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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
dark
informative
medium-paced
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
A dark story that clearly tells the timeline of events between Ann and Ted... I've heard most of the story but it was nice to hear it in Ann's own voice....
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder
Moderate: Body horror
dark
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
While I did enjoy this book, I struggled with the fact that even after the author found out what Ted was doing, she still had empathy for him. I don’t think I would if my friend did anything similar to what Ted Bundy did.
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
I've had this audiobook forever, for reasons I can't remember, and since I wanted something long and distracting as I knew I was going to be on the bus a lot this quarter for school, I thought why not. I'm not a true crime aficionado at all (okay, I liked Mindhunters on Netflix, sue me), but this was different enough to interest me: Ann Rule knew, worked with, and was friends with Ted Bundy. She wrote to him and spoke with him while he was in prison. She was in court for his trial. There was nothing romantic at all (I couldn't have read that) as she was 20 years his senior, but still, a writer for a detective magazine who often consulted with the police...knew one of the most infamous serial killers.
The insights she provides into Bundy are memorable. They met working at a suicide hotline where she notes that he saved lives and she saw him do so. How horribly ironic. It's therefore hard for her to grasp that the Ted she knows could possibly be this inhuman monster kidnapping and killing women randomly and viciously. But when she was his friend he was already starting on his path; as she does the math later, it seems clear that by the time she knew him he had already kidnapped and killed a young girl and another teen girl.
They drift apart but as details emerge about the killer in Washington state, something pulls at Ann and she eventually gives his name and description to the police; when they find that he owns a VW bug like the suspect, she goes straight into denial and for a long time can't reconcile the Ted she knew with this murderer. Ted gets back in touch, essentially to milk her for information due to her close ties to the police and to see how much they know, how close they are to catching him.
There's so much I didn't really know about Bundy and his crimes and they are indeed horrific. Rule walks a pretty good line in terms of limiting the gruesome details and not indulging too much in humanizing Bundy. She acknowledges her growing doubts about him and yet remains a vital resource for him...she sends him money and stamps and other things he requests up through his convictions and even while he sat on death row in Florida. Even after she'd seen the photos and heard testimony of his crimes. It's mind-boggling. She does try to reconcile her actions with who Bundy is a bit but it never fully works for me.
She does tell him that she's writing a book on the Washington state murders (commissioned before Bundy was a suspect) and she seeks his permission at every turn to use his letters, phone calls, etc. When he doesn't give permission, she keeps her promises not to use his words. And she insists she didn't know for sure about his guilt for a LONG TIME in this book and at one point in a talk with Bundy she offers to split profits with him if he wants to write "some chapters" of the book. Okay, seriously, what the hell? If she thought he was innocent, what did she think he would write? About the deprivations of prison? Sure.
I just...as interesting as this book is and as "fair" and "up front" as she tries to be, it still feels a little opportunistic. I definitely think she could have reflected far more deeply and openly on her own motivations. When did she realize her relationship with Ted Bundy would elevate her book above anything else that came out? Why did she decide it was cool to capitalize on this? I get the sense she doesn't want to stare at those questions for too long and the book is lesser for it.
Still, she wrote an undeniable page turner that does reveal parts of Bundy others likely could not. Does the fact that she ended up building an extremely successful true crime career off of this serial killer make it all too distasteful? I don't know. For her, it obviously didn't.
The insights she provides into Bundy are memorable. They met working at a suicide hotline where she notes that he saved lives and she saw him do so. How horribly ironic. It's therefore hard for her to grasp that the Ted she knows could possibly be this inhuman monster kidnapping and killing women randomly and viciously. But when she was his friend he was already starting on his path; as she does the math later, it seems clear that by the time she knew him he had already kidnapped and killed a young girl and another teen girl.
They drift apart but as details emerge about the killer in Washington state, something pulls at Ann and she eventually gives his name and description to the police; when they find that he owns a VW bug like the suspect, she goes straight into denial and for a long time can't reconcile the Ted she knew with this murderer. Ted gets back in touch, essentially to milk her for information due to her close ties to the police and to see how much they know, how close they are to catching him.
There's so much I didn't really know about Bundy and his crimes and they are indeed horrific. Rule walks a pretty good line in terms of limiting the gruesome details and not indulging too much in humanizing Bundy. She acknowledges her growing doubts about him and yet remains a vital resource for him...she sends him money and stamps and other things he requests up through his convictions and even while he sat on death row in Florida. Even after she'd seen the photos and heard testimony of his crimes. It's mind-boggling. She does try to reconcile her actions with who Bundy is a bit but it never fully works for me.
She does tell him that she's writing a book on the Washington state murders (commissioned before Bundy was a suspect) and she seeks his permission at every turn to use his letters, phone calls, etc. When he doesn't give permission, she keeps her promises not to use his words. And she insists she didn't know for sure about his guilt for a LONG TIME in this book and at one point in a talk with Bundy she offers to split profits with him if he wants to write "some chapters" of the book. Okay, seriously, what the hell? If she thought he was innocent, what did she think he would write? About the deprivations of prison? Sure.
I just...as interesting as this book is and as "fair" and "up front" as she tries to be, it still feels a little opportunistic. I definitely think she could have reflected far more deeply and openly on her own motivations. When did she realize her relationship with Ted Bundy would elevate her book above anything else that came out? Why did she decide it was cool to capitalize on this? I get the sense she doesn't want to stare at those questions for too long and the book is lesser for it.
Still, she wrote an undeniable page turner that does reveal parts of Bundy others likely could not. Does the fact that she ended up building an extremely successful true crime career off of this serial killer make it all too distasteful? I don't know. For her, it obviously didn't.