When comparing The Stranger Beside Me (book) vs In Cold Blood (book), the Slant community recommends The Stranger Beside Me (book) for most people. In the question“What are the best non-fiction books about murder?” The Stranger Beside Me (book) is ranked 2nd while In Cold Blood (book) is ranked 3rd.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Unbiased storytelling
Pro It is a close up personal look into a serial killer
The author had a platonic relationship with the serial killer for years, up until his execution, so she knows a lot of details that are not available anywhere else.
Pro Several formats available
It's available in paperback, hard-cover and in ebook(Kindle) format.
Pro Truman Capote's masterpiece
This nonfiction novel was written in 1966 and it's his best literary work.
Pro Well done research
If you look past Capote's narrative techniques, which may make some people wonder if it's truly a real story, the more you read you will find that the research is actually very well done.
Pro Several formats available
The book can be obtained in paperback, hardcover, audiobook and e-book(kindle) formats.
Cons
Con The murders are not told in chronological order
The story skips around quite a bit and does not go through them in a way that true crime fans might want to.
Con It doesn't get much into the mind of Ted Bundy
The book is filled with details of Ann Rule's relationship with Ted, and her feelings for him, however, she doesn't really dive into what was going on inside the mind of the killer. That lack of psychological perspective is felt throughout the novel.
Con Long
Some people may find it longer than they'd like, as per their Amazon reviews.