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A review by kaelaceleste
The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule
3.0
3.5.
Decided to pick this up again now that I live in Seattle and it definitely put a new harrowing angle on it. Very weird to read about these places that I know now - that I've been to and drive by and live down the street from.
At times it felt dry - a little textbook, a little wikipedia - I liked the focus on the victims but this one is really more about the killer than them which makes sense. It also started to feel a little memoir-y at times which I guess is also understandable. It's a pretty interesting look into the discourse and dissonance that comes with realizing your friend of many years is also a ravaging serial killer. The thing is that I don't know if miss ma'am Ann Rule really even got fully out of the fog until long after the trial and conviction. I appreciated the post-book updates up to his eventual execution, where she seems to have found some clarity and was more able to separate herself (as much as was possible) from the situation.
One thing that did bother me throughout was some of the language used. I realize this was written in the 80s so things that are unacceptable now may have been "ok" then, but I was surprised that in one of the many updates to this that they didn't remove, for example, the repeated use of "r*tarded" by multiple individuals including the author. A bit jarring to come across. There were also some puzzling racial descriptors used that made me side-eye a bit.
Overall it's obviously just a really fascinating and ultimately tragic story, remains a pretty good read and definitely unlike anything else I've read.
Decided to pick this up again now that I live in Seattle and it definitely put a new harrowing angle on it. Very weird to read about these places that I know now - that I've been to and drive by and live down the street from.
At times it felt dry - a little textbook, a little wikipedia - I liked the focus on the victims but this one is really more about the killer than them which makes sense. It also started to feel a little memoir-y at times which I guess is also understandable. It's a pretty interesting look into the discourse and dissonance that comes with realizing your friend of many years is also a ravaging serial killer. The thing is that I don't know if miss ma'am Ann Rule really even got fully out of the fog until long after the trial and conviction. I appreciated the post-book updates up to his eventual execution, where she seems to have found some clarity and was more able to separate herself (as much as was possible) from the situation.
One thing that did bother me throughout was some of the language used. I realize this was written in the 80s so things that are unacceptable now may have been "ok" then, but I was surprised that in one of the many updates to this that they didn't remove, for example, the repeated use of "r*tarded" by multiple individuals including the author. A bit jarring to come across. There were also some puzzling racial descriptors used that made me side-eye a bit.
Overall it's obviously just a really fascinating and ultimately tragic story, remains a pretty good read and definitely unlike anything else I've read.