A #1 Wall Street Journal, Amazon Charts, USA Today, and Washington Post bestseller.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Gregg Olsen’s shocking and empowering true-crime story of three sisters determined to survive their mother’s house of horrors.
After more than a decade, when sisters Nikki, Sami, and Tori Knotek hear the word mom, it claws like an eagle’s talons, triggering memories that have … mom, it claws like an eagle’s talons, triggering memories that have been their secret since childhood. Until now.
For years, behind the closed doors of their farmhouse in Raymond, Washington, their sadistic mother, Shelly, subjected her girls to unimaginable abuse, degradation, torture, and psychic terrors. Through it all, Nikki, Sami, and Tori developed a defiant bond that made them far less vulnerable than Shelly imagined. Even as others were drawn into their mother’s dark and perverse web, the sisters found the strength and courage to escape an escalating nightmare that culminated in multiple murders.
Harrowing and heartrending, If You Tell is a survivor’s story of absolute evil—and the freedom and justice that Nikki, Sami, and Tori risked their lives to fight for. Sisters forever, victims no more, they found a light in the darkness that made them the resilient women they are today—loving, loved, and moving on.
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This book was disturbingly fascinating and horrific. It seems beyond crazy to me that anyone could have sympathy for Dave, although it seemed like the author did and obviously 2 of his daughters did. Dave was fully complicit in all of Shelly’s actions. There’s no way he didn’t know what was going on. Maybe he blocked out some things to cope, I have no idea. Regardless, he should have done something. Anything really. To allow your children and other grown adults to be treated this way is just despicable…
The fact that Shelly will be able to be released from prison also seems insane to me. I understand the plea bargain and what not but that woman is a true psychopath and there’s no telling the kind of evil torment she’ll rain down on anyone near her when she’s released despite her age. I truly don’t understand how someone can be so incredibly evil deep down in their core.
The best thing that will probably come from this book is the public will know who she is and what she’s capable of. People will hopefully watch her and make sure she is never able to replicate any of the deeds she has committed in the past.
I gave 4 stars because the author’s sympathy towards Dave irked me but also because the writing often seemed repetitive and not overly clear.
This was one of those books that you can’t stop reading but also feel like you can’t carry on reading.
It’s well written with the author having spoken to all three daughters, Dave and Lara – Shelley’s stepmom. The blood chills at the cruelty Shelley inflicted on everyone around her – one has to wonder what caused her to turn out the way she did.
Who knows what she’ll get up to once she is released in 2022.
A book that stays with you long after you finish it.
If You Tell by Gregg Olsen is an indepth look at a sadistic killer who had the ability to lure her victims in like a snake charmer as she plies her torturous ways on the innocent in the true crime novel that is written like a psychological thriller, making it hard to stop reading before the last page is read, but shows her four daughters ability to hold on to love and hope.
I won a hardcover of If You Tell by Gregg Olsen and I would like to thank Freda, Gregg Olsen and Thomas & Mercer.
See more at http://www.fundinmental.com
A book about sick minded people!
BOOK REVIEW
If You Tell by Gregg Olsen
Pub Date-December 1, 2019
405 Pages
-DESCRIPTION-
A true crime drama. The Knotek family. A torturer and murderer. A husband. Boarders. And the bond of sisterhood.
-THOUGHTS-
Whoa. Ok. Let me get myself together. This was a page turner….a true crime novel that read like a psychological thriller. It really opens your eyes as to how easily people can be manipulated and how far family will go to keep secrets. In the end, the message of sisterhood is what really brought the while book together. Read this!!
-RATING-
5/5 stars
I highly recommend this read!
-SIMILAR RECOMMENDED READS-
The Sound of Gravel
Unfollow
You Are Not Alone
This book blew my mind. What the sisters went through at the hands of those who claimed to love them.
