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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
I've been on a huge true-crime kick this year and couldn't pass this one up when I saw it at the bookstore. I've heard this is the "definitive" book on Ted Bundy. While I don't know if I agree with that, it is an interesting account. Ann Rule was contracted to write a book on the unsolved string of murders in the Seattle/Pacific Northwest area, and all the while she was unknowingly friends with the killer. Ms. Rule wrote this in 1980, and the narrative does show that at the time of that writing she had no idea just how terrible Ted Bundy and his murders really were. She has several afterwards to the book throughout the years, which give perspective on how her knowledge and thoughts have changed throughout the years.
This is a good mix of when memoir and true-crime collide, and an interesting perspective not seen in most true crime narratives.
This is a good mix of when memoir and true-crime collide, and an interesting perspective not seen in most true crime narratives.
Completely not interested in every detail of the legal proceedings, which took up a large portion of the book.
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
I found it quite interesting, but the author writes the slur “re****” many times - and not just in an “accepted terminology of the times” way. I’d like to see a version of the book with those words replaced.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Somehow, [a:Ann Rule|9678|Ann Rule|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1492230915p2/9678.jpg] managed to take a fascinating story and make it one of the more tedious reads I've tackled this year. A bit of cohesion--and editing--would have gone a long way with this one, as tighter writing could have better presented Ted Bundy's charisma and personality from the unique perspective Rule had on him. Instead, we have a rambling series of events--some linear, some not--and a surfeit of details to sift through, with weak storytelling and a disappointing lack of insight.
I’m not a big non fiction reader, but I love true crime so thought I’d give this book a shot. It felt like it took me 10 years to get through it.
A bit more self serving than I was expecting but I probably should not have been surprised…the future queen of the true crime genre writing about her personal relationship with one of the most famous modern serial killers.
Would have preferred a more detached and data driven story but this was still ok
Would have preferred a more detached and data driven story but this was still ok
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Loved the writing and the intimate look into this story, but it dragged on and was hard for me to finally finish.
Listened to the audio, really fascinating to learn more about Ann and her relationship with Ted.
One reviewer called this book haunting. That's putting it mildly. Reading Ann Rule's in depth retelling of Ted Bundy's adult life is a gripping experience. I was in turns horrified and fascinated (which makes me sound slightly psychotic, so bear with me) to read his own words from personal letters and descriptions of his crimes and victims from court and actual police documents.
Ann's background in police work and her personal relationship with Bundy uniquely qualify her to write a book no one else could. The fascination lies in those things as well. She is able to take readers of true crime beyond the limitations faced by most true crime books--beyond merely the facts and actually into the life of the criminal himself. As Ann says, it is likely that no one actually knew the real Ted Bundy. Her personal connection to him shows us that at the end of the day, that is the true horror of a sociopath: they seem so normal, so caring even. And then they show their true selves.
Ann's background in police work and her personal relationship with Bundy uniquely qualify her to write a book no one else could. The fascination lies in those things as well. She is able to take readers of true crime beyond the limitations faced by most true crime books--beyond merely the facts and actually into the life of the criminal himself. As Ann says, it is likely that no one actually knew the real Ted Bundy. Her personal connection to him shows us that at the end of the day, that is the true horror of a sociopath: they seem so normal, so caring even. And then they show their true selves.