If You Tell

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

By: Gregg Olsen

Narrated by: Karen Peakes

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

Much too long!!!

This is an interesting story but entirely too long!! Such a sad story that the sadness is overwhelming. This could have been told in half of the time. I was only waiting for the end for the villain to get caught.

Too Much

I couldn’t finish. It repeats the abuse over and over. After a while I just Googled to see what happened. The voices got annoying.

Gruesome story. Kept reading but couldn’t wait for the end to come. Tortuous!

For it to end. Tortuous-reading. Used to be fascinated by true crime but now sickened by it. No more of this genre for me.

If child abuse is a trigger don’t read.

I couldn’t stop listening. It was intense from the minute it started.
But for those who are triggered by child abuse I would think twice about it.

Interesting story, choppy text

The story itself is interesting. I wanted to know what happened next, what happened to the victims and perpetrators. It was poorly written though, very choppy. The author could have done a better job telling this tale. There are unanswered questions, details missed. Overall 3.5 stars.