The Stranger Beside Me

Rating:
Summary: TERRIFIC!!
Review: Ann Rule not only gives an insider look into the mind of Ted Bundy, but she has also shown the two sides of him, one a monster and the other a caring friend. The best book I've read of Ann Rule.

Rating:
Summary: Truth trumps fiction
Review: Ann Rule, a true-crime author, is hired to chronicle the hunt for a brutal serial killer. Slowly she comes to realize that the homicidal maniac police are searching for is her beloved friend and co-worker. No one can make real life characters as compelling as Ann Rule, and The Stranger Beside Me is a masterpiece.

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Summary: The nice guy you work with may be a mad man on the lose!
Review: This was the first "True Crime" book I had ever read. I was drawn in to Ann and the story within the first few pages. Ann writes without the gore, so you don't have to worry about a week stomach. I still think about this store. It made me recheck all my locks on my windows even when my husband was home. Ted could be anyone, and Ann tells the story like only she can. You feel her struggle with her own feelings as she comes to realize that this "friend" is really a mad man who has killed all these girls, then thinking back to the nights they worked together alone! It will bring chills to you, because Ted was just a regular guy, like maybe that guy you work next to!!!!! All of her books are wonderful, I have read them all and am now a "true crime" reader, but this book is also a personnal account she tells so well.

Rating:
Summary: Bone chilling and evil...Could it have happened to you?
Review: While reading Stranger Beside Me, I realized as I was constantly on the edge of my seat, that all of us have that weak spot, whether it be for a good book or a handsome man. I found the truth of Rules book ,on basic human behavior, to be bone chilling. Bundy was an average looking man with a wicked mind, but no one realized until it was too late!

Rating:
Summary: Do you know who's sitting next to you?
Review: A true sociopath. Ted Bundy could sell snow to the people in Alaska on the coldest day. But then, Mr. Bundy was no doubt the coldest man on the face of this earth. Ann Rule gave him the benefit of the doubt, never knowing how close to "Mr. Death" she was. With all her years of training, this sociopath fooled even the experts. No doubt that Mr. Bundy will remain in the history as the "alltime" person you NEVER want to sit next to. He never showed remorse even on his last day here on earth. "Who,me"? He will always believe that he was the "perfect" man. A true sociopath.

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Summary: This book addicting I had to force myself to put it down
Review: This is definately one of my favorite Ann Rule books so far. This book has a more personal touch than her other books because she actually knew him. I can't stress how great this book is, I'm on the last chapter right now and I had to force myself to put it down and do homework. Not only do you get to learn about Ted Bundy's murders but you also get to see him as a person. His background before he became known as a mass murderer is included. Ann Rule doesn't over indulge the reader in the gory details of the murders, but the effect of how horrid they were are still obvious. Like all of Ann's books the story doesn't end with the arrest of Ted Bundy, the court proceedings and events that ocured while Ted awaited execution on death row are also very interesting. Ann also shares letters she received from Ted Bundy over the years. Written from a friend to a friend. This is a great book that anyone with the slightest interest of fascination with serial killers should read

Rating:
Summary: Too Much Bundy
Review: too much about ted bundy, not enough about the victims. countless books have been written about this bundy parasite and nothing written about the victims except their death. ann seems to be honering bundy for some stupid reason. she almost tries to make excuses for him

Rating:
Summary: THIS KILLER BESIDE ME...
Review: This is an excellent true crime book. It has an unusual twist in that the author and the subject of the book, serial killer Ted Bundy, had a platonic relationship that arose from the time they were co-workers for a Seattle, Washington crisis center. Quite frankly, the author initially had no idea that Ted Bundy was anything other than what he appeared to be: a handsome, intelligent, charismatic, and articulate young man, who was, at the time, involved in local politics and later became a law student.

When he became the suspect in the disappearance and murders of a number of very young, pretty women, the author was in total disbelief. As the evidence mounted against her friend, the author, who is a former police officer, could not shut her eyes to the reality that Ted Bundy was actually a very disturbed individual who was guilty of all of which he was accused and probably guilty of other such crimes for which he was not accused for evidentiary reasons. Consequently, the author would suffer some angst for many years, as she struggled to reconcile the Ted Bundy that she thought she knew with the fiend who was compelled to commit so many vicious abductions, assaults, and murders. It is believed that at least thirty-five young women, and probably a good number more, died at the hands of Ted Bundy.

The author details the abductions, assaults, and murders of his victims from coast to coast, which crimes were ultimately to make Ted Bundy a nationwide household name, and an entity to be feared. The investigative efforts of law enforcement officers in the states of Washington, Utah, Colorado, and Florida are revealed, as are Ted Bundy's arrests and his trials. She also details his two escapes from custody in Colorado, the last of which would find him heading to the sunshine state of Florida.

Florida was an interesting choice of state for Ted Bundy, as it is a death penalty state in which convicted felons, who have been given the death penalty, are actually executed. Notwithstanding Florida's stance on capital crime, Ted Bundy went on to commit a slew of shocking assaults and murders in Florida for which he was ultimately arrested, tried, and convicted. Considering the fact that Ted Bundy could have chosen to relocate to a state other than Florida after his last escape from custody in Colorado, it almost appears as if he had a death wish by going to Florida and continuing to give in to his sick compulsion. Unfortunately for him, Florida was quite happy to make his wish come true, and on January 24, 1989, Ted Bundy was executed, and his reign of terror was finally over.

Those who like the true crime genre will enjoy this well-written and well-researched book. It is highly detailed and contains a great deal of information, some of it quite personal due to the author's relationship with Ted Bundy. She paints a very intriguing, intimate portrait of him, one that is three dimensional and complex. He was definitely a man whose benign and compelling external visage was at odds with his many internal demons, as he was a prolific serial killer. Externally, Ted Bundy was the sort of man towards whom women gravitated, and there was no dearth of Ted Bundy groupies once he made headlines.

In the updates at the end of the book, the author theorizes as to why Ted Bundy, a young man of so much promise, would end up the way that he did, and she provides some interesting and personal familial information from which the reader may draw his or her own conclusion. All in all, aficionados of the true crime genre will find much of interest in this book.





Rating:
Summary: Best Book I have read
Review: This was the first book I read by Ann Rule; I was hooked, not only on the book but the author's style. I finished it in 2 days, I couldn't put it down and couldn't wait to finish it. This is a must have for any true Ann Rule reader or collector.
Cudos and my hat is off to her.

Rating:
Summary: Absorbing, Gripping, Personal
Review: Ann Rule brings superb style to this most personal of her true crime narratives. Ex-cop Rule never suspected that her charming and intelligent co-worker at the Seattle crisis phone center in the early 1970's was a warped rapist-killer. But then Ted Bundy had most people fooled, including the state's Governor (Dan Evans) for whom he briefly worked. Still, as the decaying bodies piled up, suspicions grew. This narrative covers the many crimes by this monster (in four states), the convincing mask he displayed, the efforts of law enforcement, and his escapes from custody that led to further tragedy. We also get a lengthy look at his trial in Florida - where this former law student assisted in his own defense - and his weaseling attempts to trade confessions for time as the hangman approached. Rule describes her own role in this brutal narrative, and (as always) lets us know something about the tragic victims; a deed one hopes gives some measure of comfort to grieving loved ones.

THE STRANGER BESIDE ME is a personal and absorbing narrative about a gruesome serial killer and the author's unwitting friendship with him. This book ranks with the best of Rule's many superb efforts.