Bitter Almonds: The True Story of Mothers, Daughters, and the Seattle Cyanide Murders

by Gregg Olsen | Nonfiction |
ISBN: 0446363596 Global Overview for this book
Registered by Hawaiianheat of Calgary, Alberta Canada on 9/20/2002
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This book is in the wild! This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by Hawaiianheat from Calgary, Alberta Canada on Friday, September 20, 2002
I'm a sucker for true crime, so I couldn't resist this. I'll let you know how it is once I've read it.

Journal Entry 2 by Hawaiianheat from Calgary, Alberta Canada on Tuesday, October 1, 2002
I recently saw a new edition of this book on the shelf at a drugstore. This gives the impression that it's one of those important, groundbreaking true crime novels that deserves to be re-released every so often (like "Helter Skelter", or Ann Rule's books).
But it's not.
Not that it isn't at least partly interesting: the portrait the author paints of suspected murderer Stella Nickell is at once disturbing and compelling, and it leaves the question of her guilt still up in the air. But I found it difficult to concentrate on this book at times, probably due to its stilted narrative. It also keeps putting certain sentences in italics, as if to alert the reader--"Pay attention, this will be on the test!" And all good true crime books keep things interesting during the trial, building to an anticipated decision. This book fails in that respect--the courtrom scenes simply drag on, bogged down with boring dialogue much of the time. And the murders themselves are done away with in the prologue and first chapter, almost as an afterthought.
Not a great book, just average. Room for improvement, definetely.

Journal Entry 3 by Hawaiianheat at Calgary Co-op - MacLeod Trail Centre in Calgary, Alberta Canada on Wednesday, October 16, 2002
Released on Wednesday, October 16, 2002 at MacLeod Trail Co-op Book Exchange in Calgary, Alberta Canada.

Will be released about 8:30 tonight.

Journal Entry 4 by Hawaiianheat from Calgary, Alberta Canada on Saturday, November 2, 2002
One for the "Twilight Zone" file: I never got a journal entry on this book, so I pretty much gave up on it. This afternoon I stopped in at Off the Wall, a used bookstore on 42nd Ave. SW, which I used to frequent a lot because I lived a block away from it for a time, and their selection is excellent. While browsing in the True Crime section I noticed a copy of this very book. Instinctively, I opened the cover and...lo and behold! It was my own book, still with my BC label intact! What are the odds?
Any Calgarians reading this: quick! This book is still at Off the Wall! Only three bucks! Rescue it!!!:-)
Weird, huh?

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