Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Evil Beside Her

Rate this book
Sleeping with a monster

At first, Linda Bergstrom's marriage to her husband James was idyllic. They were young and in love; he was about to enter the Navy and she was eager to start a family. But it wasn't long before the dream exploded. James became abusive and violent, prone to sudden bursts of anger, long silences, and unexplained disappearances. But Linda vowed to hold on, despite the pain and fear . . . and her disturbing suspicions about her husband's secret life.

Then, not long after their move to Houston, Texas, she made a terrifying discovery: James's hidden cache containing duct tape, a ski mask, and handcuffs. No longer could Linda Bergstrom deny the hideous truth.

The man she lived with, the man she married for love, was a dangerous psychopath. And there was no escape and nowhere to run. Because no one—not her friends, the Navy, or the police—would believe her.

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

276 people are currently reading
1088 people want to read

About the author

Kathryn Casey

33 books640 followers
An award-winning journalist and a critically acclaimed bestselling author, Kathryn Casey has written eleven true crime books and is the creator of the Sarah Armstrong and Clara Jefferies mystery series. ANGEL FALLS, her first historical fiction, was inspired by the life of Ruth Robertson, who in 1949 measured the world’s tallest waterfall.

Casey’s books have been Literary and Mystery Guild selections, and DEADLY LITTLE SECRETS was made into a Lifetime movie. Her first novel, SINGULARITY, was named a Best Crime Novel Debut by Booklist, and Library Journal chose THE KILLING STORM for its annual list of Best Mysteries. Elle Magazine picked DIE, MY LOVE as one of the ten best thrillers and crime books written by a woman. True crime matriarch Ann Rule praised Casey as "one of the best," and #1 NY Times bestselling author Gregg Olsen has called Casey "a true crime great."

In addition, Casey has written more than a hundred national magazine articles and pieces for The Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and the Houston Chronicle. In 2022, Casey was featured on the top ten Netflix limited documentary series “Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields.” She’s appeared on dozens of television and radio programs, including The Today Show, Good Morning America, 20/20, 48 Hours, Oprah, Investigation Discovery, the Travel Channel, A&E, and other venues.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
498 (38%)
4 stars
441 (34%)
3 stars
250 (19%)
2 stars
78 (6%)
1 star
26 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
Profile Image for Laura.
384 reviews675 followers
November 16, 2008
Yes, I read another book by Kathryn Casey, OK? So I'm a masochist. This one is about a woman's efforts to stop her husband, a serial rapist, from continuing his crimes.

I don't know how she does it, but Casey is one of those rare authors who can take a suspenseful story and turn it into a crashing bore. It's a talent, I suppose. I think it would have been more interesting to read the Houston phone book, but I couldn't get my hands on one of those, so I had to settle for this.

Added bonus: you don't have to wait very long to find terrible copy editing and Casey's characteristic malapropisms -- they appear within the first three pages or so. For example: referring to the benches in a courtroom gallery as "pews" (pews are found in churches, not courtrooms, duh); using "disinterested" (meaning "impartial") instead of "uninterested" (meaning "indifferent"); describing someone who's 5'11" as "towering over" the villain, who has earlier been described as 5'10" (uh, no); etc. etc. etc.

If you're on a plane that's stuck on the tarmac for six hours, I might recommend this as a diversion. But probably not.
Profile Image for Ruth Turner.
408 reviews125 followers
August 24, 2014
I couldn't finish this book. It wasn't that it was badly written. It wasn't. I just couldn't stand Linda Bergstrom.

She's married to a violent, abusive man, James, who is also a rapist. She's afraid that if she leaves him he'll kill her, so she decides to remain in the marriage hoping to find enough evidence against her husband to have him charged and jailed.

There is no justification for a man to hit a woman. None at all. But honestly, she continually aggravates and taunts her husband, letting him know she's keeping tabs on him, checking the car and checking his clothes.

She worries when they have a baby, a little girl. Many years ago her husband molested an 8 year old girl. Why would you allow yourself to fall pregnant and bring a baby into such a horrific environment?

What finally finished me was the massive argument they had over who was to babysit their daughter. It was James's turn but he wanted to go out with a mate. A huge fight ensued and Belinda wad badly beaten and the police were called. Of course she dropped all charges and moved back with him, but I had to think to myself why on earth would she cause such a fight over who was going to look after their daughter. If it was me, there's no way I would ever leave the child alone with her father.

I had no sympathy at all for Belinda Bergstrom and I didn't care enough about either of them to read to the end and find out what happened.

