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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
This is more than a true crime book, it’s the true crime book. No matter how many works have been written on Ted Bundy, none come close to what Rule accomplished here. She knew Bundy personally, working alongside him at a crisis hotline before the world realized who he really was. That vantage point makes this book unlike anything else in the genre: Rule writes as both an investigator and as a woman forced to reconcile the charming, seemingly kind man she knew with the horrific serial killer he actually was.
This book is as much about Rule’s journey as it is about Bundy’s crimes. She allows readers to see the slow unraveling of her trust in him, set against the backdrop of his escalating violence. She also never loses sight of the women whose lives were stolen. Her portraits of the victims are sensitive, empathetic, and humanizing, ensuring that they are remembered as more than just statistics.
I wish Ann Rule were still with us to continue updating “The Stranger Beside Me”. Each new edition she released added layers of insight, and I can only imagine what she would have brought to it now. To this day, it remains the book on Ted Bundy and the template every true crime book should strive to follow.
When I first started looking into Bundy back in high school, I remember being deeply unsettled by the picture of Georgann Hawkins. She looked so much like my mom and her sisters at that age, in that same time period. Bundy targeted girls just like them. That realization made his crimes feel terrifyingly close, and Rule’s writing captures that same chilling truth, that Bundy’s evil thrived in the ordinary, hidden beneath a mask of normalcy. “The Stranger Beside Me” is gripping, heartbreaking, and unforgettable. It’s Ann Rule’s masterpiece, and it continues to shape how true crime is written and read.
This book is as much about Rule’s journey as it is about Bundy’s crimes. She allows readers to see the slow unraveling of her trust in him, set against the backdrop of his escalating violence. She also never loses sight of the women whose lives were stolen. Her portraits of the victims are sensitive, empathetic, and humanizing, ensuring that they are remembered as more than just statistics.
I wish Ann Rule were still with us to continue updating “The Stranger Beside Me”. Each new edition she released added layers of insight, and I can only imagine what she would have brought to it now. To this day, it remains the book on Ted Bundy and the template every true crime book should strive to follow.
When I first started looking into Bundy back in high school, I remember being deeply unsettled by the picture of Georgann Hawkins. She looked so much like my mom and her sisters at that age, in that same time period. Bundy targeted girls just like them. That realization made his crimes feel terrifyingly close, and Rule’s writing captures that same chilling truth, that Bundy’s evil thrived in the ordinary, hidden beneath a mask of normalcy. “The Stranger Beside Me” is gripping, heartbreaking, and unforgettable. It’s Ann Rule’s masterpiece, and it continues to shape how true crime is written and read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Murder
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism
dark
sad
fast-paced
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
dark
informative
medium-paced
There's been a lot that's been said about this book, given that it is a classic true crime novel. Of course, I enjoyed the in depth information in this book and everything we learn about Ted Bundy. From a true crime, historical point of view, this book was really great. The author clearly did her research and talked to all the people involved and really did a thorough job in getting to know the subject of her book. And the way the book was set up hooks the reader in and really makes you want to keep turning the page, especially as you get closer and closer to the end.
I think my frustration just came from the fact that the author remained sympathetic to Ted long after the evidence was pretty clear that he killed people. And even after his trial, she sent him money and stamps and all that — I thought that was very weird. If they had been like best friends or something, then maybe I would understand her loyalty a bit more, but it feels like she over-exaggerated how well she even knew him. They worked together for a while, but other than that, their meetings and conversations seemed fairly sporadic over the years. They seemed more like acquaintances than anything else. Maybe she sent him money because she was writing about him, but that didn't seem like it was the case, at least based on what she said. So that was definitely the most frustrating part of the book, where I just wanted to ask her what she was thinking when she did that.
I do like her writing though. It's very accessible, and I have a few other books by her that are on my list for me to get to at some point!
I think my frustration just came from the fact that the author remained sympathetic to Ted long after the evidence was pretty clear that he killed people. And even after his trial, she sent him money and stamps and all that — I thought that was very weird. If they had been like best friends or something, then maybe I would understand her loyalty a bit more, but it feels like she over-exaggerated how well she even knew him. They worked together for a while, but other than that, their meetings and conversations seemed fairly sporadic over the years. They seemed more like acquaintances than anything else. Maybe she sent him money because she was writing about him, but that didn't seem like it was the case, at least based on what she said. So that was definitely the most frustrating part of the book, where I just wanted to ask her what she was thinking when she did that.
I do like her writing though. It's very accessible, and I have a few other books by her that are on my list for me to get to at some point!
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
It was nice to hear Ann’s perspective of Ted Bundy.
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
This was long as hell! Very informative, very sick and twisted. I was inspired to read this after reading The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. Men are evil and we need to wake this up. Just kept thinking about my sister who fit the victim profile.
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
This book feels like a right of passage for anyone interested in true crime, and overall I enjoyed it. Ann Rule’s unique relationship with Ted Bundy made for a very interesting and empathetic story, and I appreciated her thorough research and insight. The journey of her first thinking of Bundy as a brother to realizing Bundy’s alter ego and guilt is more compelling and emotional to me than just a play by play account of murders and litigation.
The one thing I didn’t enjoy was that this book is much longer than it needs to be, and pretty slow. Rule really chews the fat for every single event, correspondence, theory, or thought. After the ending of the normal book, there was still 3 HOURS of additional epilogues, afterwords, and final addendums before the audiobook was finally concluded. If this wasn’t such an influential book to so many, I likely wouldn’t have been as patient with this quantity of detail and reflection. However, I do respect Rule’s choice to follow up on the story after initial publication through to Bundy’s death. I listened to this book on audio, and it’s possible the experience does not feel this slow in print.
I definitely recommend this for established true crime junkies, but if you’re new to true crime or want an overview I’d probably recommend starting with the abridged version.
The one thing I didn’t enjoy was that this book is much longer than it needs to be, and pretty slow. Rule really chews the fat for every single event, correspondence, theory, or thought. After the ending of the normal book, there was still 3 HOURS of additional epilogues, afterwords, and final addendums before the audiobook was finally concluded. If this wasn’t such an influential book to so many, I likely wouldn’t have been as patient with this quantity of detail and reflection. However, I do respect Rule’s choice to follow up on the story after initial publication through to Bundy’s death. I listened to this book on audio, and it’s possible the experience does not feel this slow in print.
I definitely recommend this for established true crime junkies, but if you’re new to true crime or want an overview I’d probably recommend starting with the abridged version.
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced