The Stranger Beside Me

Rating:
Summary: My First -- and Still Favorite -- Ann Rule Book
Review: This book reads like a preposterously coincidental fictionalized account of someone's acquaintence with serial killer Ted Bundy. It's a true story, which put my hackles on edge.

Esteemed crime writer and former law enforcement officer Ann Rule KNEW Ted Bundy. She was FRIENDS with him. They SOCIALIZED. She sent him MONEY. As she was well older than he, and hardly fodder for his brutish obsession with tall, young, beautiful, long haired women, and the two developed an almost sibling-like rapport that spanned several years, his arrests in two states, and the entire North American continent.

Throughout, Rule's memoir remains personal, which allows Ted's story to unfold without the grotesque and gruesome details that would drape a more traditional biography. We get to know this especially intelligent and creative young man, and to see him as he appeared to the world as one witty, amusing, and urbane. We see their friendship develop over time, watching it turn into a mutually enjoyable and important -- if at times long-distance -- friendship of mutual respect and regard.

The same qualities allowed him to fool his victims, ensnaring them with nary a wimper or whine in their own defense. We hear the evolution of this crime wave of murder and abuse as Rule herself must have heard it: episodically, without full color details or explanations... yet with Ted-related coincidences too extreme for her to ignore, though too brutish to believe.

Especially for the squeamish, I consider this book a fantastic chronicle. I am easily scared and very suggestible, but this book didn't give me nightmares, for Rule practically takes us by the hand and shares not Ted's story, but her perspective of Ted's story. Thus, we not only understand the dichotomy of Ted Bundy, but we share Rule's dawning horror as she realizes her friend, her correspondent, her attractive and amusing pal is, in fact, the insidious embodiment of evil who brutally and insidiously pillaged the lives of several dozen innocent young women.

When Rule finally put together the idea of Ted with the reality of his crimes, she threw up. I wanted to do the same.

This book is eye opening and enthralling. As our world becomes increasingly unstable and unpredictable, I find this book an important opportunity for the vicarious experience. Other Rule books are intriguing and compelling, but none of the others I have read lend the same scandalizing horror as this one. I recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: My all-time favorite true crime book
Review: This is the book that got me started reading true crime, and it is rightly called "the classic story of serial murder."

Ted Bundy is now a household name and the embodiment of serial killers; however, when Ann Rule met him in 1971, he was a law student and fellow worker at a crisis center. Ann is assigned to write a story about several missing girls from Washington state...and the reader gets a front row view of not only the investigations, but Ann's growing horror and revulsion as she realized that the person responsible for these terrible murders is her good friend, Ted.

Ted escapes, and Ann is guarded by FBI agents in case he tries to come to her for help in escaping. Ted calls Ann collect from Florida after being arrested and suspected of the Chi Omega murders, and hints that he would confess all to her. These and many other chilling stories provide a unique, highly personal view into Bundy's destructive life and drawn-out death.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Biography on America's #1 Serial Murderer
Review: As a former investigator on behalf of death sentenced persons in Florida and thus knowing much about the cases of Ted Bundy, this book is a must read to better undertand serial murderers.

The night that Ted did his crimes in Tallahassee, I was breaking up with a college sweetheart until 6 am -- at which time I drove by the Chi Omega House, seeing dozens of law enforcement vehicles at the Chi Omega House -- my only thought was "What a hell of a party they had to break up."

Not until Suzanne called me later that morning about what had actually occurred... Until a suspect was arrested it appeared to me that EVERY male was considered a prime suspect by others. Those days were amongst the strangest days I have ever experienced.

Rating:
Summary: True crime doesn't get much scarier than this
Review: This book is one of the most definitive books on serial killer Ted Bundy, and for good reason: author Ann Rule actually knew and worked with him at a Seattle-based suicide & crisis hotline. Bundy seemed an unlikely murderer; friends knew him as a smart law student, a man with an interest in state politics, and a man with a longtime girlfriend. Like most people, Rule wasn't sure what to believe when Bundy was first arrested on kidnapping charges in Utah in 1975. She stayed neutral and wrote this book, and the result was a fascinating account that manages to walk the fine line between good taste and opportunism.

The Stranger Beside Me covers a lot of ground in its attempts to paint a clear picture of Ted Bundy. Countless acquaintances of Bundy are quoted or mentioned, and Ann Rule's past experience as a police officer gave her inside access to the investigations that most people could only dream about. She also manages to describe her strange relationship with Bundy without making herself sound overly important, thereby keeping her credibility above reproach. Bundy is revealed to be a hollow, warped, sadistic predator, not at all the cassanova that the press sometimes made him out to be. This book is fascinating on many levels, and Rule's careful research also shows.

For all these reasons, I couldn't give this book any less than five stars. The only real complaint that I have is that the book often has a wandering feel. The book isn't just about Bundy; it's also about Ann Rule and how she followed the case and later the trial, even sometimes speaking with Bundy or writing him letters in jail. As a result, the focus of this book often seems to waver. But it is hard to blame Rule for any of this because Bundy himself was a wanderer, committing his crimes in several western states (that we know of) before finally ending his criminal career in Florida. His crimes were numerous and terrible and his personality was very abnormal, resulting in a very complex and tragic story. Rule glosses over some of the worst details, but it's just as well; there is no way for anyone to fail to appreciate how awful Bundy was. True crime doesn't get much scarier than this.

Rating:
Summary: Theodore Bundy and the woman who agonized over him
Review: Even though "Stranger Beside Me" is a book about one of America's most notorious serial killers, it seemed overly long and inert--perhaps because it was written in the first person, and that person was Ann Rule. I put it down several times and had trouble picking it up again.

The author had the perfect background for this story: she and Ted Bundy worked together as volunteers at the Seattle Crisis clinic in 1971; she was already a crime writer, and an ex-cop to boot; she was assigned to work on the case of the mysterious North-west killings long before Bundy was suspected of committing them. She also belonged to the same sorority (Chi Omega) where Bundy went on his next-to-the-last killing spree in Florida--the case that finally put him on death row.

"Stranger Beside Me" has almost everything you might want to know about Theodore Bundy: his childhood; the shame he felt because he was illegitimate; his two escapes from prison; the murders he committed and those that he probably committed; the police who were involved in his case; the women who loved him; his court appearances; his confession; his death.

However, the book also has a lot you might not want to know about the author: her bad dreams; her "extrasensory awareness of evil or danger" in various places connected with Bundy's murders; her feelings about his feelings; her on-again off-again loyalty to Bundy. There's a great deal of print taken up about how he was really tearing her up inside with all of his alleged wrong-doings, but I couldn't help wondering if the money she sent to him in prison played a role in his escape to Florida. I also couldn't help wondering if she stuck with him as long as she did (this is probably totally unfair) because of this book contract.

Ann Rule does have a unique insight into the soul (if he had one) of a killer. This is definitely a one-of-a-kind true crime story. It's just that I feel it could have been tightened up and cut from 548 pages (the updated twentieth anniversary edition) down to around 350, or so by eliminating the author's personal psycho-dramas.

Rating:
Summary: Ann Rule - Not "Beside Ted"
Review: I did not enjoy this book - I felt that Ms. Rule WAS in love with Ted Bundy and the fact that he wanted everyone but her, scorned her in the end. She "had" a poor writing style there are extreme inconsistancies in her grammar - and she rambled for pages and pages about uninteresting topics and people related to law enforcement. I did not find her book insightful at all and do not recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: True crime doesn't get much scarier than this
Review: This book is one of the most definitive books on serial killer Ted Bundy, and for good reason: author Ann Rule actually knew and worked with him at a Seattle-based suicide & crisis hotline. Bundy seemed an unlikely murderer; friends knew him as a smart law student, a man with an interest in state politics, and a man with a longtime girlfriend. Like most people, Rule wasn't sure what to believe when Bundy was first arrested on kidnapping charges in Utah in 1975. She stayed neutral and wrote this book, and the result was a fascinating account that manages to walk the fine line between good taste and opportunism.

The Stranger Beside Me covers a lot of ground in its attempts to paint a clear picture of Ted Bundy. Countless acquaintances of Bundy are quoted or mentioned, and Ann Rule's past experience as a police officer gave her inside access to the investigations that most people could only dream about. She also manages to describe her strange relationship with Bundy without making herself sound overly important, thereby keeping her credibility above reproach. Bundy is revealed to be a hollow, warped, sadistic predator, not at all the cassanova that the press sometimes made him out to be. This book is fascinating on many levels, and Rule's careful research also shows.

For all these reasons, I couldn't give this book any less than five stars. The only real complaint that I have is that the book often has a wandering feel. The book isn't just about Bundy; it's also about Ann Rule and how she followed the case and later the trial, even sometimes speaking with Bundy or writing him letters in jail. As a result, the focus of this book often seems to waver. But it is hard to blame Rule for any of this because Bundy himself was a wanderer, committing his crimes in several western states (that we know of) before finally ending his criminal career in Florida. His crimes were numerous and terrible and his personality was very abnormal, resulting in a very complex and tragic story. Rule glosses over some of the worst details, but it's just as well; there is no way for anyone to fail to appreciate how awful Bundy was. True crime doesn't get much scarier than this.

Rating:
Summary: Ann Rule - Not "Beside Ted"
Review: I did not enjoy this book - I felt that Ms. Rule WAS in love with Ted Bundy and the fact that he wanted everyone but her, scorned her in the end. She "had" a poor writing style there are extreme inconsistancies in her grammar - and she rambled for pages and pages about uninteresting topics and people related to law enforcement. I did not find her book insightful at all and do not recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Re: Florida cases: Roy Swafford and Peter Ventura:
Review: For those interested in reading the four to three vote Florida Supreme Court opinions regarding two more death sentenced persons whose innocence is an authentic issue, please go to www.flcourts.org, then go to "Opinions and Rules", then chose the correct year and scroll down to the following two cases:

Roy Swafford: April 18, 2002 Case No. 92.173

Peter Ventura: May 24, 2001 Case No. 93.839

These two cases are findable under "Court Orders: Case Disposition Orders" and "Briefs in Other Cases" sections of the "Press Page":

Roy Swafford: March 26, 2004 Case Nos. 03.931 and 03.1153

Rating:
Summary: More Florida Post Conviction Litigation History:
Review: First an introduction: From 1986 - 1992 I was employed as an investigator at the Office of Capital Collateral Representative (CCR) in Tallahassee, Florida, where Scharlette Holdman worked as the supervisor of the investigators from October 1985 - March 1988.

I have known Scharlette since the mid-1970s death penalty debates at Florida State University, including the debate between Professor Richard L. Rubenstein (author of "After Auschwitz", "My Brother Paul", "The Cunning of History: Mass Death and the American Future", "The Age of Triage", "Religion and Eros", and other books) vs. Baptist Minister and Philosopher Will Campbell (the debate was circa 1977).

Her office, the Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice, was in the same wing of the Petroleum Building as my office at Common Cause in Florida (where I was a full-time volunteer during the day and worked at the Brown Derby Restaurant at night from 1981 - 1986).

The Petroluem Building was next to the State Capital, the Florida Supreme Court and the State Archives and Library. When it was torn down, the space and the space for the first CCR office became the Mary Brogan Art and Science Museum and a storm water retaining pond. The Petroleum Building was called by those of us who worked or volunteered there the "Forces of Good" (FOG) Building -- as opposed to FOE -- Forces of Evil, such as Associated Industries, the Chamber and other big business interests in Florida. The FOG building also included (not an exhaustive list) the Clean Water Action Project, the ACLU, NOW, Florida Legal Services, Migrant Farmworker's Organization (directed by Cliff Thaell, who has more recently been a Leon County Commissioner for about ten years or more), Mike Vasilinda's television news service.

About every two years at CCR there was a Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist-Maoist purge due to the pressures and dysfunctions of the work and the people. I survived two such purges. With the third, I was the first to go in the spring and summer of 1992.

When Scharlette had essentially declared war upon CCR in 1987 and thereafter, some of us decided to investigate her background given some things that we had heard. Low and behold, Scharlette's claim of a PhD in anthropology from the University of Hawaii and a Master's Degree from (if my memory serves me correctly) the University of Birmingham don't exist.

We used Scharlette's Social Security number, her maiden name and her married name -- with all this information, both universities had no record of Scharlette having received any degrees from these institutions.

As I understand Scharlette, she needed the "degrees" to confer upon her "credentials" that she really never needed as she is indeed then and now a national expert on capital mitigation, litigation, etc. However Scharlette can be deceptive, as her lack of a PhD and Masters so demonstrates. Even today she claims to have the degrees as when she gives presentations regarding capital cases, she is identified as "Dr." A key word search of her name will bring up some of the presentations that she has made in the past several years with the title "Dr." preceding her name.

If she has received any honorary or other degrees since 1990, that would be new information for me. If anyone can assist in this matter, please contact me at [e-mail] or my mailing address: P.O. Box 38458, Tallahassee, FL 32315-8458. Thank you.