Review of “Stranger Beside Me” by Ann Rule


Overall:
 4 Stars

Summary of review: My second true crime novel. There was not too many details that I did not know. I did get some insight from someone who knew Ted personally.


Summary:

Abridged edition: This is a true crime novel written about Ted Bundy’s life, crimes, and trial. It is written by Ann Rule who knew Ted personally and talked off and on throughout the years before and after imprisonment. It also gives insights on the psychology behind his murders and her opinion on why and how he picked his victims.

My thoughts:

This book cover information about Ted Bundy’s life and crimes. This book talks about the murders but not in too much detail.

I felt like a lot of the book was rushed through. It was a short book, but it could have been a long novel. I felt like even understanding Ted as a person and not a killer could have been explored more. I wish Ann would have talked about her Ted stories. How he was as a person and not the vile serial killer. I think a lot of Ted’s allure is that he came across as a nice and handsome man. No one would have suspected Ted as a serial killer. I thought by her having a personal connection to Ted, that I would have gotten more out of the book than maybe the ID channel. Granted, I read the abridged edition. I am not sure if this book has a lot more details that were taken out.

I wish that Ann Rule would have talked more about Ted and intimate stories about him.

Do not get me wrong, I rather enjoyed this book. It will not be my last true crime novel.

Conclusion: If you are interested in exploring true crime novels, read this one first. It is a classic true crime novel. It was very good.

Trigger warnings: Yes. It is Ted Bundy, so basically the entire novel is one big trigger warning- rape, murder, kidnapping, etc.

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