Bitter Remains: A Custody Battle, A Gruesome Crime, and the Mother Who Paid the Ultimate Price

Half of the book is the trial which is very repetitive. And with the crucial testimony of defendant Amanda Hayes during her trial (which is a gift not often given to the prosecution)--the best part of the book would have been the cross examination by the ADA about the crazy tale of what happened in the apartment— but we don't hear one word! Super disappointing. Still not over it and hoping to find another book written on this case someday.It would have also been more interesting to have learned more details of the background of Amanda. I read a lot of true crime and rarely do they devote such a large portion of the book to the trial, especially when no new or interesting pieces of information are gained by it. She has a very annoying habit of describing everyone as they begin to sit in the witness stand. It is done in another boring, and soon, expected manner so that you dread another witness sitting down.I wanted to read it because the body was found a few miles from my house. The first half of the book was pretty good........

What a great read this was! Such a tragic child custody case that ended up so horribly wrong. When I saw the list of characters at the beginning, I thought it was going to be very complicated book to follow, but it was not. Ms. Fanning obviously spent an enormous amount of time researching this book and she presented it in an easy to follow fashion. I especially liked the way the court proceedings were presented - in a story fashion rather than a court transcript fashion. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys true crime.

This book started out really good. Then it got to the trial of not one, but two plaintiffs. More then half the book was taken up by boring, redundant trial testimony. I had to force myself to finish.

I'm still reading this book, but it's a very good read. I like Diane Fanning's writing. It's a very sad story about a single mother battling her ex over custody of their 2 sons. Read it.

Sad but true...the story bogs down one they go to trial but at least justice is served.Saw this story on Snapped and didn't make the connection at first, but then it call came back to me.Hard to believe it's true....

This is a VERY sad story about how two sick people took a mother from her children.. forever. I enjoyed how informational it was, but to know what they did to Laura also made me angry & sick. And to have to think about those babies & how they're going to have to deal with this for the rest of their lives too....I read a lot of true crime books...but it still sickens me that we have to share this world with deranged people like Grant & Amanda. Hayes

A good true crime story, once again greed and grudges, warrant the killing of a perfectly good human being. One thing true crime teaches is to take more than one look, pause again and again, before allowing one self to become a victim. Apparently, there are no limits as to who can kill, and this book is just one more example. 4 Stars.

A great read and yet another tragic glimpse of what human beings can do to one another.How you could choose to think pre-meditated murder could be the solution to your problems just continues to baffle me.And in cases such as these, it is apparent that the children are nothing more than possessions to be fought over. And they are ultimately left orphaned by those that were supposed to put their needs above all else.

A terribly sad story. Very gripping. Thank you!

A frightening possibility to anyone embarking on a new relationship

I'm half way done this book... This story is so sad to read.

Ridiculous characters; hard to believe this could really happen.

Riveting from start to finish, my heart goes out to the kids and family. A cruel way for a person to die.

Excellent research and presentation. The book was engrossing and a real domestic violence story that was really hard hitting. Great read

excellent book

ONLY READ HALF OF IT