I love reading a good True Crime book and this one it the mark. It was very disturbing. To think a mother would do those things to her children is unbelievable. I kept thinking when is someone going to stand up to her, or let the police know what she had done. I read this book in one day, as I started reading it last night and finished it this afternoon. Sometimes you just have to finally get the courage to separate from people that treat you badly, even if they are family. I have had to do this and believe me it’s not easy, especially when it’s your mother. The life these girls lived is on real. To know that they survived and came thru it was a miracle. Glad that Gregg Olsen wrote this book. I highly recommend it.
Wow to think that this is a true story and that there are people who actually do this and live among us.
Greg Olsen is a wonderful writer. I highly recommend his books!
This book is a shocking and sad look into the lives of three sisters and one cousin who were unfortunate to have a evil and psychotic mother/aunt. The book tells of all the kids had to endure and witness at the hands of their mother/aunt the one person who should love you the most. It tells of their confusion of hating her and loving her at the same time she’s abusing them or they are watching her abuse the people they love and then having the courage to speak up about it knowing that it will ripe their family apart. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes nonfiction books but warn that some of it might make you cry. Definitely five thumbs up for this book and can’t wait to read the next one.
This book was twisted and informative. And it’s an unbelievable riveting read!
It was an amazing story of 3 sisters tragic lives brought together. But overall the story was dark and sad. It was a good read and brought a lot of depth to a scandalous true crime story.
My goodness, this is not an easy read! Gregg Olsen did an outstanding job
of bringing this story to us! If this is the kind of book you like, it is a must-read!
It is so shocking how horrible she was to those girls. There is so much detail, I’m not
going to spoil it for you. I did have to take a couple of breaks while reading it to relax, then went back to it. I had to finish it to see that she got what she deserved.
Thank you so much, Gregg Olsen, NetGalley, and the Publisher for giving me the
chance to read this well-written book!
A suspenseful, horrific, and yet fascinating character study of an incredibly dysfunctional and dangerous family by Gregg Olsen, one of today’s true-crime masters.
A master of true crime returns with a vengeance. After a decade detour into novels, Gregg Olsen is back with a dark tale of nonfiction from the Pacific Northwest that will keep you awake long after the lights have gone out. The monster at the heart of If You Tell is not your typical boogeyman, not some wandering drifter or man in a van. No. In fact, they called her… mother. And yet this story is about hope and renewal in the face of evil and how three sisters can find the goodness in the world after surviving the worst it has to offer. Classic true crime in the tradition of In Cold Blood and The Stranger Beside Me.
This nightmare walked on two legs and some of her victims called her mom. In If You Tell, Gregg Olsen documents the horrific mental and physical torture Shelly Knotek inflicted on everyone in her household. A powerful story of cruelty that will haunt you for a long time.
It is a tragic story, but humans do live a life even with parents like this. This book makes us thankful for the families we have.
While this book is somewhat redundant, I found myself unable to put it down. It is truly an unbelievable real-life story.
This feels like a hard review to write.
This is someone’s real life events. This is their life growing up and beyond. This is one harrowing story that is so real it’s terrifying.
As a mother, I cannot fathom Shelley and her antics. She obviously is mentally ill, maybe schizophrenic, not that I’m making excuses for her. Still, how could she do any of these things to her children?!
I immediately thought of Mommie Dearest.
Except this was real, and maybe even more sadistic with friends and family being murdered. It’s almost surreal.
I’m literally scared for when this woman gets out of prison in a couple years. If her and her husband hook back up, people are screwed. He’s so weak, he’d probably go right back to her.
I really hope the author keeps up with the sisters and keeps us all posted as to what happens in a few years. My money is on Nikki, Sami and Tori, but still my mind will be abuzz with wonder.
A tragic, intense but great read. One I highly recommend to true crime fans.
If You Tell by Gregg Olsen
I have read many true crime stories and this one is pretty horrifying and somewhat hard to understand why people put up with crap from other people. This book kept me reading even as my mind kept telling me no and my heart breaks for those young girls that lived through this in real life and especially breaks for the 3 people who were killed by these monsters. I cannot believe they got the punishment they did for the acts of horror they committed (Shelly & Dave). This book is pretty graphic and detailed, so if this bothers you this may not be the book for you.