sometimesbryce 's review for:

The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule

4.0

---

Ann Rule wrote her seminal work in the late 70's and the language and perspectives used throughout this book are reflective of that time in history. Modern-day readers should be aware that some of the language and perspectives might be offensive to their current cultural context. Aside from this, I found Rule's book to be gripping, well-researched, fascinating, and devastating. I highly recommend this book to any true crime fan. While it's a bit of a beast to get through, her perspective helps underline that bad people are not always bad in every situation they walk into. Occasionally, Rule's writing is weak and it's clear her main job prior to writing this book was journalism. However, she still masters an element of suspense and accurately depicts what it's like to love someone you never knew.