DARK TIDE

Ted Bundy’s cousin reflects on the impact that being related to one of America’s most notorious mass murderers had on her life.

Martin knew Bundy (1946-1989) as the loving cousin who treated her like a "kid sister.” Their lives became intertwined in the 1950s after Bundy’s mother moved to Tacoma to be near Martin’s family. From an early age, “Teddy,” writes the author, “had visions of a grand life,” which she speculates may have emerged out of his closeness to her family and her gifted musician-father, who was “wined and dined by the affluent and elite of the music world.” As Bundy grew older, he exhibited not only cleverness and an apparently affectionate nature, but also the ability to make people, including Martin, “feel special.” The author remembers Bundy as an anti-violence “champion for females” and a rising star in local Seattle politics. What she did not know was that his outward demeanor masked not only the predator he had become, but also a deep and twisted longing to be in the spotlight by whatever means possible. By 1974, women had begun to disappear from the campus of the University of Washington; soon, many were afraid that an unknown killer walked among them. Martin, who herself became the victim of a separate assault, never once suspected her cousin, even after he was questioned by Seattle police and then left for Utah, where he would commit more murders. Part of what makes this true-crime account so compelling is the inclusion of personal correspondence that took place between the author and her cousin while he was in prison. As they reveal Bundy’s chilling nonchalance and Martin’s own heartbreak, the letters also offer insight into the trauma that pushed the author into a 50-year silence about her ties to a violent sociopath.

Eye-opening and quietly disturbing.