Profile Image for ♥ Marlene♥ .
1,697 reviews146 followers
April 13, 2010
Not as good as I hoped it would be.
It felt like the author was constantly making excuses why the rapist wife stayed with her husband all those years and that started to get old very quickly.
Its not a bad book but I wish I would not have bought it, not worth 7 or 8 euros.
Profile Image for Scottsdale Public Library.
3,530 reviews476 followers
Read
October 21, 2017
What would you do if you were married to a psychopath? Would you stay for love, leave out of fear, or find help from the demons in your own home? Evil Beside Her is the true crime story of Linda Bergstrom and the seven years she lived with her ex-husband, and serial rapist, James Bergstrom. Casey does a splendid job of catching the little details of the Bergstrom’s lives from interviews with the couple, the family, and the police involved with the case. Throughout the story you feel pulled in all directions; why doesn’t Linda just leave already, how did the police not listen to Linda, again, and how does James fool so many people along the way? Linda was the reason police were able to arrest her husband, and she finally gets to have her voice heard through Casey’s book. It is an interesting read for any true crime lover. - Ashley W.
Profile Image for Misty Marie Harms.
559 reviews728 followers
December 1, 2021
Linda Bergstrom thought she had the perfect marriage. They loved each other and planned to start a family. Then James Bergstrom ripped the mask off and showed his wife who he really was. Abusive, violent, angry outbursts were now commonplace. Then James starts disappearing. While she is glad to get a break from the abuse, she is starting to suspect what James is doing in his spare time. After they move to Texas she finds James secret stash of duct tape, a ski mask, and handcuffs. No one believes Linda, not even the police. Until they can no longer deny the truth of what James is.

Yeah everybody but the victims sucked in this case. James for obvious reasons. The police for letting him keep on raping women. Not even checking to see if Linda's claims were true from the start. Linda for staying with someone she suspected of committing crimes against women. The Navy for not investigating either.

🐱🐱🐱
Profile Image for Terri.
1,354 reviews707 followers
April 25, 2016
Linda Bergstrom discovered she had married a monster. Her husband was a rapist and no one would listen to her. For years she tried telling the navy, his family, the police.... No one would listen and the victims continued to pile up.

This was a very engaging book and you could feel Linda's frustration when no one would stop her husband and lock him up and her relief when he finally was.
Profile Image for Kathy.
15 reviews
November 15, 2017
This was a good book
The Guy is so evil
It is hard to believe there are really people out there like this.
Profile Image for Nicky Owens.
3 reviews
May 6, 2024
I had to take several breaks reading this bc it was so evil and so intense. I love true crime and this one did not disappoint!
Profile Image for Jlsimon.
286 reviews9 followers
February 1, 2017
Casey does an excellent job depicting James Bergstrom. She characterizes the struggle of Linda through all her years in trying to put a stop to her husband hurting women. That's what I liked about this book.

What I didn't like much is that Casey spends a lot of time focused on the desire to bind Linda and to control women. She spent to much time on the titillating details of what clearly is abhorrent behavior but very very little time spent on focusing on the victims. That is to say no history was provided. No information is given in assessing victimology. Why this person, why in this place, why why why? No answers.

Casey does provide multiple primary sources and that always makes me happy. Linda is a both sympathetic and frustrating. I understand she was stuck. She didn't want to be looking over her shoulder, if she hadn't stuck to her guns he would never have been arrested. All the same, I find her acceptance for the majority of the fate she perceived frustrating. Then again I chronically preach "Walk a mile in my shoes before you judge my choices" so I guess I better admit that even though it would seem to me to take my chances and disappear with my child would have been my course I cant know that.

So who would I recommend this book to? Individuals that are seeking supportive documentation for case work on serial behaviors. I would look at this book for information on the power rapist. This book provides little background information on James's early childhood so developmental psychology is lost in this book. Behavior psychology is thwarted to some degree without an analysis of the victims and how they fit into James's fantasy. Still it is possible to analyze certain facts without Casey's having provided the information. For example, James blames Linda for his actions, he rejected raping one woman because she was in her 40s, etc.

That's all I have for this book. Happy reading.
Profile Image for Roger.
65 reviews1 follower
September 29, 2020
Have you ever gotten your car stuck in the mud or snow? If so, you know that the harder you try, the more the car's wheel just keeps spinning & spinning, digging the wheel deeper & deeper into the mire of mud or snow. Well this book is like that. Despite the repeated abuse, both mental and physical, being dealt out practically on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis on her by her psycho husband, "James Bergstrom", "Linda" as well as the author, Kathryn Casey just keep spinning their wheels page after page after page.........until, I'm ready to grab 'my' gun and put a bullet through my Kindle to put an end to this misery! Although being battered around and controlled constantly by this "wife beating, peeping tom turned rapist" Bergstrom, neither she (Linda) nor her (Casey) appear to do anything to bring this madness to a conclusion.

In my opinion this "frustrating unsettling story" could have been written cover to cover within about 150 pages but apparently being paid by the word (or the letter), Casey drags this thing out to 375 pages of pure agony. Agony for Linda and agony for anyone reading this. Enough is enough. Lock this psycho up or shoot the SOB..........do something!!! I did. I closed the book (rather the Kindle) at page 340 just when, FINALLY the Houston Prosecutor decides he "might have" enough evidence against this psycho James Bergstrom to get an indictment. (Oh-oh, I see another long drawn out trial in the works) - enough is enough! I'll go on-line and hopefully find that this psycho is locked up for life and more hopefully this woman, Linda and her daughter are FINALLY free of this "child molesting, wife beating, woman abusing, rapist, nutcase, wack-o monster. (Hmmm, I seem to have caught a case of Caseynitis).
Profile Image for Lady ♥ Belleza.
310 reviews45 followers
March 26, 2013
This is the first true crime book Kathryn Casey wrote. It is told mainly from interviews, most with Linda Bergstrom. After a difficult childhood and a sexual assault as a teenager Linda found someone she thought would treat her well, at first the marriage seemed good, James himself had a difficult childhood with anger issues. He became abusive and violent, would disappear for hours at a time.

James had a secret life that when Linda found out about she was horrified. Her attempts to report him appeared to go nowhere, unfortunately she had no proof of her allegations. Also as his wife she was unable to testify against him. Eventually he was brought to justice.

This is not a good as the other books of Kathryn Casey, however it is her first book. I have read other reviews that felt Kathryn was making excuses for the wife staying with the husband, one reviewer went so far as to say she was a ‘dumb-ass’. I don’t feel this was the case, the excuses were the wife’s and are consistent with battered woman syndrome. Even though this was not as good as others, I still enjoyed it, even though much information was from interview, she did try to bring out several points of view if she was able to. I recommend this book.
Profile Image for CrabbyPatty.
1,712 reviews194 followers
August 9, 2020
A sobering tale of a woman married to a serial rapist. Linda Bergstrom tried for YEARS to get someone to listen to her about her husband James' violent nature. James was a weird kid with rape fantasies who turned into a controlling husband who beat his wife and made her life a living hell. James is a psychopath with no empathy and thought of his history of ever escalating rapes as his little "problem" and when he's finally caught - after YEARS of police officers not listening to Linda or following up on her calls and pleas - he's sentenced to four 99-year-sentences in a Texas prison.

It's a fascinating story, but the author seems to muddle her way through the telling, going into exhaustive detail about some elements, and then completely grossing over other more important parts of the case. For example, James' family sounds absolutely crazy - in denial big-time with an alcoholic father and an enabling mother, and an older brother that sounds just as creepy as James. But we learn very little about them and given that the brother apparently helped destroy evidence of James' earlier crimes, it seems pretty relevant.

3 stars.

Vist my new blog - I Love True Crime Books!
Profile Image for Laura .
1,979 reviews25 followers
February 19, 2020
Ehh.

I feel like all I learned is how what the Wife had to say and she made so many choices that felt like -If he is so abusive to you and you dont trust him why would you fight him over whos turn it is to watch your daughter??? -why would you stay when you DID have places to go and when you did decide to go back?? Was living the "Middle Class life you always wanted that important to you?? and when you didnt have it anymore then decided to leave? With all evidence against him -especially on a military base- why would nobody take action against him?? only to let him be free to only evolve to actual rape? I dont get it , I dont get how the police wouldn't take his Wife serious especially with the evidence she was giving them? His family also with all first hand experience and evidence against him do nothing !! even after James had a daughter of his own??

They all failed here not just the system.
Profile Image for Patricia Atkinson.
1,044 reviews11 followers
June 11, 2019
linda bergstroms didn't know the type of man she married till it was to late they moved to Houston texas so james could go in the navy like his brother when women started to get raped and sexually assaulted the police thought the guy was in the navy linda tried for years to get the police to charge her husband to stop him but they never had enough proof to get the charges to do it and lindas word was not enough his family knew he had a problem but never got him help linda was married to him for 7 years while she tried to help the police to catch him...
Profile Image for Lisa Mannetti.
Author 30 books139 followers
October 19, 2009
Wonderful thing about this book: you can (if you agree with the author) write to officials and let them know that you believe the perpetrator of the crimes (heinous in my opinion) should not be paroled in the near future.
Profile Image for Gayle.
64 reviews
July 25, 2010
This was fairly average for true crime and about halfway through I realized I'd read about this case somewhere before. I still think the wife was very courageous and it's chilling to think there are people out there like Bergstrom.
Profile Image for Tara Lynn.
537 reviews28 followers
August 7, 2009
I was given this book as a freebie by a co-worker. It reads like a lifetime movie if it had a love child with All My Children. Not a fan.
Profile Image for Leigh.
1,177 reviews
November 30, 2025
I've read about 5 of Kathryn Casey's books so far. Two, She Wanted it All and Die My Love were both pretty good, the rest were okay to just plain boring. Funny how the same author can engage me and keep me up late turning pages and also help me fall asleep with another book.
This one had potential. James Bergstrom is an evil man who should never see the light of day again after what he did to all those women, his wife included though hopefully not his daughter. Linda a lot of people get angry with her for waiting so long to leave. I've never been in an abusive relationship so I won't judge her or anyone who stays but I did think she'd want to protect her daughter at all costs and staying sets the little girl up for abuse herself and or repeating the pattern and marrying someone like her father, similar to what Linda did herself.
It also wasn't helped much by the fact that no one listened to her when she tried to report the crimes of her husband. It's a lot easier to leave an abusive marriage when your abuser is safely behind bars.
I just found this tough to get into. I skimmed pages cause of boredom and the descriptions of James's crimes were often too difficult to read as a woman. I'm glad justice was served in the end and like the author and Linda I too hope he never gets to see life outside a prison ever again.
Profile Image for Adam Kovynia.
Author 3 books2 followers
June 18, 2020
This is the third book I read by Kathryn Casey. I liked the book possessed better about the Swedish scientist who was killed in Texas because I found it more interesting. this book was harder to get through because it dragged on for a long time and you feel annoyed by James because he's a really bad guy and he's always denying everything when his wife confronts him and you feel bad for her to be with him for so long and not get away sooner. I gave it five stars because Kathryn Casey does an excellent job in her writing and true crime stories are important to help make people aware of what is going on out there.
Profile Image for Theresa Turner.
62 reviews8 followers
October 17, 2019
An interesting read,based on the crimes of James Bergstrom. This book kept me guessing on every chapter,wondering how bad James could get with his long suffering wife Linda at home and how bad his rape crimes escalated every time he chose a victim. Well researched and a well written book.I am just wondering why it took so long to catch him and why they didn't believe his wife when she first went to the Police?. So many rape victims suffered including his wife which could have been prevented by early detection by the Police.
3 reviews1 follower
June 22, 2021
Trigger warning. I am astonished by what this poor lady had to go through to try to get her husband in jail for rape. And if you've read this book you know he was sentenced to over 100 years in prison for his crimes and I just found out he only served 23 of those years. He got out in 2015. This man beat his wife for years, threatened her, raped and assaulted women, and he's free. This book was very well written, but the story itself was one of the most terrifying ones I've read in a long time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
117 reviews3 followers
January 13, 2020
What a Psychopath

Amazing story of crazy rapist psychopath and how his family just hid the problem and yet all of the work and beatings his wife had to incur to obtain proper police interest amazing how he kept evolving in order to not be caught. Too much information on television for people like him.
Profile Image for Moira.
Author 47 books16 followers
December 13, 2022
This popped up somewhere as recommended for me. I didn't know what to expect and it's been a long time since I have read a true crime book. But it was a really good story and very well told. I was completely routing for the bad guy to get caught and nailed and stopped.
Profile Image for Hilary.
25 reviews1 follower
March 24, 2018
Was an interesting read to see how one woman sacrificed herself while trying to ensure that her husband was caught. I had a difficult time with Linda because she stayed with him, but, no one knows how they will honestly be if they had been in her shoes.
10 reviews2 followers
August 1, 2018
Not murder. But, equally dangerous.

Once again, Kathryn Casey weaves a tale of lives brought together by circumstance. She goes over all the characters and how they fit into this story .She is my favorite true crime writer., Up there with Ann Rule.
17 reviews2 followers
September 15, 2018
Stunning story

I couldn't put this book down. It was well written, easy to follow, and displayed the bravery of this monster's wife in helping him to be caught and ultimately stopped! Highly recommend!
Profile Image for Tess.
57 reviews8 followers
January 24, 2019
I couldn't finish this book, it's too unbelievable. All of the information seems to be coming from the wife, so it seems incredibly biased. It's less that I dont believe it happened and more that I dont trust the narrator.
2 reviews
August 7, 2019
Unbelievable

A true story of how a person can do so much evil and get away with it for so long and how a victim became a heroine.
Kathryn Casey gives so much detail you feel like you are living this story. Her books are addictive.
Profile Image for Tija Addams.
52 reviews1 follower
December 26, 2021
James Bergstrom…I’ve never wanted to reach through my book & kill somebody so much! Kathryn again took me on a walkthrough of pure evil. I hope James gets what he gave all those innocent women every day in prison
Profile Image for Hikachi.
440 reviews6 followers
July 22, 2022
It was meh overall.
two things that tick me off are the way Linda acted and how the events turned out. There also wasn't much details. I was dissappointed because I like how it started. I even thought I found a new Ann Rule.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.