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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
medium-paced
When I began writing fact-detective stories, I promised myself that I would always remember I was writing about the loss of human beings, that I was never to forget that. I hope that the work I did might somehow save other victims, might warn them of the danger. I never wanted to become tough, to seek out the sensational and the gory, and I never have.
The story of Ted Bundy from someone who knew him in her life. I can't say I didn't have an idea of who he was before reading this, but this book gives you a firm picture of who he was as a person and what to look out for in your day to day life.
Ann Rule worked with Bundy when he was still in college when they were working a Seattle crisis clinic in 1971. This isn't just about Ted Bundy and what he did. It is a story about the actions of one awful man who affected so many people.
It goes through the start of his life to the very end when he was executed.
If you wish to learn the depth of this person and everything he did, the influence he had over women, and the extent of his trials and personality, then I can not recommend a better book than this.
The story of Ted Bundy from someone who knew him in her life. I can't say I didn't have an idea of who he was before reading this, but this book gives you a firm picture of who he was as a person and what to look out for in your day to day life.
Ann Rule worked with Bundy when he was still in college when they were working a Seattle crisis clinic in 1971. This isn't just about Ted Bundy and what he did. It is a story about the actions of one awful man who affected so many people.
It goes through the start of his life to the very end when he was executed.
If you wish to learn the depth of this person and everything he did, the influence he had over women, and the extent of his trials and personality, then I can not recommend a better book than this.
4.5. What a fascinating story! As Ann mentions in the book, it's almost too good to be true. How does a crime reporter befriend a serial killer and have no clue as to what he's capable of? It's really a testament to how good Ted Bundy was at playing the charming, "normal" guy. Very quick listen on audio.
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3/5
This book was super interesting and creepy, but you could really tell it was written in the late 70s/early 80s. Some of the language really dates the book, and it sometimes made me uncomfortable to see words like the "r" word used nonchalantly.
It's also a bit longer than I think is entirely necessary, but I still found it all really interesting. There are so many movies and books out there about Ted Bundy now that this book kind of felt like overkill, but then I remembered this book pre-dates a lot of the movies and books about Bundy. I had to approach it from that mindset so that I could really enjoy it.
It's super creepy to see how Ann trusted and never suspected Ted. This book did a great job of showing how Ted manipulated everyone around him, even those who were aware that they were likely being manipulated. It was reallyyyy creepy and unsettling. I think I'm done reading true crime for a while... I need a break from the creepiness
This book was super interesting and creepy, but you could really tell it was written in the late 70s/early 80s. Some of the language really dates the book, and it sometimes made me uncomfortable to see words like the "r" word used nonchalantly.
It's also a bit longer than I think is entirely necessary, but I still found it all really interesting. There are so many movies and books out there about Ted Bundy now that this book kind of felt like overkill, but then I remembered this book pre-dates a lot of the movies and books about Bundy. I had to approach it from that mindset so that I could really enjoy it.
It's super creepy to see how Ann trusted and never suspected Ted. This book did a great job of showing how Ted manipulated everyone around him, even those who were aware that they were likely being manipulated. It was reallyyyy creepy and unsettling. I think I'm done reading true crime for a while... I need a break from the creepiness
Wry surprised this has so many positive reviews. I suppose it was a quick easy read because it was really just a recitation of events with no real storytelling or place setting. Dates, locations, names, causes of death. I’m surprised Rule worked as a writer because she’s not particularly good, nor does she seem very smart (how did the phrase “canine dogs” make it through editing?). One detail somewhat early on may have biased me against the author: she referred to an act of a woman being penetrated with a curtain rod as she was being murdered as “not raped.”
I don’t understand the continued hype around this book. While I get that at one time it was the original true crime junkie piece, I found the book to be incredibly repetitive. I also found Ann Rule to be less likable as the book went on. Her continued loyalty to Ted Bundy and her weird friendship to him despite his obvious guilt and conviction was very irritating. I would’ve rather the book have just been the facts rather than her relationship with him.
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
It was interesting but the way she writes eventually rubs me the wrong way. The sympathy by the end read as either naivety (which I find hard to believe), a ploy in her writing, or just idiocy. I don't see how she could feel "so" close to a co-worker that she mentions frequently she hasn't seen in a long time. Her decision to correspond does feel manipulative for the book, which had she admitted that was why, I'd feel better about it. ALL that said, it is interesting, well researched, and she does a good job with the timeline, the case, and the horror of it all.
The many many... *Many* afterwards may reflect her displeasure with the initial product as well.
The many many... *Many* afterwards may reflect her displeasure with the initial product as well.
Interesting to note, in the three afterwords, how Ann's ambivalence about Ted evolves into a sort of resigned sadness and disgust - it seems clear to me that it's only by the last update that she's actually accepted that he's guilty (no "allegedly" hedging) and the person she "knew" never really existed.
On the whole, this book is a fairly well-written (if not as emotionally detached as Rule apparently meant to be) and interesting look into the lifespan of a criminal investigation with some well-drawn characters (Judge Cowart) and some mere sketches (Peggy Good). I think the book could have used another edit, as timelines could be difficult to follow, especially in the middle chapters, the later chapters have a lot of bizarre tense changes, and throughout the novel some dates, for example, changed from Saturday to Sunday (or similar) in the space of paragraphs.
Even if Ted Bundy wasn't a serial murderer and rapist, I'd want to slap him upside the head for his personality. What a completely unbearable little twerp.
On the whole, this book is a fairly well-written (if not as emotionally detached as Rule apparently meant to be) and interesting look into the lifespan of a criminal investigation with some well-drawn characters (Judge Cowart) and some mere sketches (Peggy Good). I think the book could have used another edit, as timelines could be difficult to follow, especially in the middle chapters, the later chapters have a lot of bizarre tense changes, and throughout the novel some dates, for example, changed from Saturday to Sunday (or similar) in the space of paragraphs.
Even if Ted Bundy wasn't a serial murderer and rapist, I'd want to slap him upside the head for his personality. What a completely unbearable little twerp.