Susan

Author, freelance journalist, music journalist"I've Been Watching You--The South Louisiana Serial Killer has now been published by Kensington Books as Blood Bath. Look for it at Wal-Mart and in local bookstores or on amazon.com.What people are saying:“So expertly written and reported…It scared the bejesus out of me!” –Alanna Nash, author of The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley“I’ve Been Watching You is just as ominous as the title sounds. It takes us into the mentally bizarre world of a real serial killer as he stalks and defiles beautiful and talented women whom he hates for being “too good” for him. While clearly sympathetic with the victims, the authors are never preachy or academic in their account of the long and frustrating hunt that finally brought him to justice. With its combination of first-rate reporting on actual police procedures and its novelistic eye for detail, this story is a healthy antidote to the unrealistically infallible CSI school of crime solving.” –Edward Morris, reviewer for BookPage and ForeWord magazines"The story of Derrick Todd Lee, the south Louisiana serial killer, is scary and unnerving." —Lily Jackson, Gambit Weekly, BestofNewOrleans.com.“Mustafa invited horror into her home, looked it in the eye and squashed it with a creative energy used to produce a book that touches the soul.” –Dave Moormann, Southeast News“If you were at all affected by the terror Derrick Todd Lee brought to our beautiful city and lives, this book is a must read. The authors do not waste your time and do not waste words. I’ve Been Watching You does not just tell you the story, but takes you on the journey. Derrick Todd Lee will go down in history as one of the most difficult serial killers to catch, much less profile. This book lays all of that on the table for you. There were certain parts I read without breathing.” –Jodi Carson, Clear Channel Radio, 96.1 The RiverIn her book, I’ve been Watching You, Susan Mustafa enlists the help of Tony Clayton and Sue Israel to portray Derrick Todd Lee as a teeth-gnashing, heartless and depraved frame of a man who showed no remorse for his actions and selfishly gave no explanation to the victims’ family members he left in his wake. Well, if the shoe fits… He stalked them, he waited for them to be home alone, he tricked them using their own tender hearts. Then, he horrified them, beat them, raped them and ultimately sucked their lives from them. And as if this wasn’t insult enough to their existence, he disrespected their bodies by leaving them lying naked in their own blood, or face down in the muddy waters of South Louisiana to be picked apart by the wild. It was obvious that Mustafa walked the steps of the killer and the victims. With descriptions that could map the area, Mustafa draws pictures with her words of the terror, the crime scenes and the aftermath of each murder while keeping the victims in mind. The book holds readers by capturing their hearts, truly allowing them to know the victims and their family members. Mustafa showed that these women were wives, mothers, daughters, friends, aunts and pillars of the community in which they lived – and died. Mustafa is a native of Slidell and graduate of Southeastern Louisiana University. Her journalism background shines in this true crime book, as she answers the questions for readers before they must ask. She tells the story as if she hovered overhead while it was happening, helpless as we all were to stop it. Two other authors contributed their expertise to the book so much that they share the front cover with Mustafa. Tony Clayton, who supplied the insight and tactics used to convict Lee of murdering Geralyn DeSoto, was the special prosecutor in the case of the same. And Sue Israel brought 20 years of writing and editing experience to the book. Together, this “dream team” created a piece of history, detailing the horror that trapped Louisiana women for months, and unbeknownst to them, years on end. This chilling sequence of events will have women locking their doors and looking around corners for days upon its completion. In the words of victim Pam Kinnamore’s mother Lynne Marino at a book signing in Baton Rouge, “This is a story that needed to be told.” These authors have done so in its entirety. --Amber Reetz Narro, Professor, University of Louisiana at Lafayette