Author Kevin Sullivan has previously written a history of Ted Bundy, going through Ted childhood, the murders and trial. Once that book was published more people who knew Bundy came out of the woodwork to talk to Sullivan, thus creating the need to update his book with the new information. Rather than update as a revised edition Sullivan has created this second book, a sequel of sorts, that updates and fills gaps. There are pros and cons of a new book vs just doing a revision (people who bought the first don’t have to get a second updated copy) but for me it was an issue. It wasn’t clear to me when I picked this book up that it was a supplement to another book, thus I came away a bit disappointed with the results.
Sullivan doesn’t spend much time with details covered in the prior book, except when his new evidence and information need it covered. As such it is assumed that a lot of the players in the story – the detectives and possible victims – are known to the reader. The content is then small vignettes dispersed throughout Bundy’s career, without a strong narrative flow between them.
Even with this being the case I was able to follow along and put together at least some idea of who Bundy was an how he operated. It is both scary and interesting.
Sullivan has clearly done some great research and presents a good understanding of Bundy and what made him tick. He deals with the conjecture and unknowns well.
I’ve now put Sullivan’s other book into my “to read” list. But in the end I wish I read them in the correct order.
Narration by Kevin Pierce is solid. He’s easy to understand and follow, with good pacing. He lends himself to reading non-fiction well and makes the book an enjoyable listen.