Ted Bundy

Conversations with a Killer

By: Stephen G. Michaud, Hugh Aynesworth

Narrated by: Graham Halstead, Keith Sellon-Wright, Jason Culp

Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

Presented for the first time in audio format, the chilling transcript of Stephen G Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth's interviews with notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, as seen on the hit Netflix documentary series Conversation with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes - based on their New York Times best-selling book.

Handsome and educated, Ted Bundy killed scores of women during the 1970s, eventually confessing to 30 murders committed over seven states between 1974 and 1978. In 1979, much to the surprise of the nation, Bundy made the bold decision to represent himself in the Chi Omega murder case, thinking that his intelligence and enigmatic charm could best the prosecution. He was convicted, however, and was incarcerated on death row in Florida State Prison. After he exhausted all appeals, Bundy spoke to detectives, confessing to other homicides he committed across several states. He had already spoken frankly about himself, his victims, and his crimes to famed journalists Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth.

Thirty years later, thanks to the combination of an unlikely killer, a sensational murder trial (featuring Bundy acting as his own attorney), and a series of Death Row interviews that represented the dynamics of any extraordinary psychological profile, this prolific serial killer continues to intrigue and haunt the American popular imagination. Yet as Netflix’s sensational show reveals, an old case is never as preserved as it may seem.

Presented in audio format for the first time, Ted Bundy: Conversations with a Killer provides shocking insights into the killer's 11th-hour confessions before his death in a Florida electric chair in January 1989. Drawn from more than 150 hours of exclusive tape-recorded interviews with Bundy in 1980 by Michaud and Aynesworth - in which the veteran journalist used a psychological tactic to get Bundy talking in the third person - this audiobook, voiced by a cast of narrators, is a harrowing portrait of a serial killer’s final reckoning and the two journalists trying to understand the psychology behind the darkness.

©2000 Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth (P)2019 HarperAudio

What a first-class sponge.

These interviews clearly capture the psychopathy and uselessness of this guy. He obviously holds himself in esteem, but never held down a job or completed anything well. He obviously hates women and states that he kills them to vent his rage. Interviewers do a good job of holding his feet to the fire, pointing out that he blames his circumstances on everyone else - nothing is ever his fault. It made it easier going through these interviews knowing how desperate he became in his final days when it was too late for him. He rails and opines against justice as if his opinion on anything mattered. Glad he’s off this earth as they all should be.

Excellent Performance

It's fascinating how the interviewers tricked Bundy into revealing information about the killings. I had no idea that they coerced him into speaking in the third person. The most revealing moment was when Bundy talked about the uselessness of guilt. When he was reflecting on how society uses guilt as a means of control, I was thinking - wait a minute, guilt is a natural function of the human psyche. Guilt enables us live empathetically and in connection with others. It allows us to create an ethical society where we condemn murder. Listening to his words, it's now clear that Bundy was more monster than human.

interesting

Very interesting take on the mind of Ted Bundy. totally different than what I expected..

good but unfulfilling

great discourse but most of it is Ted just lying and it's very frustrating. Nothing will be revealed here in regards to details of the murders or real confessions. it is mostly him beating around the bush.
maybe it's shame by being exposed and knowing no one else has a clue as to what really happened so let's just bullsh** everyone so they don't know how really f"d up I am kind of thing. just like israel keyes. these cats think they own some special thing so if they don't tell then it's theirs. it's really kind of silly. it is annoying though.
anyway, you will not find new clues or tips etc. it's basically you talking to a guy you have on camera who is carrying out your TV and him explaining why someone may stal a TV and how he was not the person who stole the TV.
this is not the books fault. the interview is great and well done. but don't come here in the hopes of gleaning any real facts etc. it is a good book if you do not mind being left unfulfilled however. good book but facts, bundy does not divulge. just a lier dumping a load of crap on a guy and the guy recording it.
but! in the end it is exactly what was said so in that regard its fantastic. but just realize he doesn't reveal a thing.
book for truth in the interviews 5 stars.
narration 4
revelations 1

Ted's scamming the detectives. the game playing.

I think Ted loved stringing these detectives along as much as he did killing. he had no intention of giving them what they really wanted from him. in the end though it really displayed Ted as a monster because that is what he did best. Ted was so well spoken and so charming even from prison. his creepiness and purposeful calculating manipulation was just as obvious. chilling.

Interviews

The book is a lot of interviews with Bundy none of which he admits to murdering anyone.

Disappointed that it was not Bundy speaking .

Interesting and compelling dialogue but it was not the actual discussion.
Actors played the parts instead.

WOW...! Extremely wicked, vile , insightful....

This was a jaw dropping book. I would highly recommend to anyone trying to understand the mind of a killer. Though it only scratches the surface of the true mind of Ted Bundy. Not because of the investigators but the lack of Ted’s ability to admit guilt and confess.
Anyone wanting to listen to this book to hear the gory details will be disappointed, as I was. Once again Ted would not allow himself to full commit to the re-telling of his crimes. None the less it is the closest thing to what really took place as told by the killer.... in the third person of course.
I would not consider this book a true crime book. It’s more of a convoluted admission of a sick individual. Once started though, I could not stop listening until the end . Always wanting a little more, just like the investigators.
The book starts off a little slow but by the middle section of the book things are red hot. The different changing voices through me off a little but by the end of the book, I left as though Ted Bundy himself was reading it. Give it a listen. You won’t be disappointed.

Writers are great. Subject frustrating

I think the writers did an excellent job. It is not their fault that their subject is a frustrating individual who picks and choses what is important, and human life is appearently for his amusment only. I was able to understand the dialogue after reading The Bundy Murders. After this, the book at hand made tremendous sense. But by that time, I despised Bundy and didn't want to give him anymore airtime.

great book

this book is great because it shows how Ted Bundy is just a liar and manipulators, you can tell the author was really losing their patience with him and he is just loving all the attention. if anyone out there is under the impression that bundy was misunderstood or was really a hood person should listen this book. it would make you have him for sure . the voice actors did a great job!