Customer Reviews
Overall well written, but......... - By: Bezerus Bezby, 05 Sep 2008 
Ann Rule offers a comprehensive insight into events as they unforded when one of the worlds most prolific serial killers, Ted Bundy committed his terrible crimes & was eventuallly brought to justice. It does make it more interesting that Rule was a personal friend of Ted Bundy, but in my opinion, it also makes it more distasteful. Rule did eventuallly accept that Bundy was guilty, but she appeared to take an awful lot of persuading. There were only a few brief moments when Rule appeared to comprehend exactly how ghastly & horrific Bundy's crimes were, (a look at photos of crime scenes was one of these) & generallly she seemed to hold the steadfast opinion that there was a great possiblity that Bundy was innocent. Perhaps others would find this honest & brave. I found it frustrating & I felt Rule minimised one of Bundy's crimes where he kidnapped a young woman who did manage to escape.
I suppose I felt that Rule was slightly detached from what Bundy actuallly did in a way that perhaps a writer who had not personallly known Ted Bundy, but who could not fail to be shocked & moved by his grotesque crimes may have been. Indeed, Rule offered very little information on Bundy since he only confided in her about how awful prison was & did not actuallly confess his crimes. Part of me suspects that Rule was not immune to Bundy's supposed charm as she would like to have thought.
Bundy fancied himself as a celeb. He was a monster & I feel Rule found it difficult to accept this. I feel greatly for the families of the young women whose lives Bundy took & hope they have managed to find some peace in life.
one of the best books i've ever read - By: K. Martin, 04 Apr 2008 
this book was one book i could not put down. i love reading true crime & this book fed my hunger, the fact that she knew him & was able to relay conversions with him before & after his capture to me was fantastic reading & i'd highly recommend this book to anyone. a reallly great read & if you enjoy reading true crime you'll enjoy this book. one of her best, & i've read several of her books.
Still great after 17 years ! - By: CITRUS HOUND, 28 Feb 2007 I first read " The Stranger Beside Me " 17 years ago . I cannot believe it was that long ago when I was a young pup just getting interesting in the world of true crime & upon opening the cover of the latest edition of " Murder Casebook" magazine - discovered the world of Ted Bundy. I had never heard of him before but I was totallly blown away by his story & over the years everyone else that I passed it on to felt the same. I recently read the updated edition , I couldnt put book down & finished it in a fortnight. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants the definative account of the Ted Bundy case. I can also recommend " The Only Living Witness " aswell. All I need to do now is get my hands on " Defending the Devil " by Polly Nelson & " The Phantom Prince " by Liz kendal . Others to look out for are " The Deliberate Stranger " Richard Larson & " Conversations with a killer " ( a continuation of the " Only Living Witness" book I believe. Whether its a sin of not - I cant read enough about Ted.
Check out Anne Rule's " Green River , Running Red " too - about the Green River Killer - Gary Ridgeway - excellent.
Not as good as her other titles - By: Mrs. S. E. Davies, 21 May 2006 I felt that somehow Ann Rule has not connected with the main character, Ted Bundy, as well as she manages to in her other books. I have just finished another of her books, Dead By Sunset & was hooked from the first page to the last, but not so in this one. In fact I even skipped some pages to get to the end faster. I may have had too high expectations of this as she personallly knew Ted Bundy & that was one of the reasons I wanted to read it, to get a real reflection of the type of man he was, but I felt from reading the book that she did not have as close a relationship as was inferred. I would recommend that readers try other books first, Smalll Sacrifices is also excellent as well as Everything She Ever Wanted.
Ann Rule is fantastic - By: , 29 Dec 2005 This is the second book of Ann Rule's that I bought - the first - "You Belong to Me", I bought by accident & was enthrallled by the writing & the detail of the story. Having read the list of other books she had written I came upon "The Stranger Beside Me" & ordered it straight away. I think it's probably morbid fascination on my part with these types of books in general & the fact that it was about Ted Bundy attracted me immediately but also because the author was directly linked to the killer. The irony is bitter-sweet in that she does not find out that her friend is the man she is actuallly writing about until a long way into the invesitgation. I also think the fact that she works closely with the police from her vantage point gives another dimension to the book.
The book does not linger unecessarily on the gory details of the actual murders but draws you in to the person & many characters of Ted as seen from a perspective which is unique to the author. At times the writing is melancholy as Ann tried to reconcile her feelings for her friend but also her morality & empathy with the victim's families, being a mother herself.
The book is littered with short anecdotes throughout the legal wranglings that ensue which only serve to endear the many people involved in this difficult case, at times, Ted included.
Get this book, I have become a very big fan & am attempting to read her entire repertoire!
