The Stranger Beside Me

   

 The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule is a retelling of the events involving the notorious Ted Bundy. Ted Bundy was one of the most prolific serial killers in the history of the country. He was known for abducting, raping, and murdering young women in Colorado, Utah, Florida, Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. This book was a peak into the more personal aspects of his life including his feelings during his arrests, his life before he started killing, and how these events absolutely shook the life of the author, Ann Rule.
     Ann Rule worked with Ted at Seattle's Suicide Hotline Crisis Clinic and formed a strong bond with him. Ann was a former police officer and was a reporter during the time of Ted's murders, but she didn't realize it at the time. She was contracted to write a book about all the girls that had been vanishing, but she had no idea one of her dear friends would be the executor of these heinous crimes.
     Ted Bundy was raised by his grandparents because his mom had an illegitimate pregnancy. He had been told since he was a young child that his mom was his sister. Ted never knew who his father was and many people believe this contributed to his sociopathic tendencies. Others believe these tendencies were the result of incest between his mother and his grandfather.
     Other people believed that the rejection from his first love was a huge hit to his gigantic ego and quite embarrassing for him. The reason this is widely believed is because all of his victims closely resemble this woman. It's viewed as him trying to get payback for the humiliation from rejection.
     This biography gives us a look at the more "humane" side of the killer. There were even times when he got in my head and I found myself questioning his guilt or innocence. This is a fascinating, not-put-down-able, story of tragic murders that rocked the whole country and of a man stuck in his own fantasies.