Customer Reviews

An Invisible Man: The Hunt for a Serial Killer Who Got Away With a Decade of Murder

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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This book is the story of Derrick Todd Lee, a black serial killer. Stephanie Stanley, the author, got the idea to write this book from a source on this story. It was a good idea, as the other press on this story did not tell the background of Derrick Todd Lee. Mr. Lee was well known to the Louisiana police and had a long history of run ins with the law.
Ms. Stanley is a superb writer. I hope that I will be able to read more by her.
This is a tale of errors by the police and by the FBI. It is very difficult to read. It also saddens me, that due to errors in identifying Derrick (he was thought to be white, not black in the FBI profile, the police tended to look at the boyfriends of victims rather than the possiblity of a serial killer being loose) he was allowed to kill for longer than he should have been. At least the mistakes were not as bad as in the Coral Watts case (read "Evil eyes" by Corey Mitchell) and the Green River Killer case.

If you like true crime novels, you will really enjoy this one! After reading this, you won't answer your door again! This is about a serial rapist/killer who manages to elude capture by slipping through the cracks numerous times. You wonder how someone this obvious could get by for so long with stalking and murdering women in areas with very little crime. The killer becomes more and more frenzied and eventully is caught, but at the expense of many lives. Very good read!

Stephanie's writing style is engaging and assessible reflecting her reporter's roots. She has told the story of the horror and darkness which enveloped so many of us in those awful years with clarity and compassion. Even though I've spent much time trying to learn about Derrick Lee, I still learned many things about him from this book. Stephanie's book also reminded me that criminal profiling is only an "educated" guess of dubious worth and unexpected potential for harm; that the justice system is a system and all the parts need to work for justice to be anything but serendipitious; and - above all - that Derrick Lee should never, ever have been outside a prison when my child died.
P.S. Gina Wilson Green, Geralyn Barr DeSoto, Charlotte Murray Pace, Pam Kinamore, Trenisha Dene Colomb, Carrie Lynn Yoder, and Randi Meubreuer - these are the names you won't remember, but they're the names that matter.

This book is a good read. It is a gripping tale that had my stomach in knots more than once.It is clear from the start that this is a well researched book and that Stanley's investigative skills leave nothing to be desired.From her description of a simple phone call in the first paragraph I was hooked and read this book in only a few days.So for any-one who is a fan of the crime novel, or any of you folks in southern Louisiana who lived through these terrible times this is a book for you. BRAVO!

This is one of the best true crime books I have ever read. I am originally from Louisiana and currently live in Jackson, MS, the home of Murray Pace, so I have followed this case from the beginning. Ms. Sanders does an outstanding job of making one feel the outrage of the victim's families, and the failure of the legal and judicial system of La. - this man should never have been on the streets. Also, when the author writes about the victims and their families, she is very respectful and empathetic. I made the mistake of reading this book while my husband was out of town, and I was petrified. I believe every woman should read this book, in order to see how easy it was for this evil man to kill these smart, careful, and responsible women.

I read loads of true crime, and this one is very well written and is a good story. I wasn't familiar with this case and I like to learn the details of a case as I go along, and that is the way this is written. Some true crimes give the ending away in a preface, or a first chapter which I do not like. This is very a very intersting case of a serial killer, and I can only imagine the horror this man inflicted, seemingly for his own satisfaction. Well, I guess that is the definition of a serial killer/psychopath/sociopath. Call him what you will, he is an awful man and belongs where he is! Held my interest from first page to last page. Hopefully Stephanie A. Stanley has written other books ..... I keep up-to-date on new true crime books through the search button at Amazon, and always read the reader reviews, if there are any. This book had good reviews, and they were right on. Thanks to all the readers who review at Amazon!

Stephanies book, An Invisible Man, is a spine chilling account of a serial murderer that should have been caught many years prior to his arrest, but due to poor investigative work was delayed many years. The book is superbly done and Stephanies ilk for detail and accuracy leaves nothing to be desired. I recommend this book to anyone with a desire for detail in real life crime.

"An Invisible Man" begins with what turns out to be the third murder/rape in the Baton Rouge area by the same man. From the very beginning dissimilarities between these and subsequent crimes led police and the FBI to "rule out" a serial killer - hampering the investigation. Other major problems included 1)the number of mostly small jurisdictions involved, 2)DNA use was expensive, just becoming a recognized tool, lacked a database of prior felons to compare with, only late in the investigation was able to identify the killer as black, and was not quickly taken advantage of, 3)police failure to arrest the killer for being a felon in possession of a weapon, 4)three witness reports that erroneously identified the killer as white, and 5)the justice-system's repeated soft-handling of the killer for prior burglary, stalking, assault, and Peeping Tom violations.

What finally broke the case was a citizen taking the initiative to tell investigators a SECOND time (years after the first) about the killer's highly suspicious actions the night of one of the murders. Even then completing the DNA test took 20 days (allowing the killer to flee to Atlanta), when it could have been done in 6 hours.

Bottom Line: "An Invisible Man" was interesting and well-written. Derrick Todd Lee should have been captured years earlier, and in jail during some of the murders. During the decade ending with his capture 29 women were murdered in the area, though hard evidence linking him was found in only seven.

This is a must read if you like to be scared and love true crime. I read a lot of true crime but must say this book really got me scared. Reading it late at night, I double, triple checked all the locks before I went to bed! This story of a serial murderer who gets into women's houses in nice neighborhoods to brutally murder them, is frightening and terrifying.

Stephanie Stanley was a reporter for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans in 2002. She proves to be a talented true crime author with this book.

There is a common theme with some serial killers-an abusive petty criminal breaks the law with impunity and recieves little or no punishment. As a child nothing is his fault. Derrick Todd Lee shares that theme with Kenneth McDuff.

The investigations into the multiple murders that Lee committed were hampered by two factors. First,the usual routine of looking at those closest to the victims as suspects. Husbands and boyfriends. Next was the F.B.I.'s profile that suggested a white male was the serial killer. The author spotlights the pain and disappointment of victims' families as well as some members in law enforcement that believe Lee could have been investigated 5 years earlier, sparing lives of latter victims.

Another problem in the investigations was the fact that he killed in multiple jurisdictions, crossed racial lines in selecting victims,and used different means of killing. A versatile murderer. It took time for authorities to link up the crimes.

As with many cases, DNA evidence was crucial in eventually connecting Derrick Lee to 6 victims. The author explains some of the process without getting too technical.

"An Invisible Man.." is one of the better,recent true crime books that I have read. I recommend it.