Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

 

This is a retelling of the Ted Bundy story, focusing mostly on his last rampage in Florida and seen through the eyes of Pamela Schumacher, the president of the sorority where two girls are killed and two others left horribly beaten.  Pamela is also a main witness as she actually sees the man as he is leaving.  Along with Pamela there is Tina who has spent years trying to find what happened to her friend the day she didn't turn up at the lake for a planned outing in Washington.  

Although I was already familiar with the case, it was interesting to read about it again through this focus.  The author never names the killer; instead he is known only as The Defendant.  She refuses to give him any more press or fame, portraying him realistically as an average man who others saw as creepy rather than the handsome charismatic character the press gave him.  This man barely made it through his schooling and those who met him soon realized something was off about him.   

Another thing I really liked was her theory about the victims.  Rather than focusing on the fact that most had long brown hair parted in the middle, Knoll believed that the victims were picked because they were, in fact, bright young women.  Women who had marvelous futures in front of them.  Women who would have pursued careers, gotten married, had children, lived fulfilling lives.  The Defendant would never have any of that and chose to blot out what he could never achieve on his own.

Jessica Knoll is not only an author but worked as a senior editor at Cosmopolitan and has had articles in other magazines and newspapers.  This was her third novel with her first, Luckiest Girl Alive, having been made into a movie.  I really liked the friendship that grew between Pamela and Tina as they pursued the man who ruined their lives and took their friends from them.  There was also a side story featuring Carl, a newspaper journalist that started as an ally but betrayed the women to make his own career.  This book is recommended for both literary fiction and true crime readers.