The Stranger Beside Me
Ratings77
Average rating3.8
DID NOT FINISH — I will not rate a book that I shelf as “did not finish.” I don't believe it's fair to put a rating on books I didn't read from beginning to end.
Ann is one of my favorite authors. I never knew that she had a personal connection in this manner. This book taught me things I never knew about her and Ted. If you have never read any of her literature this is a great one to begin with.
SSDGM
Ann Rule is an amazing storyteller. I've always been fascinated by Ted Bundy and this book really digs into his life what do you appear to be on the outside by the people that were close to him and the horror of what he did without being overly sensational about the details of his crimes. Excellent book for fans of true crime. So sad for all of the victims and their families and the people that don't have closure.
True crime isn't really my genre, but this was an interesting read due to Ann's unique perspective, and I appreciated it for that. I suppose I was hoping for something more like In Cold Blood, which it wasn't really, but due to her own involvement perhaps it was closer to it than the average true crime novel, and maybe that's why I liked it.
True Crime Time[b:The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story 15654 The Stranger Beside Me Ted Bundy The Shocking Inside Story Ann Rule https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1330072383s/15654.jpg 1353958]Ann Rule takes us on a thrilling journey of the life and death of serial killer Ted Bundy. Being friends with a serial killer isn't the easiest thing in the world. But Ann didn't find that out until much later... I find that she was willing to open up about the fact that they were friends very brave. Not all authors would be willing to put a book like this together. Oh, Ted Bundy... what can I possibly say about this American icon that hasn't already been said in this book? I had several problems with this book but it had absolutely nothing to do with the author. Problems such as the diagnosis that they gave Ted Bundy which I felt was completely false and only used so that he could not use the insanity plea in his trials.The relationship with Ted is a rollercoaster that really isn't explained until “The Last Chapter” where she explains that she held hopes for him to still help the world in the way that she first knew him to help people. She explains how she doesn't understand and cannot comprehend how someone can hurt an innocent victim and not feel remorse for it. Perhaps this is why she continued to send him money even in prison and why she continued to correspond with him even after his conviction. She wanted to use him to do good in the only way that she knew how. Whereas in the beginning I believe she was simply in denial that someone she called her friend could possibly be such a monster. I started watching that Netflix show all about him and I can see how his charm can fool his victims and his friends including the author. As for Ted Bundy himself oh, I feel that he ultimately got what he wanted. Control. He was able to convince everyone that he was the scariest monster under your bed and that he was the most horrific of the serial killers. By manipulating the public, the way that he did he was able to victimize people that he hadn't even touched yet. When we as a populist think of Ted Bundy we think of fear. That is his legacy. and in my opinion the legacy that he wanted for himself.But anyways enough about my thoughts on the book. Let's talk about the nitty-gritty. The book was masterfully written as with most of Ann Rule's works. Her profession has allowed her to write these true crime novels in such a way that anyone can understand and follow but she still uses the police and detective crime jargon. She makes it easy for her readers to follow along and even makes her books exciting by turning the facts and evidence into a storyline. She is without doubt America's number one true crime novelist.I enjoyed this book immensely. although I already knew a lot about Ted Bundy there is still so much in this book that I did not know and was eager to learn. My degree in the field of psychology made this book more than fascinating for me. I don't think we realized when Ted was convicted how rare a jewel he actually was. And when I say that here's what I mean: it is so positively rare that we get a serial killer the likes of Ted Bundy. It is even rarer to get a serial killer the likes of Ted Bundy caught alive and held in captivity. Many say that he should have stayed alive but I feel that he needed to be put to rest so that the families of the victims could get closure. I could honestly go on and on about this book but I will refrain from doing so Please read this book if you have not already. I think this is one of those books that everyone should read no matter who you are, no matter where you come from. Ted Bundy is a study and not only American history but human history itself. Because you never know when you might meet a Ted Bundy yourself. So this book should open up your eyes to the crazy that the world has to offer.
