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hspindlew 's review for:
The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer
by Robert D. Keppel
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
I don't like to 'gender' authors, unless explicitly necessary or warranted, but in this case I think it rather fitting that this was written by a man, and The Stranger Beside Me and Ann Rule's book about the Green River Killer were written by women. On one hand, Ann Rule was clearly as willing to believe in Ted's innocence as anyone - despite her time as a journalist, cop and true crime writer. Conversely, I have this feeling that Ann Rule, or any woman, might have been able to point out Ridgeway's 'off' vibes.
But, gender essentialist b.s. aside, this was a hard read.
Bundy, stuck in prison for nearly a decade by the time Ted comes to him, had very clearly lost any semblance of urbane sophistication but his need to control everything - every conversation, every bit of information - seems hardwired into his psyche. Even as he is up for the death penalty, he refuses to let go of the knowledge that might stay the state from execution. Bundy is a far more pathetic creature once you read of him and yet even you feel him trying, and sometimes succeeding, to control and manipulate those around him. I don't think the feeling of being 'used' would have been uncommon to those of Bundy's acquaintance, even if they couldn't quite pin down 'why'.
You pity Bundy, in the barest sense of the word, as must as you hate him.
Ridgeway - you just hate him. It's odd, even with the offhand admission that Ridgeway was (pretty clearly) molested by his mother - even with the evidence that they killed a similar number of women, that they manipulated those around them, that they engaged in 'sex' with the bodies after death...even so, whatever pity I might have had for Bundy, it is completely devoid for Ridgeway.
the list of victims was hard but, of course, I think it is meant to be that way. No, you can't turn away now just because you've been worn down from descriptions of death and rape and defilement - look at their names. I don't even know if the author thought of it that way - Ann Rule had far more care for the victim's descriptions, even if they were sex workers - but I chose to see it that way.
I don't really want to think about true crime for a while
But, gender essentialist b.s. aside, this was a hard read.
Bundy, stuck in prison for nearly a decade by the time Ted comes to him, had very clearly lost any semblance of urbane sophistication but his need to control everything - every conversation, every bit of information - seems hardwired into his psyche. Even as he is up for the death penalty, he refuses to let go of the knowledge that might stay the state from execution. Bundy is a far more pathetic creature once you read of him and yet even you feel him trying, and sometimes succeeding, to control and manipulate those around him. I don't think the feeling of being 'used' would have been uncommon to those of Bundy's acquaintance, even if they couldn't quite pin down 'why'.
You pity Bundy, in the barest sense of the word, as must as you hate him.
Ridgeway - you just hate him. It's odd, even with the offhand admission that Ridgeway was (pretty clearly) molested by his mother - even with the evidence that they killed a similar number of women, that they manipulated those around them, that they engaged in 'sex' with the bodies after death...even so, whatever pity I might have had for Bundy, it is completely devoid for Ridgeway.
the list of victims was hard but, of course, I think it is meant to be that way. No, you can't turn away now just because you've been worn down from descriptions of death and rape and defilement - look at their names. I don't even know if the author thought of it that way - Ann Rule had far more care for the victim's descriptions, even if they were sex workers - but I chose to see it that way.
I don't really want to think about true crime for a while