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Innocent Blood: A True Story of Terror and Justice
A cunning, remorseless killer of sixteen--including three children--Charles Hatcher escaped justice for nearly 25 years, while an innocent man was jailed instead. Terry Ganey's award-winning reportage of the case makes this among the most powerful and chilling true-crime stories ever.
302 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1990
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210 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
July 26, 2017
This was a good true crime book, but it was a rough read too as the serial killer in this book not only killed adults, he also killed children. It is always rough to read crimes against children. This killer had a long history of committing all kinds of crimes for years.
The book also shows how the justice system didn't protect the people and keep this killer off the streets. He did crimes, but he didn't stay in prison long for committing them. Most of the time he would escape. After killing 16 adults and 4 children, something was finally done, but to the families of the victims, it comes a little too late. He should have been locked away for good the first time he committed a crime and he would never have seen the light of day.
At the end of the book, the author gives the reader an insight look to what happened to all the people involved after bringing this killer to justice which I thought was interesting. Also the author has a list of all the crimes this killer committed all through the years before he was finally convicted. Four stars on this one.
The book also shows how the justice system didn't protect the people and keep this killer off the streets. He did crimes, but he didn't stay in prison long for committing them. Most of the time he would escape. After killing 16 adults and 4 children, something was finally done, but to the families of the victims, it comes a little too late. He should have been locked away for good the first time he committed a crime and he would never have seen the light of day.
At the end of the book, the author gives the reader an insight look to what happened to all the people involved after bringing this killer to justice which I thought was interesting. Also the author has a list of all the crimes this killer committed all through the years before he was finally convicted. Four stars on this one.
June 26, 2017
Bought this book while on vacation on the Canary Islands, Gran Canaria to be precise. This book was 3 dollars or so and had great reviews plus the fact that I could not choose which book to read out of the 788 books on my kindle .. 
was enough reason to buy this book on amazon. I know. Hard life ay?
Anyway. Very well written true crime book perhaps not with a lot of action but filled with injustice and errors that were made by people in power. Thankfully there were the "good" people who tried to fight all the mistakes that were made so I thought it was a good book and it kept me interested.
was enough reason to buy this book on amazon. I know. Hard life ay? Anyway. Very well written true crime book perhaps not with a lot of action but filled with injustice and errors that were made by people in power. Thankfully there were the "good" people who tried to fight all the mistakes that were made so I thought it was a good book and it kept me interested.
January 19, 2025
There are too many of these stories where police simply do not do their job. In this case, they fixated on, and ground down, an entirely innocent man until he broke and confessed to a truly horrific crime; worse, it left the actual murderer free to strike again.
Even more shocking, the innocent man might not have been released, even when the real killer himself confessed!
Justice?
This is not the best written book, but I wanted to make sure that this monster would not be free to kill again.
Even more shocking, the innocent man might not have been released, even when the real killer himself confessed!
Justice?
This is not the best written book, but I wanted to make sure that this monster would not be free to kill again.
August 29, 2023
Overall: 2.5 stars.
This was fine.
As a true crime nerd, I always enjoy learning about cases that are brand new to me, as this one was. It was also interesting to learn about the gross miscarriage of justice in Charles Hatcher's story (the wrong man is convicted and sent to jail, Hatcher himself is sent to jail/mental institutions without standing trial, the general fact that the investigators and lawyers in this story are the actual worst at their jobs, etc), although I spent most of the time wishing I could go back in time and slap more than a few people involved.
Although the facts of the book were interesting (and I think it's important to learn about the ways that people are wrongfully convicted, for example), the narrative itself was kind of a jumbled mess. I understood the flow of time and what was going on, but the writing didn't connect points as strongly as I think the author wanted to. The pacing was also a little uneven.
I think the facts the book was covering are interesting, but the book could have used some heavy editing or rewrites to make the narrative stronger.
As a side note for the audiobook: the longer the book went on, the more and more I disliked the narrator. I don't think he was doing an objectively bad job, but I just grew to really be annoyed by his "character voices" and how he gave all of the victims/women/children the same whiny voice. I'm not deducting any stars for this, but it's just something to note. As always, YMMV.
This was fine.
As a true crime nerd, I always enjoy learning about cases that are brand new to me, as this one was. It was also interesting to learn about the gross miscarriage of justice in Charles Hatcher's story (the wrong man is convicted and sent to jail, Hatcher himself is sent to jail/mental institutions without standing trial, the general fact that the investigators and lawyers in this story are the actual worst at their jobs, etc), although I spent most of the time wishing I could go back in time and slap more than a few people involved.