Ann Rule has a unique perspective having known Ted Bundy AND being a seasoned true crime writer, and this combination gives The Stranger Beside Me something no other true crime book has. While it may be lengthy at times and suffers from the addition of multiple “end” chapters, it's a must read for any true crime buff.
I had some many pet peeves while reading this book, so it took me a long time to read all of it.
One issue I had with this book, was the way the text on the pages looked.
On some of the pages the text looked like it was written on a old fashioned type writer and the text was very blotchy and difficult to read, whereas the other pages were fine and the text was normal.
The next issue I had with the book, was the way the sentences were very long and written in a disjointed way in which it made the book sometimes a bit difficult to understand or read. There was a lot of boring legal technical jargon that I didn't always understand and it was boring to read about. The information about the police investigation was fine but the courtroom proceedings was really boring and a drag to read about.
Other things about this book that were incredibly annoying was the fact that whenever the author could use the term female to describe one woman that was either a “Ted Bundy groupie” and in love with him or a woman that Ted loved in the past, the would used the term woman instead. For example a “woman” eye witness in court gave a testimony about seeing Ted Bundy at the Chi Omega fraternity house on the evening of the attack of the female students that were sleeping. Why would you say woman when it would make more sense to just say female? This really annoyed me while I was reading this book and kept thinking about why the authors didn't say female instead of woman all the time. This might be a minor issue to some people that want to read this book, but if there is something that occurs in a book that i'm reading that annoys me then I will be bothered by it the whole time, that i'm reading the book.
None of the people that were investigating Ted even themselves believed he wasn't capable of murder, until he was arrested and the evidence that was collected was used to prove Ted whereabouts on certain dates/times. It wasn't until a jury found Theodore Robert Bundy guilty that people took it seriously that hes was in fact capable of murder, rape, kidnapping etc The author and anyone else that either knew or met Ted vastly underestimated him.For some women this mistake would be fatal.
One other thing about this book, which was really annoying was how naive the author was to not anticipate the fact the Ted was guilty and also capable of vile, disturbing disgusting acts of violence towards women that he found attractive. Leading up to the time, that Ted was arrested, tried in court and found guilty of murder on multiple accounts the author still didn't believe that Ted might be found guilty and what he was capable of.
I think the author's opinion of Ted was biased because she was “friends” with him, and they worked together in a crisis clinic to aid people that were suicidal and considering killing themselves. She was however caught up in the facade of Ted's personality and acute ability to deceive people in a nice and pleasant demeanor, so you wouldn't suspect the darker intentions or agenda he was planning and scheming the whole time he was friends with the author Ann Rule. I don't think she even realized that maybe Ted was manipulating her and their friendship, because she was closer to him than most women, except for the women he did love although, I think he lied about his intentions to get married to Meg Anders. Ted Bundy was a pathological liar, he was good at lying, at manipulating people to do what he wanted or he expected them to do. Just because he was nice and polite, or pleasant to women or people in general on the surface it doesn't mean that was his true nature. He was always capable of murder, rape or kidnapping, he also could have stopped anytime that he wanted to but his compulsion controlled him, not the other way round. Whenever he was around one or more women, he felt an uncontrollable urge or compulsion to hurt them.
The chronological order of the book was annoying and all over the place.
For example the author mentioned that Ted was an illegitimate child and his family lied about who his parents were due to being born in the 1946 I think it was, I could be wrong about the date. Ted was brought up to believe who he thought was brought to believe that his grandparents were his parents but he wasn't told about this and he later found out for himself in medical/hospital files. His “grand-dad” was actually his father and his “sister” was actually his mother. During one disturbing incident when Ted was only three years old, Ted was standing outside of his Aunt's bedroom and she woke up to find knives arranged around her head while she was sleeping, and she turned and looked at Ted he just stood there and grinned at her. There was also another incident that involved Ted and a cousin of his, when they went out to the garden shed they found a stash of violent pornography that showed images of violent and sexual violence directed towards women. He was only five years old when this supposedly happened. In his life later on after being arrested and questioned Ted blamed these violent detective magazines (that he was obsessed with) and alcohol as the cause of his violent behavior towards women.
I think it did warp his perception of women and sex but he chose his victims, because they were vulnerable and by themselves. They were all easy targets, they were all easy to manipulate or overpower and take advantage of.
This compulsion took over his life and controlled him. Eventually his compulsion to kill would be triggered by the first woman he ever fell in love with rejecting him. Stephanie Brooks was the first woman that Ted ever loved, but she thought that Ted wasn't ambition or going anywhere in his life so she broke up with Ted. Ted couldn't stand to be humiliated and reject so this triggered him to kill women that looked exactly like her, so he could effectively kill her over and over again. Stephanie meant everything to Ted, she was the first woman that Ted had an intimate relationship with, although sometimes Ted's behavior was very strange such as Ted staring at Stephanie's body while she was sleeping. Ted was arrested for having what was believed to be “burglar kit” in his car, and on one other separate occasion his was stopped by the police but he tried to get away in his car but he was arrested again and lied about where he was going or coming from.
He started his criminal career as a peeping tom, and voyeur by spying on women from outside of their house while they were getting changed, he also stole credit cards and used fake names to obtain more credit cards to be able to afford to buy fancy French cuisine which was his favourite. He also stole other items such as a tv set and anything else that he needed but couldn't afford to buy. It was only after but a direct result of his failed relationship with his first girlfriend Stephanie Brooks that he escalated from petty crime, to coercion, kidnapping and murder. He would stalk potential victims, then use a ruse like he had a broken arm, because he was wearing a sling or cast and “needed help to carry his books to his car” then when no one was looking he would hit them over the had with a crowbar or other blunt object and kidnap them in his car, while they were unconscious. He would take the victims to a secluded area, when he would sexually assault the victims and then strangle them. His crimes were premeditated and vicious vile acts towards women and at least two children. His youngest victim was 12 years old, but I believe he killed a local girl that went missing when he was 15, because he lived in the same general area and not far from where the girl lived, she disappeared and was never seen or heard from again ever..
I was stunned to read that he was treated like a minor celebrity while in prison, because people were aware of who he was, and he liked having power and control due to the legal knowledge he had.There are many young women that have gone missing, in or around the time that Ted was alive, but we will never find out just exactly how many women he killed, so some family will never get answers about if Ted killed them or not, which is devastating to the survivors or family members of the victims that weren't so lucky.
Most of Ted Bundy's crimes took place in the 1970's so I wasn't even born yet and he died via the electric chair on January 24th 1989, two years after I was born.
I liked reading this book, but I would have preferred reading it if it was written but a police detective that was involved in the police investigation.
Most of the book was really interesting, and chapter 49 was the most informative about Ted's personality, motivation, or the way he thinks, but after that chapter the rest of the book was a drag to read and it was a bit boring and repetitive due to the death sentence for Ted being delayed all the time, he was in prison for a few years before he was executed.
A friend of mine raved about this book. While I am not as awestruck as she is (when I told her I was reading it I swear she got moist in the eyes). I did enloy this book but at times I found myself annoyed by the writing style. This book simply put is a mediocre author with great knowledge and insider information. If this book hadn't been about such a notorious, well known serial killer I doubt anyone would ever have read it. The only reason I gave it three stars was that it did keep me entertained.
I pretty much said all I needed to say about this book through the status updates I gave while reading it. It feels like it took forever to finish reading this book. While there were a few interesting parts, for the most part, the book just seemed to drag by. It got tiresome reading about her conflict over Bundy's guilt and the bits and pieces of her personal life. She came across as being too sympathetic toward Bundy and did not give nearly enough information about the victims. It ticked me off at one point in the book when she went to Florida and said that “Ted could never go home again.” Well, neither could his victims - what about them? I love reading Ann Rule's books, but this one was a disappointment, because she just came across as a “Ted groupie” to me, except toward the very end when she finally stated her opinion on his guilt.
This was a good true crime book in which Rule not only wrote about the life and crimes of Ted Bundy, but also wrote about how she was fooled by him for many years.