Ann Rule Popular Books

Ann Rule Biography & Facts

Ann Rae Rule (née Stackhouse; October 22, 1931 – July 26, 2015) was an American author of true crime books and articles. She is best known for The Stranger Beside Me (1980), about the serial killer Ted Bundy, with whom Rule worked and whom she considered a friend, but was later revealed to be a murderer. Rule is also known for her book Small Sacrifices, about Oregon child murderer Diane Downs. Many of Rule's books center on murder cases that occurred in the Pacific Northwest and her adopted home state of Washington. Early life and education Ann Rae Stackhouse was born on October 22, 1931, in Lowell, Michigan. She was one of two children of Sophie Marie (Hansen) and Chester R. Stackhouse. Her mother was a teacher, specializing in developmentally disabled children, and her father was a football and track and field coach. As Rule did during young adulthood, her family members had careers in law enforcement. Rule's grandfather and uncle were sheriffs in Michigan. Another uncle was a medical examiner and a cousin was a prosecutor. Rule spent summers with her grandparents doing volunteer work at the local jail.She graduated from Coatesville High School in Chester County, Pennsylvania and later earned an associate degree from Highline Community College in Des Moines, Washington. Rule also attended the University of Washington, studying creative writing, criminology and psychology. Career Rule's career path included working as a law enforcement officer for the Seattle Police Department as well as writing for publications geared toward women. Beginning in 1969, she wrote for True Detective magazine under the pen name "Andy Stack".While volunteering at a suicide crisis hotline center in Seattle in 1971, Rule met Ted Bundy, a work-study student who was studying psychology at the University of Washington. After Bundy moved to Utah for law school, he was arrested in 1975 for kidnapping a young woman and later identified as a serial murderer with an unknown number of victims dating to at least 1974 if not earlier. During the time they worked together, Rule observed nothing disturbing in Bundy's personality, and saw him as "kind, solicitous, and empathetic". Her first book, The Stranger Beside Me, is considered one of the most definitive biographies of Bundy. First published in 1980, the year Bundy was convicted of murder, the book was written under her own name rather than the pen name she had previously used. In the book, Rule reveals that Bundy told her the number of women he murdered was much larger than police believed. In 2003, Rule was portrayed by Barbara Hershey in the movie version of the book. The made-for-TV film adaptation also starred Billy Campbell as Bundy. Rule's next three books, The Lust Killer about Jerry Brudos, The Want-Ad Killer about Harvey Carignan, and The I-5 Killer about Randall Woodfield, were released with her pen name but following the success of the book about Bundy, they were re-released under Rule's name. Rule's 1987 work, Small Sacrifices, tells the story of Diane Downs, an Oregon woman who in May 1983 murdered her daughter and attempted to murder her other two children. The book was filmed for television in 1989, with Farrah Fawcett in an Emmy-nominated and Peabody-cited performance. In April 2012, 48 Hours Mystery covered Rule's successful effort to help a mother prove her daughter's 1998 death was actually a murder. The resulting book was In the Still of the Night.One of her last books, Practice to Deceive, about a 2003 murder on Whidbey Island, Washington, was released in October 2013. On the island for the launch of a book tour, Rule fell in the hotel and broke her hip, forcing the cancellation of the event. Methods and themes In its obituary for Rule, The New York Times quoted Rule on her approach to true crime writing and her favorite themes, writing, "To choose a book subject, I weed through about 3,000 suggestions from readers. I'm looking for an 'antihero' whose eventual arrest shocks those who knew him (or her): attractive, brilliant, charming, popular, wealthy, talented, and much admired in their communities — but really hiding behind masks." A Guardian article about Rule developed the idea further, writing, "It's tough, she says, but she doesn't want to hear about killers who are 'ugly, mean and have no charm. We’re not interested in the kind of person who looks like he would commit murder. We want to know about the kind who you could not imagine having this monstrous self behind the pleasant face.'"Rule's style of true crime writing brought some criticism. An evaluation of her influence on the genre noted negative commentary on her approach to her most infamous subject. Despite the commercial success of her books, the critical and public reception of The Stranger Beside Me was not always generous. After Rule's death in 2015, Victoria Beale wrote a piece for The New Yorker titled "Too Close to Ted Bundy" in which Beale accused Rule of making poor ethical choices in reporting the story and her involvement in Bundy's life after he went to jail, including sending money to Bundy while he was in jail. "Rule's role shifts from being inadvertently involved with a serial killer to an author considering how lucrative her access could be," Beale writes." Legal dispute After the release of Rule's 2003 book Heart Full of Lies, which chronicles the manslaughter conviction in the 2000 shooting death of Liysa Northon's husband Chris, Northon filed a defamation lawsuit against Rule and her publisher. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the suit in January 2011. While still in prison serving 12 years for the killing, Northon's fiancé Rick Swart, a freelance writer, wrote a front-page article for the Seattle Weekly newspaper that accused Rule of "sloppy storytelling" in Rule's Heart Full of Lies book. Swart did not disclose in the article that he was engaged to marry Northon, nor did his editors at the paper know of the relationship. In response to the article, Rule in 2013 filed a libel suit against the newspaper and the writer through attorney Anne Bremner, stating that Rule had been defamed by the article's criticism, causing damage to her reputation.In February 2014, a judge dismissed Rule's claims, finding that there were no false or defamatory statements about her in the article. The judge then awarded the defendants $10,000 each in damages plus attorney fees and costs. Rule appealed the judgment, and on June 22, 2015, the Washington state Court of Appeals vacated the earlier judgment against Rule and remanded the case to trial. After Rule's death in July 2015, as of January 2017, there had been no further developments in the case. Personal life and death Rule lived in Normandy Park, Washington and had four children, including author Leslie Rule. Rule's family also included five grandchildren and a foster son. She was married to Bill Rule, from whom she was divorced in 1972.In April 2015, King County prosecutors charged Rule's two sons.... Discover the Ann Rule popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Ann Rule books.