Although the facts of the book were interesting (and I think it's important to learn about the ways that people are wrongfully convicted, for example), the narrative itself was kind of a jumbled mess. I understood the flow of time and what was going on, but the writing didn't connect points as strongly as I think the author wanted to. The pacing was also a little uneven.
I think the facts the book was covering are interesting, but the book could have used some heavy editing or rewrites to make the narrative stronger.
As a side note for the audiobook: the longer the book went on, the more and more I disliked the narrator. I don't think he was doing an objectively bad job, but I just grew to really be annoyed by his "character voices" and how he gave all of the victims/women/children the same whiny voice. I'm not deducting any stars for this, but it's just something to note. As always, YMMV.
May 19, 2017
A very creepy but fascinating story of a serial killer.
August 8, 2017
I got this book in very good condition.
The book is about a serial killer named Charles Hatcher. A man who got away with murder for an incredibly long time. For long periods of time he was in prison and showed zero ability to change and reform.
The book starts out with the murder of a little boy who is the grandson of a very well liked family in Missouri. A little boy by the name of Eric Christgen. This eventually lead to a false conviction after a man who wasn't very intelligent who was obviously prime for a false confession "I'll admit I did if you want me to." confessed to it.
Later after many years Charles Hatcher would confess to it. A known child rapist and predator.
The police were reluctant [at least a few of the authorities at the top] to admit they imprisoned a perfectly innocent man.
Most of them blamed the man Melvin Reynolds for his predicament. I think Reynolds and a few of the police were to blame. For several weeks police officers would constantly bother him. If they had just left him alone then his false conviction would of probably never happened.
I do have to give them credit for admitting they were wrong. At least the majority of the authorities were willing to admit it.
The biggest sin of this book in my mind is the fact that we don't really learn that much about Hatcher. We aren't really given a full portrait of the man.
Which isnt the books fault since Hatcher apparently kept it that way.
He was clearly a manipulative psychopath who loved to manipulate the system and didn't seem to let anyone in.
The book of course has some very disturbing moments in it.
The book's back cover lies about the extent of the facts.
"His sixteen known killings."
That is untrue. In fact that is possibly another tragedy of the case.
He was linked to 5 confirmed murders. Who knows if the rest actually existed?
Given his history and his psychopathic tendency to repeat offend quickly I think he was probably telling the truth but that is what makes the ending of the book even more tragic.
Whether he killed more people [most probably children.] is left open.
A good book. Very well written. The photos are good. It has photos of Hatcher through the years. Photos you can't find online as far as I know of.
Hope I didn't "offend" anybody.
Wait...NVM. That's an arbitrary absurd standard. NVM.
I shouldnt waste my time with STUPID unrealistic expectations. Excuse me for my idiocy.
Are you pro trump? I hate Trump. I think he should be impeached. Sorry if that offends you. I can't predict random arbitrary whims like that.
If "I'm offended" is a reasonable excuse for censorship. Then literally EVERYONE on the entire planet needs to shut up.
Sorry but I don't want to get banned. So I am gonna have to put this warning on every single review/commentary I make.
If I offended you. I am sorry. Even if there is NOTHING in any of the rules against it.
The book is about a serial killer named Charles Hatcher. A man who got away with murder for an incredibly long time. For long periods of time he was in prison and showed zero ability to change and reform.
The book starts out with the murder of a little boy who is the grandson of a very well liked family in Missouri. A little boy by the name of Eric Christgen. This eventually lead to a false conviction after a man who wasn't very intelligent who was obviously prime for a false confession "I'll admit I did if you want me to." confessed to it.
Later after many years Charles Hatcher would confess to it. A known child rapist and predator.
The police were reluctant [at least a few of the authorities at the top] to admit they imprisoned a perfectly innocent man.
Most of them blamed the man Melvin Reynolds for his predicament. I think Reynolds and a few of the police were to blame. For several weeks police officers would constantly bother him. If they had just left him alone then his false conviction would of probably never happened.
I do have to give them credit for admitting they were wrong. At least the majority of the authorities were willing to admit it.
The biggest sin of this book in my mind is the fact that we don't really learn that much about Hatcher. We aren't really given a full portrait of the man.
Which isnt the books fault since Hatcher apparently kept it that way.
He was clearly a manipulative psychopath who loved to manipulate the system and didn't seem to let anyone in.
The book of course has some very disturbing moments in it.
The book's back cover lies about the extent of the facts.
"His sixteen known killings."
That is untrue. In fact that is possibly another tragedy of the case.
He was linked to 5 confirmed murders. Who knows if the rest actually existed?
