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florapants84's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
kheleesi's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
4.5
Ann Rule’s relationship with Ted is fascinating, and her complexity in writing about him with empathy but no apologies is intriguing.
tilda_bookworm's review
2.0
At points Rule was overly flattering towards Bundy (she described him as handsome about 100 times - I didn't count but every 5 pages seems about right! - and vastly exaggerated his intelligence). I thought the actual friendship was over-egged as well; it seemed to be mostly a business transaction, although that would be true of anybody plus a psychopath. The book could have done with a good edit. Way too long with repetition and unnecessary details, like a whole paragraph just full of journalists names, something only a journalist would care to include. I managed to read the whole book and I was gripped, but I don't know if that is just because of the morbid, twisted draw of true crime and the delusion that if we consume it we'll somehow be better prepared/protected, rather than anything the author did.
cindytheskull's review
2.0
I never thought it would have taken me that long to read this story. I expected it to be absolutely page turning, but I was wrong.
Ann Rule met Ted Bundy and, as far as I can understand, she wants to say they were real friends when, in fact, they weren't. They met each other at work and occasionally talked on the phone before Bundy was arrested, and had increased contact after Bundy was in jail.
The letters and phone calls they exchanged had mainly two reasons: Bundy hoped it would help to have Ann influencing the police, or simply using her to get some information for his defense. Ann Rule knew she could write the book that would change her life.
I am happy that Rule gives the victims a voice. We know a little bit from the life of each of Ted Bundy's victims, and what the last steps were before their disappearance.
I am not happy that she keeps conjecturing all the time, trying to give her analysis on why Bundy did kill, without giving any particular depth or detail on his actual behaviour or modus operandi. Bundy himself complained about the "wrong conclusions" she came to when talking about serial killers.
The book was too long, too superficial, and aimed to give Ann Rule a profile as a writer more than giving an account on Bundy's story. I don't think I may try to read any other book by this author in the near feature.
Ann Rule met Ted Bundy and, as far as I can understand, she wants to say they were real friends when, in fact, they weren't. They met each other at work and occasionally talked on the phone before Bundy was arrested, and had increased contact after Bundy was in jail.
The letters and phone calls they exchanged had mainly two reasons: Bundy hoped it would help to have Ann influencing the police, or simply using her to get some information for his defense. Ann Rule knew she could write the book that would change her life.
I am happy that Rule gives the victims a voice. We know a little bit from the life of each of Ted Bundy's victims, and what the last steps were before their disappearance.
I am not happy that she keeps conjecturing all the time, trying to give her analysis on why Bundy did kill, without giving any particular depth or detail on his actual behaviour or modus operandi. Bundy himself complained about the "wrong conclusions" she came to when talking about serial killers.
The book was too long, too superficial, and aimed to give Ann Rule a profile as a writer more than giving an account on Bundy's story. I don't think I may try to read any other book by this author in the near feature.
adam75241's review
4.0
As Ann Rule notes, there are so many murders it's impossible for readers to know each girl, understand each had a complex and detailed life, and were not just names, that they were much more than the names and numbers attributed to Ted Bundy. And that's exactly why I gave this four stars instead of five—I felt there was something vital missing here. Maybe this is a sort of subtext to "The Stranger Beside Me," that Ted was also far removed from his victims, that his disturbed mind would not let him comprehend the personal association to each girl, the personal psychology each life holds, and although I am left a bit unfulfilled because of this, I think Rule's prose was as well as it could have been given her relationship with Ted and her disassociation to his secret life. We are all disconnect from it. Except for those girls, forever gone.
swampbooks's review against another edition
3.0
I started off reading the physical book, but with life getting in the way and Anne Rule’s stale writing, I decided to finish it off with the 3 hour abridged audiobook. This 3-star rating is for the audiobook.
It’s unfortunate that there isn’t an unabridged version available on Libby, because I would definitely listen to that instead. I don’t like that it was so drastically shortened.
Hopefully Anne Rule’s writing livens up in her later books, because this was could be difficult to pick up just knowing how bland and non-personal it felt, even though she was deeply involved. I also wish she had bothered to tell more about the lives of the victims to make them more than JUST victims.
I’m going to continue with reading the physical book to pick up on anything that was left out in the audiobook.
It’s unfortunate that there isn’t an unabridged version available on Libby, because I would definitely listen to that instead. I don’t like that it was so drastically shortened.
Hopefully Anne Rule’s writing livens up in her later books, because this was could be difficult to pick up just knowing how bland and non-personal it felt, even though she was deeply involved. I also wish she had bothered to tell more about the lives of the victims to make them more than JUST victims.
I’m going to continue with reading the physical book to pick up on anything that was left out in the audiobook.
sewfarsewgood's review against another edition
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
3.25
On the whole this is a very informative read about Bundy from a more personal angle than you would normally hear about. I didn't know if it was supposed to show Bundy's mental state or Rule's realisation of Bundy's guilt but at the beginning all the victims are described and then briefly described when they go missing with no real detail but then the Florida crimes go almost into graphic detail. There is a lot about the trails which is to be expected as this is what Rule was used to write about but I would have liked to hear more details about the investigation. On the whole an interesting read with a unique perspective.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder