The Stranger Beside Me is the definitive work of American true crime by Ann Rule, often hailed as "America's Best True-Crime Writer." This book is utterly unique in its astonishing intimacy and remains as jarringly frightening as when it first appeared.

Ann Rule shares her dawning awareness that Ted Bundy, her sensitive coworker on a crisis hotline, was one of the most prolific serial killers in America. He confessed to killing at least thirty-six young women from coast to coast and was eventually executed for three of those cases.

Drawing from their correspondence that endured until shortly before Bundy's death, Rule strikes a seamless balance between her deeply personal perspective and her role as a crime reporter on the hunt for a savage serial killer—the brilliant and charismatic Bundy, the man she thought she knew.

This unforgettable chronicle changed the course of true-crime literature, offering readers a slow chill that intensifies with each heart-pounding page.