Best Seller Ann Rule Books of 2024

  • Swamp Kings synopsis, comments

    Swamp Kings

    Jason Ryan

    The strangerthanfiction story of the nownotorious Lowcountry clan, in all its Southern Gothic intensityby an author with unparalleled access to and knowledge of the players, the hi...

  • Lying in Wait synopsis, comments

    Lying in Wait

    Ann Rule

    Ann Rule presents a collection of fascinating and disturbing truecrime storiesdrawn from her reallife personal filesin this seventeenth volume in the #1 New York Times bestselling ...

  • Enclave synopsis, comments

    Enclave

    Ann Aguirre

    Ann Aguirre's thrilling young adult novel Enclave is the story of two young people in an apocalyptic worldfacing dangers, and feelings, unlike any they've ever known. New York City...

  • Mortal Danger synopsis, comments

    Mortal Danger

    Ann Rule

    The thirteenth entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from the “prolific and talented” (Publishers Weekly) Ann Rule focuses on crime victims who had no idea they were in...

  • Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors synopsis, comments

    Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors

    Ann Rule

    #1 New York Times bestselling author and queen of true crime Ann Rule’s sixteenth volume in her True Crime Files series, Deadly Neighbors delves into the unsolved case of a billion...

  • Green River, Running Red synopsis, comments

    Green River, Running Red

    Ann Rule

    In the most extraordinary book Ann Rule has ever undertaken, America's master of true crime has spent more than two decades researching the story of the Green River Killer, who mur...

  • The Black Madonna synopsis, comments

    The Black Madonna

    Davis Bunn

    Following the internationally acclaimed Gold of Kings, Storm Syrrell returns in the compelling story of The Black Madonna.Antiques expert Storm Syrrell heads to Europe to investiga...

  • From the Mouth of the Monster synopsis, comments

    From the Mouth of the Monster

    Robert Mladinich

    This true crime book in the vein of The Stranger Beside Me follows the relationship between a police officer and one of New York City’s most infamous serial killers. This is the ri...

  • The I-5 Killer synopsis, comments

    The I-5 Killer

    Ann Rule

    The terrifying true crime story of the I5 serial killer from Ann Rule, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Stranger Beside Me.  Randall Woodfield had it all. He wa...

  • Every Breath You Take synopsis, comments

    Every Breath You Take

    Ann Rule

    America’s #1 truecrime writer fulfills a murder victim’s desperate plea with this shattering New York Times bestseller.“If anything ever happens to me…find Ann Rule and ask her to ...

  • The Brush-Off synopsis, comments

    The Brush-Off

    Laura Bradley

    Make an appointment for intrigue at Reyn Marten Sawyer's hair salon! Outrageous, flirtatious, and as colorful as a magenta mohawk, Reyn tracks twisted crimes, untangles tight knots...

  • Thou Shalt Kill synopsis, comments

    Thou Shalt Kill

    Daniel Blake

    For fans of Greg Iles, Jeffery Deaver, and Lee Child comes a new suspense author featuring intrepid Detective Franco Patrese. Pittsburgh homicide detective Franco Patrese is a man ...

  • The Serial Killer Whisperer synopsis, comments

    The Serial Killer Whisperer

    Pete Earley

    From New York Times bestselling author Pete Earleythe strange but true story of how a young man’s devastating brain injury gave him the unique ability to connect with the world’s m...

  • A Lovely Girl synopsis, comments

    A Lovely Girl

    Deborah Holt Larkin

    The incredible story of a 1958 murder that ended with the last woman to ever be executed in Californiaa murder so twisted it seems ripped from a Greek tragedy.Deborah Larkin w...

  • The Babysitter synopsis, comments

    The Babysitter

    Liza Rodman & Jennifer Jordan

    This chilling true story and “harrowing account of the evil that can lurk around the edges of girlhood” (Carolyn Murnick, author of The Hot One)reminiscent of Ann Rule’s classic Th...

  • Dead Reckoning synopsis, comments

    Dead Reckoning

    Dave Atcheson & Andy Hall

    An actionpacked story of adventure and survival in one of the planet’s most treacherous places. This is the true story of a journey to a seaside town and the always unpredictable t...

  • Heart Full of Lies synopsis, comments

    Heart Full of Lies

    Ann Rule

    From #1 New York Times bestselling truecrime author Ann Rule comes “a convincing portrait of a meticulous criminal mind” (The Washington Post) in this chilling tale about a beautif...

  • The Rules of Magic synopsis, comments

    The Rules of Magic

    Alice Hoffman

    An instant New York Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick from beloved author Alice Hoffmanthe spellbinding prequel to Practical Magic.Find your magic.For the Owens...

  • Out of the Ice synopsis, comments

    Out of the Ice

    Ann Turner

    'A cinematic pageturner' Weekend Australian By the bestselling author of The Lost Swimmer, a tense, eerie thriller set in the icy reaches of Antarctica When environmental scientist...

  • No Regrets synopsis, comments

    No Regrets

    Ann Rule

    A ship's pilot legendary for guiding mammoth freighters through the narrows of Puget Sound, Rolf Neslund was a proud Norwegian, a ladies' man, and a beloved resident of Washington ...

  • Before the Storm synopsis, comments

    Before the Storm

    Alex Gray

    Discover your next reading obsession with Alex Gray's Sunday Times bestselling Scottish detective series Don't miss the latest from Alex Gray. Book 20 in the Lorimer series, QUEST...

  • Faithful synopsis, comments

    Faithful

    Alice Hoffman

    From the New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage of Opposites and The Dovekeepers comes a soulsearching story about a young woman struggling to redefine herself and the p...

  • Blood in the Soil synopsis, comments

    Blood in the Soil

    Carole Townsend

    Blood in the Soil is the first book about the investigation into the shooting of Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt and his country attorney in Gwinnett County, Georgia, in 197...

  • Jack The Ripper and the East End synopsis, comments

    Jack The Ripper and the East End

    Various Artists & Alex Werner

    In 1888, Whitechapel at the heart of the inner East End was the most (in)famous place in the country, widely imagined as a site of the blackest and deepest horror. Its streets an...

  • Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder synopsis, comments

    Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder

    Ann Rule

    #1 New York Times bestselling author and true crime icon Ann Rule explores several crimes filled with mysterious twists and turns in this unputdownable entry in the Ann Rule’s Crim...

  • Deadly Devotion synopsis, comments

    Deadly Devotion

    Alysia Sofios

    Even the most avid true crime fans will be shocked by the story of Marcus Wesson of Fresno, California, the worst massmurderer in the city’s history. But the horrors he inflicted u...

