true crime Archives

Bright Young Women

A Fictionalized Story of the Ted Bundy Murders Author: Jessica Knoll Bright Young Women is an ambitious attempt to tell a segmented story of trauma, misogyny, exploitation, resilience, and women fighting against a biased and broken system. While the true crime story it’s based on (the Ted Bundy murders) is interesting, Bright Young Women fails to capture the tragedy of those involved. Instead, it comes off as a caricature of what happened, an outline of complexity that fails to capture a deeper, bloodier story. It strives to do something honorable, to highlight the victims instead of the insidious, egotistical perpetrator, but [...]

Frances Carden2025-01-27T10:39:19-07:00January 27th, 2025|Tags: book review, botm, fiction, read, reading, true crime|

Pale-Faced Lie, The

True Crime Meets Coming of Age Author: David Crow David Crow grew up learning to torture his mother and take constant revenge so that his father, Thurston Crow, would love him. These were the only times he received praise from his ex-con father, the only time he was made to feel part of the family, feel like he was worth something. Growing up in a Navajo Indian Reservation, raised by a violent father and a mentally ill mother, David and his siblings lived in a wild, fluctuating space of psychotic violence interspersed with occasional rays of friendliness from passing people. In [...]

Frances Carden2023-11-26T16:25:29-07:00November 26th, 2023|Tags: book review, memoir, read, reading, true crime|

Stranger Beside Me, The

A True Crime Author, a Serial Killer, A Strange Friendship Author: Ann Rule Ann Rule, prolific true crime writer, worked side by side, and even developed a meaningful friendship, with one of the most prolific serial killers in American history: Ted Bundy. As Ann unknowingly began working on a book about the serial rapes and murders of young women across several states, her confidant and friend, Bundy, watched from the sidelines. As the investigation continued and Ann began to suspect Ted, the lines between friendship and loyalty, crime and punishment blurred, creating this explosive account of one woman’s friendship with a [...]

Frances Carden2023-10-09T11:52:28-07:00October 9th, 2023|Tags: ann rule, book review, read, reading, Ted Bundy, true crime|