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........

Gosh I hate these true crime stories where you know the boyfriend/hubby is such a lowlife scumbag early on and you feel terribly for the women who luv them. They're either naive or have blinders on or just don't see the light til its too late. The individuals you feel saddest for are the kids/offspring of these parents. The hubby is a lazy sociopath who thinks he's god's gift to woman...but actually possesses no talent and sponges off of everybody...and bullies the women that care for him. Then the ex-wife is just a head-scratcher. Yes she had a poor upbringing but continues pro-creating with this monster after she knows he's no good, thinking she can be the one to change him (wrong!). Then the new wife too falls into be complicit with murder.I had to take a long hot shower after reading this one. A lot of unsavory characters. Nice job by law enforcement community though.

Dry, poorly written account of the disastrous results of a match between a psychopath and an unseasoned, naive young woman.The story is told with irrelevant and uninteresting details and often veers towards awkward, disjointed minutiae that confound the reader's attempt to follow the tale. Full of glaring examples of poor editing , the book soon becomes too troublesome to bother reading.Two stars because the author has apparently made a sincere effort but overall this book is just not effective.

Definitely a very brutal murder. This book is such a detailed account of this case that you feel you are sitting in the jury box. My heart goes out to these precious children and to Laura's loved ones.I am currently downloading another book from this great author.

Fanning does an excellent job with this horrible, horrible case. On point between mentally ill, bat crazy adults who use their kids as pawns.

Although well written the subject matter just made me I'll. If he does it once he will do it again and again . The cure? A baseball bat!

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 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.

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.

Awesome book!