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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
Interesting inside perspective. I don’t necessarily find Ann Rule to be a particularly entertaining writer so I suppose she found the right subject matter, in the sense that it’s interesting enough just to relay facts.
Listened to the audiobook and found it okay - not the same level of detail or insight that I expected. Then I read the last chapter of the hardcover and it was so much more intricate and well-written than the audiobook. So I feel disappointed that the audiobook seems to have taken a loss while being abridged, but also I cannot bring myself to read the hardcover and spend more time with such sad and gruesome content.
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
I have only really gotten into true crime within the last year and have spent that time toying with the line between what is fascinating to me and what scares the ever loving shit out of me. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, for example, I don’t think I can read. This, while still scary, is the type of true crime that didn’t make me stay up at night scared out of my wits. I think the major differentiation comes from 1) audio/visuals and 2) whether the perpetrator has been caught and dealt with. Thankfully Bundy was caught (though honestly it seems surprising he was).
What made me pick up this book was Rule’s personal connection to Ted. That added level to the narrative was intriguing. I don’t think the story would have been as strong if not for the actual interactions - their time working together, the phone calls, letters, etc - with the man himself. I found her writing to be best when it took a wider lens, like in the added forewords and additions at the end. The only thing that I found odd was that she brought up things for the first time in some of those post publication additions like necrophilia which was basically glossed over at the very end. Um? I feel like that should have made it into the book before the 2000 addition? Did I accidentally skip a page? It ultimately falls a little short for me because it was written before the whole story came to its conclusion. For that reason, it certainly doesn’t feel like an all encompassing telling of his crimes that I expected it to be. I feel like I’ll eventually have to go to other sources to get a fuller picture. I can’t blame the book for that though, after all it was originally written and published before he even confessed to any of the crimes.
I’m glad I picked this one up. After reading, I probably won’t watch the doc on Netflix (that would probably give me nightmares) but I might watch the Zac Efron movie now that I’m familiar with what happened.
What made me pick up this book was Rule’s personal connection to Ted. That added level to the narrative was intriguing. I don’t think the story would have been as strong if not for the actual interactions - their time working together, the phone calls, letters, etc - with the man himself. I found her writing to be best when it took a wider lens, like in the added forewords and additions at the end. The only thing that I found odd was that she brought up things for the first time in some of those post publication additions like necrophilia which was basically glossed over at the very end. Um? I feel like that should have made it into the book before the 2000 addition? Did I accidentally skip a page? It ultimately falls a little short for me because it was written before the whole story came to its conclusion. For that reason, it certainly doesn’t feel like an all encompassing telling of his crimes that I expected it to be. I feel like I’ll eventually have to go to other sources to get a fuller picture. I can’t blame the book for that though, after all it was originally written and published before he even confessed to any of the crimes.
I’m glad I picked this one up. After reading, I probably won’t watch the doc on Netflix (that would probably give me nightmares) but I might watch the Zac Efron movie now that I’m familiar with what happened.
The fact that Ann Rule is clearly one of the Bundy groupies she scorns is laughable. She also seems to have an overinflated opinion of her relationship with Bundy and has next to no "insider" information despite touting her friendship with the serial killer.
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
I can't imagine what it would be like to discover that a friend you loved and trusted was one of the most notorious killers in American history, but reading The Stranger Beside Me gives a glimpse into the cognitive dissonance that would come with having to reconcile yourself to that. We often wander how a killer's friends and family can stand by them and proclaim their innocence for so long against all odds, and Anne Rule shows us exactly how and why that happens. There is a danger in believing that the world is black and white, that people are all good or all bad, that the kind and witty friend you know couldn't also be the heinous killer. People are never just one thing. This book's strength, and one of the reasons it's remained a classic, isn't so much in it's storytelling or her writing, but in the reminder that everything is just shades of gray.
Hands down one of the best books I've ever read. Terrifying and addicting; The Stranger Beside Me will give you nightmares for days. I think it's so incredible that this is a true story, and as someone who had heard of Ted Bundy but never really HEARD of Ted Bundy I wasn't expecting to find it as chilling as I did. A true monster story- I highly, highly recommend this tale.
dark
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced