Throughout Ted Bundy’s life, he manipulated and deceived many women, but was Ann Rule one of these victims? The Stranger Beside Me is a nonfiction novel about Ted Bundy’s life written by Ann Rule, an ex-coworker and friend of Ted. She tells the story about how her close friend became a murderer.
This novel covers everything from when Ted was born to when he died all from Ann’s point of view. Ted’s childhood was a predicament from the moment his mother got pregnant. The situation resulted in Ted never really knowing who his parents were until later on in his life. It came as a shock to him to find out his sister was actually his mom. To me this upbringing foreshadowed what his life would become- complicated and damaging. This to me was a foreshadow of his life- complicated and damaging. Ann then continues to give a backstory on some of his relationships with several girls.
Rule’s relationship with Ted is complicated in a sense; not many people find a close friend who becomes a murderer, but she did at a crisis center. Ted and Ann would attend to people who would call in with possible life or death situations. She described their relationship as, “Working side by side in the cluttered two rooms on the top floor of the building, we seemed to be able to communicate in emergencies without even having to speak.” This was only the start of their ongoing friendship.
After a while, they lost contact, but when the murders started, so did their relationship started up again. Eventually after some informative news, the police had a name to go with: “Ted”—only Ted—but this was enough to create an idea in Ann’s head. She eventually told the cops to look into him, but she did not believe he could be guilty… until he was arrested. In jail, he starts sending many letters to Ann, as if she was his “crisis center” in jail. Rule finishes the book talking about his time of death and some of his last words.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book; I found it interesting and fascinating. A strength of the book is that Ann had such a close relationship with Ted that it puts the reader in her place during that time. I could feel her pain and confusion when trying to decide if she thought Ted was guilty. I honestly felt that is if I was being manipulated by his words and actions. On the other hand, it was very confusing and a little too informative. Rule discusses every single case, including every name involved; I could not keep track of who is who throughout the novel. This probably comes from Rule writing many case stories for the police department; Ann has also written other nonfiction murder novels that I would assume to be very similar to this one. I would recommend this novel to those people who like to learn about and discuss murder cases, but if people get paranoid easily, this would not be the book.
This novel covers everything from when Ted was born to when he died all from Ann’s point of view. Ted’s childhood was a predicament from the moment his mother got pregnant. The situation resulted in Ted never really knowing who his parents were until later on in his life. It came as a shock to him to find out his sister was actually his mom. To me this upbringing foreshadowed what his life would become- complicated and damaging. This to me was a foreshadow of his life- complicated and damaging. Ann then continues to give a backstory on some of his relationships with several girls.
Rule’s relationship with Ted is complicated in a sense; not many people find a close friend who becomes a murderer, but she did at a crisis center. Ted and Ann would attend to people who would call in with possible life or death situations. She described their relationship as, “Working side by side in the cluttered two rooms on the top floor of the building, we seemed to be able to communicate in emergencies without even having to speak.” This was only the start of their ongoing friendship.
After a while, they lost contact, but when the murders started, so did their relationship started up again. Eventually after some informative news, the police had a name to go with: “Ted”—only Ted—but this was enough to create an idea in Ann’s head. She eventually told the cops to look into him, but she did not believe he could be guilty… until he was arrested. In jail, he starts sending many letters to Ann, as if she was his “crisis center” in jail. Rule finishes the book talking about his time of death and some of his last words.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book; I found it interesting and fascinating. A strength of the book is that Ann had such a close relationship with Ted that it puts the reader in her place during that time. I could feel her pain and confusion when trying to decide if she thought Ted was guilty. I honestly felt that is if I was being manipulated by his words and actions. On the other hand, it was very confusing and a little too informative. Rule discusses every single case, including every name involved; I could not keep track of who is who throughout the novel. This probably comes from Rule writing many case stories for the police department; Ann has also written other nonfiction murder novels that I would assume to be very similar to this one. I would recommend this novel to those people who like to learn about and discuss murder cases, but if people get paranoid easily, this would not be the book.