  • Everything She Ever Wanted synopsis, comments

    Everything She Ever Wanted

    Ann Rule

    Joined in a romantic love that most people only ever dream about, Pat Taylor's marriage to Tom Allanson was all she ever wanted. Both came from fine Southern families, and both lon...

  • But I Trusted You synopsis, comments

    But I Trusted You

    Ann Rule

    The #1 New York Times–bestselling true crime author dissects unforgettable cases of a spouse, lover, family member or helpful stranger’s ultimate betrayal.Whether driven to extreme...

  • Kiss Me, Kill Me synopsis, comments

    Kiss Me, Kill Me

    Ann Rule

    The dark side of love is no fairy tale.... And while we may like to believe that crimes of the heart only victimize those who aren't careful, this pageturning collection of mustre...

  • Deadly Little Secrets synopsis, comments

    Deadly Little Secrets

    Kathryn Casey

    Ann Rule says, "Kathryn Casey is one of the best true crime writers today"high praise indeed from the author of a host of nonfiction New York Times bestsellers including Green Rive...

  • The Pretty Girl Killer synopsis, comments

    The Pretty Girl Killer

    Andrew Byrne

    This is the story of Christopher Wilder: the surfloving son of a decorated naval war hero born in the suburbs of Sydney, who became the most wanted man in America – a psychopathic ...

  • Magic Lessons synopsis, comments

    Magic Lessons

    Alice Hoffman

    In this “ bewitching” (The New York Times Book Review) novel that traces a centuriesold curse to its source, beloved author Alice Hoffman unveils the story of Maria Owens, accused ...

  • Lust Killer synopsis, comments

    Lust Killer

    Ann Rule

    From #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Stranger Beside Me comes the terrifying true crime story of a serial killer hiding in plain sight.To his neighbors, Jerry Brudos wa...

  • Call to Order synopsis, comments

    Call to Order

    Jackie Strachan & Jane Moseley

    A useful and fascinating guide to rankings, classifications, and hierarchies that make up our world from the Richter Scale to the classification of wine to the Jedi Order. Sure to...

  • Catching a Serial Killer synopsis, comments

    Catching a Serial Killer

    Stephen Fulcher

    The true story behind the ITV series, A Confession 'The gripping allure of longform podcasts, such as Serial' Observer On the evening of Saturday, 19 March 2011, D.S. Stephen Fulch...

  • Altar of Bones synopsis, comments

    Altar of Bones

    Philip Carter

    A deathbed confession ignites a globespanning race for answers in this pageturning thriller described as The Da Vinci Code meets The Bourne Identity.“They didn’t have to kill him…H...

  • Death on Ocean Boulevard synopsis, comments

    Death on Ocean Boulevard

    Caitlin Rother

    “[This] is one of the great crime mysteries of modern times. It took an author of Caitlin Rother’s caliber to bring it into sharp focus. A riveting read.” Gregg Olsen, #1 New York ...

  • Obsessed synopsis, comments

    Obsessed

    M. William Phelps

    The New York Times bestselling author of Bad Girls tells the truecrime tale of a Connecticut woman who became a reallife Fatal Attraction.Sheila Davalloo was young, attractive, and...

  • The World That We Knew synopsis, comments

    The World That We Knew

    Alice Hoffman

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL On the brink of World War II, with the Nazis tightening their grip on Berlin, a mother’s act of courage and love...

  • The Want-Ad Killer synopsis, comments

    The Want-Ad Killer

    Ann Rule

    From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Stranger Beside Me comes a true crime story of a serial killer who was sentenced to dieyet lived to murder again....and again.....

  • A Devil Went Down to Georgia synopsis, comments

    A Devil Went Down to Georgia

    Deb Miller Landau

    A riveting narrative that pieces together the life and murder of Black socialite Lita McClinton Sullivanand the journey to bring her true killer to justice. The murder of Lita McCl...

  • Without Pity synopsis, comments

    Without Pity

    Ann Rule

    The #1 New York Times–bestselling true crime author profiles the criminals who kill without conscienceincludes case updates and three new accounts!In eight stunning Case Files volu...

  • The Book of Magic synopsis, comments

    The Book of Magic

    Alice Hoffman

    “Hoffman certainly knows how to enchant” (The New York Times Book Review) in this breathtaking conclusion to the Practical Magic seriesa spellbinding and bewitching novel that asks...