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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
Scary to think that you can spend your whole time with someone and not know that they could be a deadly killer. Ann Rule gives a highly detailed account about Bundy's life, their interactions at work, and his murders and trials. Now while it doesn't get graphic, it's more of how mentally scarring it can be. It has a feel that reminds me of Devil in the White City, but I do say that it drags around the end and goes about 100 pages too long. It's great, of you like true crime.
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
In general, I hate serial killer confession tapes. They are cringe and infuriating because the killer is in it to be showy and self aggrandizing. That is what Ted Bundy was when it came to the trials. Thinking he was better than everyone else and overshadowing the memories of the women that he murdered, especially during the Florida trials. Those sweet girls/women deserved better all around. Being a psychopath he lacks the emotion to care for others and only himself, which is apparent through this whole book. Let's shed a tear for having the freedom to play racketball and being able to go biking and not for the 36+ women that you brutally murdered/attacked. Beyond angering.
I don’t want to associate serial killers as being anything but monsters, especially someone like Ted Bundy, but having it written from someone that was his friend and having their conversations made me both uncomfortable and intrigued, which I think is why this book is so popular in the true crime world. Ann separates that he was her friend, but that he also did these horrific killings that she knew to be true.
I don’t want to associate serial killers as being anything but monsters, especially someone like Ted Bundy, but having it written from someone that was his friend and having their conversations made me both uncomfortable and intrigued, which I think is why this book is so popular in the true crime world. Ann separates that he was her friend, but that he also did these horrific killings that she knew to be true.
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
Contains a lot of facts. But as much as I tried to put it from my mind, and as much as the author claims she only cared for him as a friend, if definitely reads like a woman in love with him. I found it kind of gross.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
dark
informative
slow-paced
It was definitely informative of the "other side" of Ted Bundy. However, I can't help but distrust the author. She clearly knew Ted Bundy was a serial killer and yet she still felt pity and sorrow when he died. As a mother, she should have a sense of empathy for all of the parents who are left without children, without the faintest idea of what happened to their daughters. It doesn't matter how good of a "friend" someone is to me when they prove to not be a great person--you cut the cord. He completely manipulated her to gain--I don't know, a mother figure? Clearly he used her while in prison to gain money. I am just disappointed that in her writing she never changed her opinion, she still wrote about him with a clear sense of pity in her words. He's a monster and she needed to portray that.
I read the most updated version of this, so Ann seems to have a better understanding of her role/place within Ted's life later in life, but oh my goodness did she see herself as being self-important in "saving" him. Even though she tries to separate herself from the groupies and his lovers, it is pretty evident from her own retelling that she and Ted had a very intimate (not sexual) relationship that blinds her from his motives and true personality.
Felt a bit like she was fangirling over a self-professed and confessed serial killer. Gave me the ick.
This book... WOW. It really is such a unique perspective on a fascinating serial killer. Ann Rule knew Ted Bundy before he started abducting and violently killing women, and she thought he was a cool dude. That storyline alone reads like a novel - totally nuts. She's an amazing writer, and really communicates the mulitple personalities part of him.
There's so much here... I really knew nothing going into the story and it's SUCH a 70's story, in away. Solving crime in the days before databases and communication between states and prison security (he escaped TWICE!) I'm not a very paranoid person so I generally assume the best in others... like they're not going to try to murder me. This is a good check to that. Knowing people like this exist (not many of them but they're out there) is worth remembering time to time. I really should have read this before college & living alone. Since my cat decimated the cover of the book I now own it and will probably force it on my daughter when she's older.
One salient point from the intro: After the book, many women contacted her who claimed Ted had tried to get them to come with him, or they'd talked to him but felt creeped otu. Many got away (though 36 women-probably many more than that - didn't). The point being: if something doesn't feel right, run away. Don't be polite, don't get in the car, just go. One ploy he used was putting a fake cast on his leg and using crutches (to make the girls help him and not feel threatened.) He was the worst. *shudder* So friends, ladies, trust your gut.
I give this a solid 4.5 star rating, only thing I didn't love was how long it was but even still she probably could have told so much more, and I respect that she told each woman's story thoroughly.
There's so much here... I really knew nothing going into the story and it's SUCH a 70's story, in away. Solving crime in the days before databases and communication between states and prison security (he escaped TWICE!) I'm not a very paranoid person so I generally assume the best in others... like they're not going to try to murder me. This is a good check to that. Knowing people like this exist (not many of them but they're out there) is worth remembering time to time. I really should have read this before college & living alone. Since my cat decimated the cover of the book I now own it and will probably force it on my daughter when she's older.
One salient point from the intro: After the book, many women contacted her who claimed Ted had tried to get them to come with him, or they'd talked to him but felt creeped otu. Many got away (though 36 women-probably many more than that - didn't). The point being: if something doesn't feel right, run away. Don't be polite, don't get in the car, just go. One ploy he used was putting a fake cast on his leg and using crutches (to make the girls help him and not feel threatened.) He was the worst. *shudder* So friends, ladies, trust your gut.
I give this a solid 4.5 star rating, only thing I didn't love was how long it was but even still she probably could have told so much more, and I respect that she told each woman's story thoroughly.
audiobook - it’s the gold standard of true crime for a reason, I listened to the whole thing in one afternoon.