Defending the Devil: My Story as Ted Bundy's Last Lawyer

To start with, hard to believe that in this day and age of "electronic everything" that I had to pay a huge premium for used because this book had gone out of print and was not available on Kindle. As someone who has read pretty much every book on Bundy, however, I did find this one to have a lot of new information. For example, I had not previously realized just how driven Ted was to sabotaging his own defense. Also I was impressed that the author didn't pull any punches about her own feelings during this time, even admitting that she had a bit of a crush on another attorney. I did find it strange that while she included a lot of information about her own life and struggles, that there wasn't even one picture of her among the many illustrations. I also thought the book ended rather abruptly. The reader can't help wonder if given the choice, would the author take on this case all over again, or did it instead basically derail what had been a very promising legal career.

By far, the best book ever published on Ted Bundy, and I've read most of them. The difference between Polly Nelson's Bundy book and the others? In its humanity it strips away all of our preconceived notions on what it means to be a human being. Polly, thank you for sharing what it was like to defend the devil, seeing him for all he was, and yet fighting for his life; moreover, thank you for giving the best part of your young life, with all of your ideals, up until that point, anyway, to attempt to save Satan himself from homicide, a.k.a. the electric chair...In addition to the deep existential and philosophical underpinnings, Polly, you've given the reader immense detail, not grusome details, mind you (thankfully), but legal, psychological, and ontological detail. I'm confident that this book reveals multifaceted truths about Ted Bundy never before explored in any of the other books, docuseries, and/or Hollywood feature films. Again, thank you, Polly, and thanks to those earthworms that had captured your attention as a little girl so long ago.... It's all in the book, fellow true-crime aficionados! Enjoy.

This is mostly courtroom procedure in an effort to keep Bundy from the chair. Not on his crimes verbatim as that ship has sailed. Funny thing, while I was reading this book, I had another book about him on order and Prime left me a message on echo. I asked what the notification was. Echo said Ted Bundy has arrived. My family got a big laugh out of that. Your BOOK on Ted Bundy, was left out.

I'm not surprised at the wide diversity of reviews; readers tend to see only what they want to see in books of this sort. I changed my own opinion of it completely after re-reading it recently. Lawyers are not widely loved under the best of circumstances, so any attempt to justify defending the indefensible is going to be a particularly tough sell. But a lot of the complaints in other reviews are unfair, or just plain incorrect.Those who complain that the book is more about Nelson than Bundy should re-read the subtitle: "*My Story* as Ted Bundy's Last Lawyer". Bundy's story has been told a hundred times; this is Nelson's story, and she expresses pretty well, I think, the gigantic emotional conflict inherent in assembling a cogent Supreme Court appeal that might prevent the execution of "the very definition of heartless evil" (her words).Those who complain that Nelson is sympathetic to Bundy miss the point; she did her best to do what lawyers do -- represent her client -- all the while struggling with the undeniable fact that this particular client had murdered at least 30 young women, and didn't seem to care. "It was the absolute misogyny of his crimes that stunned me," she writes, "his manifest rage against women. He had no compassion at all...he was totally engrossed in the details. His murders were his life's accomplishments."Those who complain that there is nothing about Bundy in this book that can't be found in other books simply didn't read this book. There is a verbatim interview with Bundy, conducted by the primary court-appointed psychiatrist, that offers a never-before-seen glimpse into a serial killer's thought processes. There is verbatim testimony given by his trial attorneys, graphically illustrating what an ordeal it must have been to attempt to defend a psychopath in court. There is a complete documentation of the bizarre list of suggestions Bundy made to the FBI to improve their serial killer questionnaire -- in essence a written confession of the full, terrifying range of his depredations. Among other things.This book, while not perfect, it is eminently readable; and as another reviewer astutely pointed out, an account by a person close to Bundy at the end of his life is a good companion piece to the account by Ann Rule, who was close to him toward the beginning.

I have read every book on Bundy and this is one of my favorites! Wow I have so much respect for Polly Nelson. Ted effected absolutely everyone he came in contact with, just left a horrible trail of destruction. I also learned a lot of new things on Bundy! Great read!

If you have studied Bundys case, this books will complete your study of his bizzare behavior at his trials and in jail and prison.

Looking forward to reading this insightful book! Heard a lot of good things about it!

Couldn't put it down.

This is a fascinating account by the lawyer who tried to save Ted Bundy from the death penalty, not because she thought he was a fine, upstanding citizen by any means, but because she thought that the original trials had been tainted by bias and dubious eye witness testimony.This didn't make her particularly popular either with the American public or even within her own law firm.I really admired her hard work and her ability to defend Ted even though her compassion was largely reserved for his victims. It's a fascinating trawl through the morass of the very convoluted American Legal System and a very interesting read.

This book came from the human point of view of trying to save someone from execution ,( even thou they deserved execution) and try and keep themAlive so to serve a life sentence.it was informative with out making Bundy and his crimes come across as sensational and him as a charming handsome individual( even thou his charm is how he managed to get these caring beautiful woman to help him).very well written and showsHow much work goes into this line of work. Definitely worth the read.

I really enjoyed this book and viewing the case from the perspective of Bundys lawyer. It was really interesting learning about the last few months of Bundys life and I learnt lots of new things.

great book written by polly nelson. ted bundy was a very sick and depraved man i blame hi mother entirely.

I liked this book lots of info I wasnt aware of regarding Ted bundy