Much Anticipated…
The complete and updated true story of Stella Nickell and the cyanide poisonings that shook small town America and resonated everywhere. With sleight of hand the author paints a detailed and credible picture of the the main players in this real life drama, the families concerned and of Stella herself. The narrative takes the reader right up to and after the court case and never lets interest wane. An account which is as unsettling as it is compelling and immersive. This is a much anticipated update of the author’s original book ‘Bitter Almonds’ - should the reader have read the original book, as I have, this updated edition contains recent enlightening and intriguing information which is more than well worth a visit. True crime aficionados should not be disappointed.

I was excited to get my hands on this true crime book from NY Times bestselling author Gregg Olsen. Although it was clearly very well-researched, I’m sorry to say it did not live up to my expectations or the high caliber of Olsen’s other work. I'll note that this is a reprinting of one of Olsen's much earlier works, "Bitter Almonds", he's come a long way since then!

The case of Stella Nickell and her husband’s death by cyanide poisoning sounded fascinating, but this book suffers from two related problems. First, even though the crime itself is interesting, there just isn’t enough subject matter for a book-length treatment. This leads to the second issue: so.much.repetition. Events are rehashed multiple times, and then once more for good measure during the trial.

Also – and this may be just a “me” thing – but there are so many family members and side characters introduced that I had a hard time keeping them straight. I understand that the author was trying to show us the true depth of Stella’s dysfunctional family, but I found myself frequently referring back to earlier mentions in the story to figure out who the individuals were. A list of characters and their relationships to Stella, or even a family tree of Stella’s family, would be a very helpful addition.

I read 'If You Tell' and it was all right. Nothing spectacular. I've certainly read better written and more entertaining true crime books. But people went gaga for it, so I felt like I was missing something. And that led me to this book. Yet again, it was an okay book. Not the best, but decent. I don't get it.

I enjoyed If You Tell and was hoping for more out of American Mother. It was incredibly well researched and well written. Like many other reviewers have said though, the book was very redundant. I did enjoy coming into it knowing nothing about the case and learning a ton along the way.

There is no doubt that Gregg Olsen can write. So many of his books have been among my favorites. This is not one of them. The subject matter in American Mother is intriguing. Product tampering is a horrific crime and can instill fear in whole communities. This book deals with cyanide poisoning in headache capsules and the deaths of Bruce Nickell, and Sue Snow both from the Pacific Northwest. The problem is that this this would make a perfect Dateline story and not a long-drawn-out novel. The story, though well written, is old news. Even an author with the creds of Olsen is forced into repetition. Too bad. It held such promise.

There was not enough dialogue for me to really get into the book. There was a lot of repetition throughout the book although the book was very researched. Others might enjoy this but it was not for me.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

I have read so many of this author’s books that I was looking forward to another. I was disappointed. There really wasn’t much about any of the characters or the plot to make me care. A fictional account would have been better.