The Stranger Beside Me: The Shocking True Story of Serial Killer Ted Bundy
By: Ann Rule / Narrated By: Lorelei King
Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
Creepy, tho’ I did wanna throttle Rule a bit every now and then
There’s a reason Ann Rule is a famous crime writer—the woman is good.
When we get to the actual crimes and crime scenes within The Stranger Beside Me, this is one creepy book, just fills you with horror at the sadistic fury the killer unleashed upon his victims. “The killer”.
That’s where the book kinda gets exasperating. The crimes are delivered in third person, so we don’t really know that it’s Ted Bundy—it’s just “the man”. Mostly, we get the reactions of the survivors, the witnesses, the first-responders. The spattered blood along the walls of ground zero, the splinters stuck to the walls, the splinters battered into the skulls of the victims. Only from the writing of the crimes do we think, yes, the writer believes the culprit to be depraved and brutal.
‘Cause that’s the only place within the book that you’ll find Ann Rule kinda sorta saying Ted was one sick puppy. For most of the book it’s: Oh, poor Ted. That poor thing accused of such horrible crimes. And: Oh poor Ted. What’s a well-educated fellow going to do in jail without anyone as intelligent as he is to talk to. Oh poor Ted. I’ll send him money so he can buy little treats in jail.
And when he wants her to send one rose, a single red rose, to a woman he’s been cheating on? Ann is off to the florist shop, and yes, she’ll pay for it herself.
The woman doesn’t want to believe he’s the cold-blooded psychopath who did such heinous deeds. And I get that. She was very good friends to him, felt like he was a little brother. But he was “the lost” little brother, as though his crimes came from his pathetic little longings, not deep monstrous needs for blood, terror, mayhem.
A lot of the book focuses on their relationship, on his many incarcerations, on his many judicial hearings. Don’t expect a lot on the crimes themselves. Unfortunately, the crimes are where the creepy guts of the story lay. And oi, the narration. Yikes! Lorelei King delivers the text in imperious tones and sure Ted had a swagger to him, but the voice she uses for him reminds one of a sanctimonious lawyer or a sheriff bellying up to the bar for a beer. MOST annoying.
I hate to say it, but I think the print version of The Stranger Beside Me is better. King does a great job ruining a nightmare of a man. She makes all the women who love Ted shivering little violets, she makes Ted a jerk when actually he was a smooth and likable fellow. You want nightmares? Read the book but pass on the audiobook.
And for heaven’s sake: Try not to throttle Ann Rule as she runs this errand for Ted, and send him money and care packages. But to her credit, at least she puts her foot down in that she decides she will NOT aid him during any of his many jail breaks. Gosh, what a strong woman… yeesh…!
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