ashley729 's review for:

The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule

5.0

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OK. WILD. Ann worked along side Ted Bundy at a crisis hotline and was shocked when she realized the soft-spoken colleague who she looked upon as a little brother was a serial killer. She has a background as a police officer, yet was unable to pick up on the eccentricities and that fact alone blows my mind — how would other people be able to piece that together?! We get first hand accounts from one of Ted’s friends and confidants, he actually kept in touch with Rule when he was in jail and shared snippets and stories about the work he was doing. Ted Bundy is a fascinating subject in himself, he had so much potential with his education and public roles within the Republican Party and he instead became one of the most horrific serial killers with an unknown death count even now. An incredibly unique perspective on who the man behind the murders is and clear proof that psychopaths like Ted can seamlessly blend among us and in certain circumstances, there might really be no way to change their behavior. She talks a lot about his romantic partners, in particular Stephanie, who she believes triggered Ted’s spree, as if he is taking revenge on Stephanie by murdering all these innocent women who appear to look like her. If you read one of the later editions she has revisions tacked to the end, some are a bit redundant but you can see Rule’s mind changing as she acknowledges the extent of Ted’s horrors and how she never really knew him throughout the snippets at the end too. I finished this book about a week ago and I am still thinking about it.