A fascinating first hand account

books:


	• The Stranger Beside Me (Revised and Updated): 20th Anniversary Ann Rule Signet, 2001 - 560 pages average customer review:based on 175 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Could Not Be Stranger

For years, I was hesitant to give this book a try based on the amount of books Ann Rule has written. She seemed too commercial and exploitive of a true crime writer for my palate. I was pleasantly surprise at how much I enjoyed "The Stranger Beside Me". The best part was that I only paid a quarter for the book at a used book fair.

Ann Rule worked with Bundy as a volunteer on Crisis lines for a Seattle mental health clinic. Bundy seemed to be a normal caring person as he befriended Rule, which was before his crimes started. However, something inside of him snapped. Stephanie, the woman that broke his heart, seemed to send him into a spiral of violence that would not end. The cycle was only interrupted by his incarceration, before he escaped and continued to kill. Nearly every woman he killed beared some resemblance to Stephanie.

Rule shows tremedous skill in her storytelling, making the book tough to put down. Her chronology of Bundy's life, includes his confusion toward the identity of his mother as he was born illegitimate. The details of the crimes leaves little to be desired, as Rule does an excellent job describing the scenes without being at the crime scenes.

As the main editorial review provided by Amazon.com suggests, the updated versions do not add much to the book. So if you have an opportunity to save some money, buy an older copy. Based on my experience, I am looking forward to reading many of Ann Rule's other book. I would suggest true crime fans do the same.

for more information click here

A fascinating first hand account

I know I'm not the only one out there fascinated by serial killers and deviant behavior. If you're looking to read a book about Ted Bundy, read this one. Ann Rule had a contract to write about this book before anyone knew who was committing the brutal murders. Little did she know it was her co-worker and friend Ted Bundy.

It is an interesting account of the Ted murders as it's coming from someone who knew him and trusted him. At times, she suspected it could be him, and even reported him, but she still couldn't believe it.

This book shows both sides of Ted. Another good book to read on the subject is THE PHANTOM PRINCE, written by Ted's girlfriend during the whole ordeal. I believe it is out of print now, but you can get it through the InterLibrary loan.

for more information click here

The Ultimate Book on Ted Bundy

And i would say this book is also one of the greatest insights into the life of a Serial Killer, in this case one of the most known and prolific Serial Killers of the modern era, ever. Ann Rule has created a masterpiece that delves heavily into the mind of Ted Bundy, and she also keeps you hanging with every passing chapter of this 498-page book. It's hard to put this book down when reading it.

Ted Bundy has to be one of the most famous, and in my opinion, most fascinating Serial Killers ever. I have read about countless Serial Killers, i own many books on Serial Murder, but this one by Ann Rule, "The Stranger Beside Me", is undoubtedly the most gripping, realistic and most involving one i have ever read. What makes it so unique, mainly, is the fact that the Author, Ann Rule, was a good friend of Ted Bundy's. They had met and become good friends at a Crisis Clinic (Of all places for Ted Bundy to have worked..) where they both worked for a time. From their first meeting in 1971, when Ted Bundy was 24 and she herself was nearing 40, all the way to the early-mid 80's, Ann Rule kept in touch with Ted Bundy.

This book is so deeply involved, so heavily investigated and well-thought out. Another unique thing about it is how Ann Rule tends to write and describe certain things. Her way of writing, at least in this book as i don't happen to own any of her other books unfortunately, just keeps you on edge. The facts, dates and information about each murder is extremely in-depth, as is the letters and calls Ann Rule and Ted Bundy made to eachother, and what Ted Bundy has said on tape to Police Detectives and Investigators that worked on the case.

The updated chapters, from the mid to late 80's, are also a great highlight and a good reason to pick up this book. The whole book is such an interesting read, and so hard to put down when reading, that it's a mistake to pass up on this. If you are at all interested in Serial Murder, or if you are interested in Ted Bundy and his story, certainly without a doubt do not miss out on this. Pick this up straight-away, you just will not be disappointed. Ann Rule has written a classic book that will go down in history, or at least in this genre of writing's history, as one of the greatest. 5/5 is really an understatement.

Also check out books such as; "The Only Living Witness" and "Conversations With a Killer - The Death Row Interviews" by Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth, and also "The History of Murder" by Colin Wilson, a massive 639-page book that has extremely in-depth coverage of Murder all through the ages. From the years 1000 through to the Columbine Massacre of April 1999, it chronicles everything from Vlad the Impaler, Marquis de Sade, through to a very detailed and very long chapter on Serial Murder and leads into "Serial Killers of The Nineties" which is a detailed guide to some unknown and less famous Serial Killers.

for more information click here

THIS KILLER BESIDE ME...

