When Ann Rule wrote her first book The Stranger Beside Me, she was a former cop, a writer of true crime for pulp magazines, a struggling divorcee with five young children and a volunteer for a suicide hotline. Her fellow hotline volunteer just happened to be Ted Bundy, serial killer extraordinaire, whose subsequent kills, arrrests, escapes, trials and execution resulted in a spate of books, character studies and psychological debates. But Ann's was the first study and , really, the most intimate, because she actually knew Bundy in real life, followed his activities over many years, chatted with him over lunch, commiserated with him over his legal entanglements, wrote him letters in prison, conveyed messages to his girlfriends all the while trying to convince herself that he was innocent -- simply a victim of circumstance. Ann Rule is a calm, clear, laconic writer balancing fact and supposition, thoroughly researching the circumstances and the victims of each of Ted's atrocities. She is particularly attuned to the tragedy of the victims and the unending anguish of their families -- she avoids the dehumanizing details of each crime and presents Ted's victims as complete human beings, gracious and lovely young ladies on the cusp of adulthood and all the exhilarating adventures that would bring. Her newest redaction of this iconic work is particularly interesting for she presents letters and conversations with young women who were almost Ted's chosen -- ladies who by fate or grace managed to escape. There are many such testimonies in the book -- well, Ted was a busy boy as we all know. This book is really an icon of early true crime -- an absolute must read for anybody who follows the genre -- the subject is dark and horrific but Rule's writing is full of grace and compassion for the lost women. In subsequent books by other authors, the true sick and vile horror of the monster that was Bundy is revealed. Ann Rule does not dwell on these disgusting details, I think, out of respect for the victims and their loved ones. I admire her for this because it elevates the genre of true crime which, at times, reads like a  gross violation of the dignity of the murdered. Rule's books never make the reader feel dirty or invasive because she herself does not exhibit these traits. Her work is a serious investigation of a very, very sick person. She never drags the reader down to the level of her repellent subject. For fiction I may recommend Defending Jacob. 

To complete this assignment I wrote comments to Brice and Monty.