what about the victim, Chris Northon? Do we learn anything about him in this book that makes us care about what happened to him? Do we like him? Are we outraged by his murder? Not really. Christ Northon is portrayed as one-dimensional, generically agreeable, and bland as a salt-less cracker. Here is a man who at 40 allows the mousy, twice-divorced, barefoot, skinny Liysa seduce him out of bachelorhood into fatherhood and marriage, with about as much (...) appeal as a pair of tube socks. We learn little from the author about Chris's dreams and goals, and instead are privy to a long list of his recreational interests such as camping, hiking, skiing and surfing. He and Liysa shared a home in both Oregon and Hawaii, and he was a pilot for Hawaiian airlines. His childhood was happy, his parents normal, and what he ever saw in Liysa remains the only real mystery in this story.
The most interesting parts of the book, and where Ms. Rule shines, is in her descriptions of Hawaii, and of the people and landscape of the area in which the Northon's lived. Otherwise, she struggles to keep your interest. Even the final "Perry Mason" moment during the trial, after which a plea bargain is made and the jury sent home, dies on the vine when we are left hanging over what incriminating information was extracted from Liysa's computer that forced her attorneys to renegotiate her plea. Thus, we are denied even a good trial to read after the painful page turning prior. As a rule (pun intended) I recommend Ann Rule, and have thoroughly enjoyed many of her books. However, Heart Full of Lies proved to be frustrating, predictable, repetitious, and without the juicy fleshing out of characters we have come to expect from the skillful masters of true crime genre. The book did not elicit any passion for its victim or perpetrator, and strained the elements of credibility that this insipid, obsessive-compulsive, habitual lying, self-absorbed, hedonistic woman had such persuasive and charismatic powers that she fooled virtually everyone she knew.

Loved the book - right on the money! Very fast paced - typical Ann Rule can't put it down style! Can't wait to read her father's "factual version" that he refers to - what a laugh. You can be sure that he will leave out the emails between he and his daughter regarding the gun he purchased for her and the premeditation that is so clearly detailed on the hard drive of her computer. Wayland, will you "Tell us just how involved you really were?"; "Will you set the record straight on the kind of woman Lisa's mother Sharon really is??" - guess you'll probably leave both of those chapters out..... I knew all of you and Lisa is where she belongs - she is guilty of murder!

Of course Liysa's (changed her name from Lisa), own father would write a negative review. His daughter is in prision for another 10 years. Ann Rule does have correct information. It all comes down to this.....Lisa/Liysa killed another human.....THE END!

Once again Ann has captivated her readers. Her characters are so well defined they become real. Like some neighbor, or friend you once knew.As the story unfolds, she has you pondering, perplexing questions as to why this murder occurred.Its a fascinating tale of the psychopathic mind and how this personality will go to the extremeto accomplish her mission; MURDER!("The Kill") This narrative will keep you engrossed from page one to the last bloody page.Ann Rule has kept me entertained with her brilliant writing for over 20 years. Another fine job. I think this book ranks along side one of her best, "Dead by Sunset".

It almost seems like someone else wrote this book other than Ann Rule. It was not up to her standards at all. I have read every book she has written, and I know how she writes. This book is not her best work.
The editing leaves a lot to be desired as well. Some sentences don't make any sense.
Ms Rule must have had something else to do and just wanted to put this book out in a hurry.
I look forward to reading her next book though!

Well constructed tick tock of a husband murder that built up over several years and culminated in a planned shooting that left a few too many questions. The wife was bipolar and that explains a lot. She still has her defenders, remarkably. The husband comes off as the true victim. If you like true crime, this one is well worth the time. Ann Rule is top notch in the genre.

Loved the book - right on the money! Very fast paced - typical Ann Rule can't put it down style! Can't wait to read her father's "factual version" that he refers to - what a laugh. You can be sure that he will leave out the emails between he and his daughter regarding the gun he purchased for her and the premeditation that is so clearly detailed on the hard drive of her computer. Wayland, will you "Tell us just how involved you really were?"; "Will you set the record straight on the kind of woman Lisa's mother Sharon really is??" - guess you'll probably leave both of those chapters out..... I knew all of you and Lisa is where she belongs - she is guilty of murder!

Of course Liysa's (changed her name from Lisa), own father would write a negative review. His daughter is in prision for another 10 years. Ann Rule does have correct information. It all comes down to this.....Lisa/Liysa killed another human.....THE END!

Once again Ann has captivated her readers. Her characters are so well defined they become real. Like some neighbor, or friend you once knew.As the story unfolds, she has you pondering, perplexing questions as to why this murder occurred.Its a fascinating tale of the psychopathic mind and how this personality will go to the extremeto accomplish her mission; MURDER!("The Kill") This narrative will keep you engrossed from page one to the last bloody page.Ann Rule has kept me entertained with her brilliant writing for over 20 years. Another fine job. I think this book ranks along side one of her best, "Dead by Sunset".

It almost seems like someone else wrote this book other than Ann Rule. It was not up to her standards at all. I have read every book she has written, and I know how she writes. This book is not her best work.
The editing leaves a lot to be desired as well. Some sentences don't make any sense.
Ms Rule must have had something else to do and just wanted to put this book out in a hurry.
I look forward to reading her next book though!

Well constructed tick tock of a husband murder that built up over several years and culminated in a planned shooting that left a few too many questions. The wife was bipolar and that explains a lot. She still has her defenders, remarkably. The husband comes off as the true victim. If you like true crime, this one is well worth the time. Ann Rule is top notch in the genre.

Ann's books are ALWAYS great reads! The best are "Dead by Sunset" "Small Sacrifices"& of course "Stranger beside Me". This most recent may not be 5 stars but I couldn't put it down and that's all that matters! I read all reviews & was intrigued by 2 reviews written by Liysa'a family members. I cannot imagine how it would feel to know your daughter is a cold blooded killer...I never doubted it. If Mr. De Witt does write the book- I will buy it and am anxious to hear what he may have to say. I believe that Ann Rule does her research and the book is the truth but if there is more to the story I'll be willing to listen.

I bought this book at the airport in Sacramento and it was the perfect read for a long flight---quick and easy, suspenseful, etc. However, compared to some of Rule's other books, there are some serious flaws with this one. Namely, the lack of a legitimate psychiatric evaluation to support her claims that Liysa is histrionic, a sociopath, etc. I found that up until she murders her husband, Liysa appears simply self-centered and overly dramatic---not necessarily a sociopathic manipulator. In fact, I found that the only really unusual behavior she exhibited was her bout of "amnesia" and frankly I had to wonder about this guy and his mother that they would go along with that as long as they did!

It also bothers me that Rule dismisses Liysa's claims of abuse (both domestic and childhood)so easily. Although I am sure there are general characteristics that many abuse victims might share, there are exceptions to all of these.

Finally, some of Rule's comments are quite sexist. She describes Liysa's desire to have sex every day as a sexual compulsion. I don't know that daily sex qualifies as a "compulsion" and I wonder if a man expressed this same desire if it would be viewed in the same manner.

I knew the main character she is writing about. I was incarcerated in the same place she's at. I must say to know her helps the story make much more sense, and Rule's description of her is so dead on. She is loony!
Thank you Ann Rule!

Once again, Ann Rule's diligent research enables her to provide the reader with unplumbed, in-depth background. Told more from this angle than the hard-core crime approach, it builds in "can't put it down" fashion to the killing, arrest, trial and conviction. Rule recognizes that not everyone agrees with the verdict, but I doubt anyone will disagree that this is a tragic, complex, perplexing case. Give it a read and see what YOU think!

Great book. Hard to read, merely because of the poor victim that I felt Chris was. Liysa was a myriad of contradictions and scary to say the least. First time reading Ann Rule and it was hard for me to put down.

I found the book both intriguing and disturbing in that a woman could manipulate so many people in her life and think she could get away with it. I feel the author layed out the case superbly and that when she was finished with her details of the case there was only one conclusion one could establish. I thought it was well written and a good read. It kept me turning the pages way into the night.