Stranger Beside Me, Ann Rule
Stranger Beside Me, Ann Rule
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Stranger Beside Me

Author: Ann Rule

Narrator: Ann Rule

Abridged: 2 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/01/1992

Synopsis

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ann Rule, “America’s best true-crime writer” (Kirkus Reviews), her unforgettable classic account of the horrifying murders in the Pacific Northwest and her shock when she discovered her friend—Ted Bundy—was not only a suspect but also one of the most prolific serial killers in American history.

Meeting in 1971 at a Seattle crisis clinic, Ann Rule and Ted Bundy developed a friendship and correspondence that would span the rest of his life. Rule had no idea that when they went their separate ways, their paths would cross again under shocking circumstances.

The Stranger Beside Me is Rule’s compelling firsthand account of not just her relationship with Bundy, but also his life—from his complicated childhood to the media circus of his trials. Astonishing in its intimacy and with Rule’s clear-eyed prose, you can’t help but share in her growing horror at discovering that her friend was one of the most notorious American serial killers.

An unforgettable and haunting work of research, journalism, and personal memories, The Stranger Beside Me is “as dramatic and chilling as a bedroom window shattering at midnight” (The New York Times).

About Ann Rule

Ann Rae Stackhouse was born in Lowell, MI in 1931. Her mother taught school, specializing in developmentally disabled children, and her father was a coach. Ann was in law enforcement in her young adult years, as was many in her family. She received various degrees from different colleges and universities, including studying creative writing, criminology, and psychology at University of Washington.

Ann's marriage, and eventual divorce changed her last name to Rule, which she keeps as her author name. Her extensive education and experience as a police woman gave her the perfect credentials to become regarded by many as the foremost true crime writer in America, setting the standards for the genre. For example, while she was volunteering at a suicide hotline center in Seattle in 1971, she met a work study student by the name of Ted Bundy, not realizing until a few years later that it was the same Bundy responsible for a series of murders. To her, he was kind, solicitous, and empathetic. She wrote her first book about him, considered one of the definitive biographies of Bundy.......The Stranger Beside Me (written under her own name, rather than the previously used pen name).

Rule has been a full-time crime writer since 1969, and has published 33 books and 1400 articles, mostly on criminal cases.

Today, she teaches seminars to law enforcement groups, a certified instructor in many subjects such as: Serial Murder, Sadistic Sociopaths, Women Who Kill, and High Profile Offenders. She has consulted with the FBI at their headquarters in Quantico, VA tracking a system to help identify and trap serial killers. She testimonies twice before the Senate Judiciary Sub-committee on victim's rights and the danger of serial killers.

Simon and Schuster currently have Rule under contract. Eight of her books have been made into TV movies, and more are in the works. Ann is in active support groups for victims of violent crimes and their families, in programs to help battered and abused women, and support group.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jonathan on June 03, 2016

This was an interesting read, and for the most part it was written adequately. Due to the geography of the murders (I am from Aspen), I had a particular interest in some of the events. My problem with the book is the self-important place which the author places herself when her own words make me fee......more

Goodreads review by Nicole on November 24, 2021

Ta książka jest za gruba w przełożeniu na ilość informacji jakie z niej wyniosłam.......more

Goodreads review by Shaun on February 01, 2015

Wow. This was an exhausting read. Between the epilogue, the afterword 1986, the last chapter 1989, the update: twenty years later 2000, and a postscript penned by Rule's daughter, I thought I might never finish this. That said, it is considered by many to be the definitive work not only on Bundy the......more

Goodreads review by jv on August 07, 2018

Ted Bundy was convicted of horrific crimes against young women and girls. I think it takes a special strength to tell his story as objectively as possible, but I cannot imagine the resolve and commitment required to write this book about a companion. Brilliantly balanced, the author somehow separate......more

Goodreads review by Misty Marie on January 23, 2022

If you don't read any other book by Ann Rule, this is the one to read. This was my first time reading about Ted Bundy. In fact, this was my first true-crime book I read. Ann Rule is the reason I became an armchair detective. It is that well researched. It is rare a true crime author actually worked......more

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