This is an excellent true crime book. It has an unusual twist in that the author and the subject of the book, serial killer Ted Bundy, had a platonic relationship that arose from the time they were co-workers for a Seattle, Washington crisis center. Quite frankly, the author initially had no idea that Ted Bundy was anything other than what he appeared to be: a handsome, intelligent, charismatic, and articulate young man, who was, at the time, involved in local politics and later became a law student.

When he became the suspect in the disappearance and murders of a number of very young, pretty women, the author was in total disbelief. As the evidence mounted against her friend, the author, who is a former police officer, could not shut her eyes to the reality that Ted Bundy was actually a very disturbed individual who was guilty of all of which he was accused and probably guilty of other such crimes for which he was not accused for evidentiary reasons. Consequently, the author would suffer some angst for many years, as she struggled to reconcile the Ted Bundy that she thought she knew with the fiend who was compelled to commit so many vicious abductions, assaults, and murders. It is believed that at least thirty-five young women, and probably a good number more, died at the hands of Ted Bundy.

The author details the abductions, assaults, and murders of his victims from coast to coast, which crimes were ultimately to make Ted Bundy a nationwide household name, and an entity to be feared. The investigative efforts of law enforcement officers in the states of Washington, Utah, Colorado, and Florida are revealed, as are Ted Bundy's arrests and his trials. She also details his two escapes from custody in Colorado, the last of which would find him heading to the sunshine state of Florida.

Florida was an interesting choice of state for Ted Bundy, as it is a death penalty state in which convicted felons, who have been given the death penalty, are actually executed. Notwithstanding Florida's stance on capital crime, Ted Bundy went on to commit a slew of shocking assaults and murders in Florida for which he was ultimately arrested, tried, and convicted. Considering the fact that Ted Bundy could have chosen to relocate to a state other than Florida after his last escape from custody in Colorado, it almost appears as if he had a death wish by going to Florida and continuing to give in to his sick compulsion. Unfortunately for him, Florida was quite happy to make his wish come true, and on January 24, 1989, Ted Bundy was executed, and his reign of terror was finally over.

Those who like the true crime genre will enjoy this well-written and well-researched book. It is highly detailed and contains a great deal of information, some of it quite personal due to the author's relationship with Ted Bundy. She paints a very intriguing, intimate portrait of him, one that is three dimensional and complex. He was definitely a man whose benign and compelling external visage was at odds with his many internal demons, as he was a prolific serial killer. Externally, Ted Bundy was the sort of man towards whom women gravitated, and there was no dearth of Ted Bundy groupies once he made headlines.

In the updates at the end of the book, the author theorizes as to why Ted Bundy, a young man of so much promise, would end up the way that he did, and she provides some interesting and personal familial information from which the reader may draw his or her own conclusion. All in all, aficionados of the true crime genre will find much of interest in this book.

for more information click here

Different than her others

I know many are going to disagree with me, but this book about Ted Bundy wasn't all that great. There's a good deal of Bundy's biography here, but the relationship touted in the book regarding Ann Rule's friendship with Bundy seems, to me, to be stretching it for what she can. So she worked with the guy for a bit and then stayed in contact with him over the years... so what. That's like any of us writing a book about someone you worked with at a job you had in college. Rule seemed to be straining to show that she knew Bundy and were dear friends. I just didn't pick that up in this book. She seemed to be grasping to show she knew him. Otherwise, the book is a very good biography of a twisted man and his demented actions.

Another thing that bothered me about this book is the softness of it. Let me explain; in I-5 Killer, Want-Ad Killer, and Lust Killer, the author lays out the crime scene and actions as you go along in those books, giving details of what happened in the various assaults and crimes. The author avoided doing that this time, simply noting that so-and-so disappeared on this date or was found in this condition. Rather than giving the scenario and actions of the crimes, Rule glazes over them until the Chi Omega house assault, almost as if she were trying to convince herself that Bundy didn't do these crimes.

Overall, its a good book to biograph Bundy, but the author dwells on what seems to be a self-convincing thought process that her and Bundy were best buddies or childhood friends and spent dozens of years together rather than one time coworkers that stayed in touch. The whole court scenes are drawn out and appear to be space fillers but none-the-less it was certainly readable.

for more information click here

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, page 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

Wanna See How I Wasted My Summer?
ANN RULE NOVELS OF TRUE CRIME
UWLS Summer Reading List 2
Capital punishment
True cime books

search for books
stranger beside, 20th, anniversary, beside, revised, stranger, updated

Impressum / about us