If You Tell

A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood

By: Gregg Olsen

Narrated by: Karen Peakes

Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

2021 Audie Award Nominee for Best Nonfiction Audiobook

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 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.

©2019 Gregg Olsen. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Peakes's performance sucks the listener into the scenes of abuse, torture, sadism, and, eventually, murder committed by Shelly.... Peakes's narration is compelling." --AudioFile Magazine

"This riveting account will leave readers questioning every odd relative they’ve known." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Olsen presents the story chronologically and in a simple, straightforward style, which works well: it is chilling enough as is." --Booklist

FANTASTIC reader! Riveting true story!

This reader was simply amazing! This story should come with a hefty trigger warning for survivors of childhood trauma.

Tragic

The abuse is sickening this was one of the hardest books to listen to because your heart breaks for the children and their horrific life.

✫✫ 4 Stars ✫✫

Well besides the horror of the story, I have to say I am left with 1000 unanswered questions. I was surprised about how the people involved in this weren't all exactly presented in the way I think they probably should have been. This book mainly shows the depravity and wickedness of the mom but she wasn't completely alone, I feel like any adult knows right from wrong and should be held responsible for their own actions too. Not that they weren't held responsible in the end but the way this author presents it made it seem like everyone was a victim of this one women. This story was absolutely insane and addicting in a way that you can't stop cause you have to know that these awful people don't get away with it.

The narration on the audiobook was great.

Disturbing

I had a difficult time getting through this book. The abuse was so disturbing and unimaginable. My heart aches for the children as well as the three innocent victims that were tortured for years before anyone got involved. Truly tragic!!!

living with a sadist

Th is is a gripping true crime novel. I shudder at the incredible abuse this horrible woman inflicted on her children and those she seduced into her web with "friendship". I'm glad her girls are free from the pain she inflicted on a daily basis . This book is a warning to pay attention to what goes on around us for the sake of the children.

Just not worth it

It was a struggle to get through. The flow was nice, short chapters, and I couldn't finish it.

Just ok

Struggled to finish. It was like the book took forever.... I got very bored with hearing the same line, "This one time...." And the jumping around from memories to current time got annoying.

Wow.

This was such an awful story and, yes, as others have said, very hard to feel sorry for almost any of them. Really incredible that a woman was able to manipulate, torture, abuse and/or kill so many and get away with it for so long. Theories, science, psychology ... anything, in addition to the stories of how these people were tortured would have perhaps made this true story more fascinating than sickening.

Unbelievable true story

I have a hard time fathoming this story or the fact that someone can exert control over so many people for such a long time. Fascinating and horrifying at the same time. If you love true crime, you’ll like this book. The reader does a nice job of portraying the main character Shelly.

The story is hard to hear but well told.

The reader does an excellent job in differentiating the characters. How she portrays “Shelly” with an added harshness in her voice increases the uneasy feelings arise when listening to this. I felt myself rooting for the people who felt like speaking out against Shelly, and then feeling angered and disappointed when it didn’t happen. The details are daunting and heartbreaking. This type of story isn’t for everyone. It’s graphic and painful, but once I started it I had to finish. My heart goes out to her daughters and to the people she trapped.