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A review by shakespearesgirl
The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule
4.0
Ann Rule is thought of by many as the mother of today's true crime genre, and this book is a shining example as to why. In thoughtful, well researched prose, Ann lays bare her relationship with Ted Bundy and Ted the Serial Killer, and the journey she went on trying to understand how the two Teds could possibly be the same person. Much of her stylistic choice echoes through the decades and shapes how writers research and compile their true crime books today.
Her writing style, while a tiny bit dated, is still easy to read and accessible, and her first-hand accounts of Ted Bundy interacting with humans in real life are highly compelling, to the point that it will shock me if this book doesn't become a classic of the genre. While obviously biased toward Ted, Ann Rule doesn't let that sway her in her search for the truth, and freely admits to Ted and detectives on the case alike that she doesn't know what she believes about his guilt or innocence. In fact, it's not until very late in the book that Ann finally has the realization that yes, Ted really did all those things, killed those women, raped and stalked and hunted girls young enough to be friends with Ann's own children. Despite the dawning horror, Ann remains friends with Ted and positive about their previous relationship and interactions, compartmentalizing the man she knew all those years ago and the dangerous serial killer into very different boxes in order to continue her work.
Overall, the book is dark, tragic, and while not quite what I'd describe as a page-turner, still definitely a book that I wanted to keep coming back to so that I could find out more. Even all these decades later, Ann Rule managed to educate me about the women Ted Bundy killed, the way he killed them, and how he evaded detection for so many years. For anyone interested in true crime, or in famous mysteries, serial killers, and the like, I can't recommend this book enough. I think it should rank up there with Truman Capote's In Cold Blood as a classic of crime writing, and Ann Rule mixes narrative prose with fact-based non-fiction writing brilliantly.
(I do want to mention here, that I refer to Ted Bundy and Ann Rule by their first names because while this is a work of non-fiction, Ted is a character that Ted Bundy played, and probably not his real persona, which I believe was much darker and more violent and dangerous than he ever let on to his casual acquaintences; also, Ann's role as reporter and writer meant that she was close to the investigations before anyone even had an inkling that these brutal murders and strange disappearances were related. It is for these reasons, as well as Ann's use of both their first names throughout the book, that I chose to use them too. I wouldn't normally bother with this kind of disclaimer, but one of the eeriest things about Ted Bundy is that even from beyond the grave, he still manages to ensnare female admirers and there are quite a few rabid fans around the internet, even today, glorifying this despicable man and his crimes. In the interest of distancing myself from that faction, I wanted to make my position perfectly clear--Ted Bundy murdered over thirty women, most of them college age or younger, and manipulated and lied to the people in his life on a regular basis. He was not misunderstood. He was not a victim. He was a murderer, and a terrible human being, and possibly a psychopath or sociopath, definitely a narcissist.)
Her writing style, while a tiny bit dated, is still easy to read and accessible, and her first-hand accounts of Ted Bundy interacting with humans in real life are highly compelling, to the point that it will shock me if this book doesn't become a classic of the genre. While obviously biased toward Ted, Ann Rule doesn't let that sway her in her search for the truth, and freely admits to Ted and detectives on the case alike that she doesn't know what she believes about his guilt or innocence. In fact, it's not until very late in the book that Ann finally has the realization that yes, Ted really did all those things, killed those women, raped and stalked and hunted girls young enough to be friends with Ann's own children. Despite the dawning horror, Ann remains friends with Ted and positive about their previous relationship and interactions, compartmentalizing the man she knew all those years ago and the dangerous serial killer into very different boxes in order to continue her work.
Overall, the book is dark, tragic, and while not quite what I'd describe as a page-turner, still definitely a book that I wanted to keep coming back to so that I could find out more. Even all these decades later, Ann Rule managed to educate me about the women Ted Bundy killed, the way he killed them, and how he evaded detection for so many years. For anyone interested in true crime, or in famous mysteries, serial killers, and the like, I can't recommend this book enough. I think it should rank up there with Truman Capote's In Cold Blood as a classic of crime writing, and Ann Rule mixes narrative prose with fact-based non-fiction writing brilliantly.
(I do want to mention here, that I refer to Ted Bundy and Ann Rule by their first names because while this is a work of non-fiction, Ted is a character that Ted Bundy played, and probably not his real persona, which I believe was much darker and more violent and dangerous than he ever let on to his casual acquaintences; also, Ann's role as reporter and writer meant that she was close to the investigations before anyone even had an inkling that these brutal murders and strange disappearances were related. It is for these reasons, as well as Ann's use of both their first names throughout the book, that I chose to use them too. I wouldn't normally bother with this kind of disclaimer, but one of the eeriest things about Ted Bundy is that even from beyond the grave, he still manages to ensnare female admirers and there are quite a few rabid fans around the internet, even today, glorifying this despicable man and his crimes. In the interest of distancing myself from that faction, I wanted to make my position perfectly clear--Ted Bundy murdered over thirty women, most of them college age or younger, and manipulated and lied to the people in his life on a regular basis. He was not misunderstood. He was not a victim. He was a murderer, and a terrible human being, and possibly a psychopath or sociopath, definitely a narcissist.)