one of the best true crime books ever

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	• 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
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highly recommended

Chilling Account

Ann Rule's "The Stranger Beside Me" is probably the most frightening of all the accounts of Ted Bundy's murderous career. Why? Because Rule was a former policewoman, she considered Ted Bundy a co-worker and friend and never saw the sociopathic personality lurking behind his charming facade. As a society, I think we want to believe that we can easily spot those Bundys, Dahmers, Gacys . . . and Rule's book emphasizes the fact that we cannot. Those monsters blend in sometimes seamlessly with the rest of us.
Rule's book does a huge service to Bundy's victims by recognizing them as more than just "Bundy victims". Reading about their dreams, their goals and their daily lives makes the horror of their deaths sting even more.
Rule's sadness over the story comes through in nearly every page - - sadness at the loss of lives and sadness over what Bundy's life could have been and what he could have offered had he not been so consumed by murder. Having known Bundy before he became infamous as a serial killer, Rule gives insight into Bundy's personality and character, from his childhood, through his adolescence into his political and legal aspirations, all the while fostering a murderous rage toward women.
An insightful book, one that makes you check and doublecheck your windows and doors and pray that you never cross the path of someone like Bundy.
Definitely one of Rule's best books. Highly recommended.

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one of the best true crime books ever

If you have yet to read this book, I envy you. It was the first true-crime book I ever read, and remains one of the best to this day. Read this book at night, alone in the dark, and you will be terrified. But the book is very multi-dimensional. The victims are not treated as mere props, you will truly feel for them. Rule, a mature woman and former police officer, was taken in by Bundy's charming persona. Her gradual (and very reluctant) realization that he was a serial killer make an engrossing story. The lesson is that "charm" is not necessarily a god-given personal attribute, but could be the tool of a manipulative human predator. If this aspect of "The Stranger Beside Me" is of interest to you, try reading "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin DeBecker. It contains a lot of fascinating information on identifying the tactics of manipulation.

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Stranger Beside Me

From policewoman to author, someone who knew and actually sat next to and worked with Ted Bundy. She sure knew him well. This book is really long and has a lot of good details about the many years of crimes and the long times it took them to "capture" him-without him actually escaping. He was very devious! This is definitly NOT for anyone under 18-20, it has some very graphic accounts of what he did to the women, if you are squeemish, not the book for you.

Truth trumps fiction

Ann Rule, a true-crime author, is hired to chronicle the hunt for a brutal serial killer. Slowly she comes to realize that the homicidal maniac police are searching for is her beloved friend and co-worker. No one can make real life characters as compelling as Ann Rule, and The Stranger Beside Me is a masterpiece. And what makes later editions worth the trouble of seeking out is the additional material Rule adds, often in answer to readers' questions.

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Compelling to say the least

This book is amazing. Rule strings you along throughout, and not until the end does she even name Bundy as the actual killer. This book made me wake up in the night in a cold sweat and I still couldn't put it down. One knock. Although I realise its part of the story, I wasn't fond of the constant switchings into Ann's life. She might have been able to make the book without it; she might not have. Either way, this book will keep you reading until the last page...three times over.

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