Given his history and his psychopathic tendency to repeat offend quickly I think he was probably telling the truth but that is what makes the ending of the book even more tragic.
Whether he killed more people [most probably children.] is left open.
A good book. Very well written. The photos are good. It has photos of Hatcher through the years. Photos you can't find online as far as I know of.
Hope I didn't "offend" anybody.
Wait...NVM. That's an arbitrary absurd standard. NVM.
I shouldnt waste my time with STUPID unrealistic expectations. Excuse me for my idiocy.
Are you pro trump? I hate Trump. I think he should be impeached. Sorry if that offends you. I can't predict random arbitrary whims like that.
If "I'm offended" is a reasonable excuse for censorship. Then literally EVERYONE on the entire planet needs to shut up.
Sorry but I don't want to get banned. So I am gonna have to put this warning on every single review/commentary I make.
If I offended you. I am sorry. Even if there is NOTHING in any of the rules against it.
June 15, 2017
I don't give 4 stars often,
So this is a great rating from me :)
Wonderful book that kept my interest from beginning to end!
The only thing I thought was lacking was better trial coverage, and better coverage of the actual crimes. I am one of the oddballs who likes to hear what each witness said, and this book only told how many were called by each and not even what was said - and it's an updated version? Hmmm...
As for the crimes that WERE covered, the author didn't spend much time on telling us who they were as people, so I didn't "feel" for them. This is something the late, great Ann Rule was so good at, and what made her such a fabulous author. I felt such are emotions for the victims in her books, and NOBODY else can seem to pull that off. She's like the Danielle Steele of True Crime.
If authors of THIS genre could just make us care that much about the victims, they'd make it to number one every single time!
This book, like most others, fall flat in that area.
So this is a great rating from me :)
Wonderful book that kept my interest from beginning to end!
The only thing I thought was lacking was better trial coverage, and better coverage of the actual crimes. I am one of the oddballs who likes to hear what each witness said, and this book only told how many were called by each and not even what was said - and it's an updated version? Hmmm...
As for the crimes that WERE covered, the author didn't spend much time on telling us who they were as people, so I didn't "feel" for them. This is something the late, great Ann Rule was so good at, and what made her such a fabulous author. I felt such are emotions for the victims in her books, and NOBODY else can seem to pull that off. She's like the Danielle Steele of True Crime.
If authors of THIS genre could just make us care that much about the victims, they'd make it to number one every single time!
This book, like most others, fall flat in that area.
October 3, 2025
This true crime story truly came to life through this audiobook. It’s crazy to see the amount of horrible crimes some people manage to get away with throughout their lives. It’s even crazier to see the failures of multiple systems of criminal just and mental health through various stages and jurisdictions. I’d like to think things of this nature wouldn’t be so easy to get away with these days due to the improvements in science, DNA, forensics, and collaboration between law enforcement agencies. Unfortunately, I am sure there are people out there who are evil and cunning enough to expose the holes in those systems as well. In all, this was a great audiobook and I really enjoyed the way the story was told and changers were developed through the book.
January 23, 2024
Part of this text reveals what happens when police don’t bother to investigate a murder and just pick out a suspect. No, there was no guarantee they would have caught the real killer any sooner or at all but when they knowingly lock up the wrong person the are allowing a killer to ruin the lives of so many more people. The events are told through narration based on the fact and transcripts. It is certainly an interesting case where the serial murders felt bad someone else was in prison for his crime. But likely as with most of these killers he wanted people to know what he did and finally came forward.
October 2, 2025
This is the third true crime book I've read in the space of two weeks. This one, of all of them, acknowledged the serious errors of police, prosecutors, coroners, and judges, but it still could have gone harder. Besides Charles Hatcher's victims, one innocent man during police interrogation and another spent years in prison, convicted of one of Hatcher's murderers.
The author does a good job of digging into Hatcher. I would have appreciated more on his victims.
Horrible crimes by a person who played the system and who should have been incarcerated much earlier.
The author does a good job of digging into Hatcher. I would have appreciated more on his victims.
Horrible crimes by a person who played the system and who should have been incarcerated much earlier.
January 19, 2021
Very well written & interesting, considering the content.
I'm not sure that I'd ever heard of this serial killer. Of course, with all of the aliases he used, who knows.
This was very sad & disturbing abt what this man did and was able to get away with or get by the authorities.
In the end, he got what he wanted, even though it was, supposedly, by his own hand. Which I kind of doubt, considering the description.
I'm not sure that I'd ever heard of this serial killer. Of course, with all of the aliases he used, who knows.
This was very sad & disturbing abt what this man did and was able to get away with or get by the authorities.
In the end, he got what he wanted, even though it was, supposedly, by his own hand. Which I kind of doubt, considering the description.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 19, 2025
It was a hard book to listen to in regard to the gruesome details. But fascinating how this human was continually allowed to do horrific things to people. Along with the fact that I had never heard of him before reading this book. I did listen through audible and found the man reading did a great job. A deep voice, soothing to listen to. Again outside of the material. Which often can be difficult to hear.
September 2, 2020
Kind of wooden in regards to prose and storytelling, but quite alright. I haven't fact-checked everything to be able to attest if all that's foretold in this book is true, but at least it didn't feel overly sensationalized.
October 30, 2024
This book was well done, and the monster inside it could never possibly be made to suffer enough in 100 life times to satisfy the need for retribution. Fucking disgusting piece of shit. Anyway, if you want to be disgusted and pissed, go for this one
July 20, 2017
True Crime
This book is well written and involving. It is true crime at its best, with the story covering the career of a vicious sociopath.
This book is well written and involving. It is true crime at its best, with the story covering the career of a vicious sociopath.
August 31, 2017
Interesting, thorough, a big slow.
Interesting subject. Very thorough research. It moved a bit too slow. If could have been condensed. An interesting story regardless.
Interesting subject. Very thorough research. It moved a bit too slow. If could have been condensed. An interesting story regardless.
November 24, 2017
Good not great crime story
Author gave a lot of detail on facts rather than background or personal stories, or anecdotes. Therefore a dry read, not a thriller or suspenseful
Author gave a lot of detail on facts rather than background or personal stories, or anecdotes. Therefore a dry read, not a thriller or suspenseful
September 4, 2021
read if you’ve got a strong stomach for serial killers in the horrible things that they do
March 8, 2017
Detailed Account
This was a very good read, chronological and well paced. Unbelievable suffering for the victims, their families and the wrongly accused. The justice system failed as it oftentimes does, but was at least finally corrected. Hatcher was a monster, leaves one with questions as to which was worse, his dysfunctional life or the legal/medical establishment. Or rather, who bears the brunt of responsibility more. He should have been stopped much sooner. Recommended read for true crime enthusiasts. Lorie S.
This was a very good read, chronological and well paced. Unbelievable suffering for the victims, their families and the wrongly accused. The justice system failed as it oftentimes does, but was at least finally corrected. Hatcher was a monster, leaves one with questions as to which was worse, his dysfunctional life or the legal/medical establishment. Or rather, who bears the brunt of responsibility more. He should have been stopped much sooner. Recommended read for true crime enthusiasts. Lorie S.
Read
September 5, 2012The book is all about the story of Charles Hatcher. He was a psychotic murderer from the late 1950's to the early 1980's. He had murdered a total of 16 people, including children. I am fascinated by these types of individuals who have a mental and abnormal psycho disorder. I began reading such books at a very young age, and surprisingly enough, it is reading material that can be seen in my collection of books, but is not the only books I am fascinated by.
September 29, 2020
Page Turner...
I have only just begun reading true crime (four months ago) but have cut a rather large swathe through the offering by kindle unlimited. Of the authors sampled I have developed a couple of favorites -Mr. Ganey is one of them. I really enjoyed his style and inclusion of small, albeit important facts and will definitely read his next book.
I have only just begun reading true crime (four months ago) but have cut a rather large swathe through the offering by kindle unlimited. Of the authors sampled I have developed a couple of favorites -Mr. Ganey is one of them. I really enjoyed his style and inclusion of small, albeit important facts and will definitely read his next book.
October 23, 2009
Another couldn't put the book down read.
It is amazing that this guy manipulated the penal system to such a degree to let him out of prison to re-offend by simply refusing to talk while incarcerated.
It just goes to show that the system is geared to move you back out to the street.
It is amazing that this guy manipulated the penal system to such a degree to let him out of prison to re-offend by simply refusing to talk while incarcerated.
It just goes to show that the system is geared to move you back out to the street.
September 3, 2012
Now I can be sure, there is no god.
January 4, 2013
I read this because it took place in MO but left a lot to be desired...though the near misses in capturing the murderer is heartbreaking.
February 27, 2018
Very keen mine
Very interested from the very beginning. Hatcher keeps you guessing who he is and what he's going to do next, and where he's going. He is a very good actor and a very good make believe.
Very interested from the very beginning. Hatcher keeps you guessing who he is and what he's going to do next, and where he's going. He is a very good actor and a very good make believe.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews