Rating: 
Summary: Definitely readable, but not up to her usual standard
Review: As some of the other reviewers did, I bought this book without even opening it, assuming that it would be on par with her other efforts. Unfortunately, it is not. The basic storyline has a lot of potential, but it is not developed in close to the same depth as her other absolutely fascinating books. While this book is definitely readable, I feel that it probably should have been included as a long story in one of her true-crime collections, rather than as a full-length book. Even the extremely large type (which looks like it was designed for "low vision" readers), suggests that the publisher's goal was to stretch out an essentially story-length idea into a full-length book. That seems to me to be a little bit like cheating the reader and I wish I'd saved my money and waited until it came out in paperback.
Rating: 
Summary: Can This Lady Write!
Review: Once again Ann Rule has written another book that you can't put down. As always her style of writing draws you into the story so you feel you know the people. She truely is gifted! Buy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Another profile of a sociopath by Ann Rule
Review: I just bought this book Saturday afternoon and could not put it down-- I was finished by Sunday evening! I am a big fan of Ann Rule and all of her books. This story is a profile of a sociopath, Liysa Northon, who managed to fool an awful lot of people into thinking she was an abused wife, when really she was projecting her own rage (and murderous thoughts) onto her husband. The lies she told, and the lengths to which she went to perpetuate her story, were astonishing! This is definitely a good read; not as complicated a story as some of Ann Rule's others (my favorite is "Dead by Sunset"), but interesting nonetheless.
Rating:
Summary: But Ann ain't Sigmund
Review: 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, Amazon Reviewer.
Rating:
Summary: Lisa the wanna be.... Wayland the defender......
Review: Another great read from Ann Rule. Is it a coincidence that the reviews from the people that knew Lisa state that this story is on the money and the only two that claim this to be full of lies both have the last name of DEWITT - one her father and the other her brother....... The only stable member of that family was her mother, Sharon, who is "accused" of beating Lisa throughout her life. Any half-intelligent person will come to the same conclusion - Lisa was/is a manipulative wanna be and sits where she belongs - in prison! Wayland, you were an accessory to murder and full of hot air - some things never change!
Rating:
Summary: I knew Liysa personally...
Review: To Mr.Wayland DeWitt (Liysa's Father and an earlier critic of what was written or omitted in this book), I have a few comments to make:
I live in Lanikai, and knew Liysa, and know her old girlfriends and many of the men that she dated and her former husbands here. I also occasionally see little "Palako" and "Bjorn" (the true psychological victims of this mess Liysa created). I knew Chris through passing in the neighborhood and at the beach. While you criticize the author for never "contacting a single member of Liysa's family for this book" you won't ever be ever unable to deny her history of lying, conniving, and manipulation, and sluttish behavior that was/is her trademark as partly documented in this book. As the book says, she was very intelligent, but she also had/has serious mental problems. Blaming others, the author, Chris or the Northons won't change the facts about your daughter's mental history. She has never admitted or apologized for the sickening web of lies she spun with the men in Hawaii who were unfortunate enough to cross her path before Chris (or to the girlfriends in Hawaii that she "cried" to and who she got to actually believe her). Long BEFORE she MURDERED Bjorn's dad, Liysa single handedly SCARRED countless lives here. Most of us old-timers here in Lanikai/Kailua remember well the lies she wove. Tell us, did your wife (Mrs. Dewitt) actually regularly abuse Liysa, as she (always the victim) forever claimed? And please don't be naive enough to believe your daughter didn't smoke Marijuana as well...
The hardest thing to imagine now is the emotional scar that will be left on the two boys lives. Imagine how Bjorn feels now and will forever, having to tell friends, future girlfriend, etc "my Mom murdered my dad, and now she's in prison..." What a dreadful maternal legacy she's left hanging on him to deal with...
Liysa gets out when Bjorn will be in his mid teens. That's a major bummer for Bjorn, and for all of us who care about his future. Knowing Liysa, she'll go to her grave with no remorse, and be far to self centered and selfish to apologize to Bjorn for how bad she screwed up his and Palako's lives. She should have gotten life in prison, partly cause she deserves it, but mostly for the good of her boy's future mental health. Yeah, Liysa certainly has left her impression on this town.
I have little sympathy for you, because you sound like you're defending Liysa. Long before Chris, lies eventually did catch up with your daughter in this town Mr. Dewitt. Rather then reaching for excuses or blaming others for what happened, why don't you work on making her recognize that she can't keep BS'ing people her whole life? Be a real father and make her ACCOUNTABLE for once, and quit denying reality that she has a mental illness -she's a pathological liar. Until Liysa recognizes her own mental sickness and guilt (and you stop helping her deny it and keep naively believing her), those two beautiful grandkids of yours will never be able to get true closure or heal from this...
Rating:
Summary: ANN RULE FAN
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Shocking True Story!
Review: HEART FULL OF LIES by Ann Rule is a shocking true story about Liysa Northon, a beautiful sociopath who seduced men across the Northwest and then killed the one man who made the mistake of marrying her. This is one chilling story! John Savoy
Savoy International
Motion Pictures Inc.
California
Rating: 
Summary: How to Lie by Omission
Review: Heart Full of Lies is an interesting title. Was Ann Rule referring to Liysa or to herself? Ann Rule seems to have begun her "investigation" with a conclusion in mind, and then ignored any testimony, actions, or information that would have detracted from her conclusion. The story she tells is totally one-sided from the Northon point of view; probably the reason for this narrow view in the story is that Ann Rule interviewed no one from Liysa's side of the story. Any information about Liysa or Chris that did not come from the Northons has been totally ignored. This is not "criminal investigation"; it is sensationalism, trying to play up what Ann Rule believes is a criminal act without letting the reader see that the story is much more complex than than the author portrays it to be. After all, if the author has her mind made up before she begins her "investigation," it would weaken her book if the reader could think by the end of the book, "Good heavens! He did those things to her and to her children? No wonder Liysa felt she had to do something to protect herself and her children." The author had all the documents she needed to tell a TRUE story, but she did not use them. Hence, she tells a false, although sensational, story. The writing itself is amaturish -- not what one would expect from a "professional." The book is disjointed, moving from one place to another, one person to another, one topic to another, seemingly without logic or purpose. The characters are poorly drawn -- as they would be if the writer must leave out anything which would "damage" her preconceived point of view. As fiction this story would rate below average at best. As a true story of the tragedy of four people's lives -- Liysa, Chris, and two children -- the story Ann Rule tells is false. So, whose heart IS full of lies?
Rating: 
Summary: Another disappointed Ann Rule fan
Review: I usually really appreciate Ann Rule's books, so I'm sorry to say that this one is a bust. The storytelling is simply not up to her standards. There are no thrilling twists, no courtroom intrigue, no real surprises. I don't feel I know much more about the characters after reading the book than I did after reading the dust jacket. Wait for it in paperback.
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