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.
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.
The #1 New York Times and Amazon Charts bestselling author Gregg Olsen solves a murder among the Amish and reveals the conspiracy to keep it a secret in a heartbreaking and horrifying true-crime story.
In 1977, in an Ohio Amish community, pregnant wife and mother Ida Stutzman perished during a barn fire. The coroner's report: natural causes. Ida's husband, Eli, was never considered a suspect. But when he eventually rejected the faith and took his son, Danny, with him, murder followed.
What really happened to Ida? The dubious circumstances of the tragic blaze were willfully ignored and Eli's shifting narratives disregarded. Could Eli's subsequent cross-country journey of death--including that of his own son--have been prevented if just one person came forward with what they knew about the real Eli Stutzman?
The questions haunted Gregg Olsen and Ida's brother Daniel Gingerich for decades. At Daniel's urging, Olsen now returns to Amish Country and to Eli's crimes first exposed in Olsen's Abandoned Prayers, one of which has remained a mystery until now. With the help of aging witnesses and shocking long-buried letters, Olsen finally uncovers the disturbing truth--about Ida's murder and the conspiracy of silence and secrets that kept it hidden for forty-five years.
From Gregg Olsen, bestselling author of If You Tell, comes the heartbreaking true story of a mother's darkest secrets coming to light in Cruel Deception.
In and out of hospitals since birth, angelic nine-month-old Morgan Reid finally succumbed to what appeared to be Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Morgan's Texas-born mother Tanya, a nurse and devoted wife, pulled up stakes with her grieving husband Jim, and moved on. It was the best way to put the past behind them. Until their son Michael, a boy who by all accounts was terrified of his mother, began showing signs of the same affliction that stole the life of his baby sister... First, the suspicion: Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. Then, Tanya was charged and convicted with felony child abuse of her son. She was later tried and ultimately convicted for first degree murder of Morgan. It would become a landmark trial that unfolded in a series of reversals and bizarre twists of fate as it gradually revealed another side of Tanya Reid--of her own troubling childhood and the dark secrets that drove a woman to the cruelest deception of all.New York Times bestselling authors Gregg Olsen and Rebecca Morris investigate the 2009 death of an Amish wife and mother found murdered in her own bed.
At just 30 years old, with dark-blonde hair and freckles, Barbara Weaver was as pretty as the women depicted on the covers of her favorite bonnet stories - romance novels set in Amish America. Barbara had everything she'd ever wanted: five beautiful children, a home, her faith, and a husband named Eli. But while Barbara was happy to live as the Amish have for centuries - without modern conveniences, Eli was tempted by technology: cell phones, the Internet, and sexting. Online he called himself Amish Stud and found no shortage of English women looking for love and sex. Twice he left Barbara and their children, was shunned, begged for forgiveness, and had been welcomed back to the church. Barb Raber was raised Amish, but is now a Conservative Mennonite. She drove Eli to appointments in her car, and she gave him what he wanted when he wanted: a cell phone, a laptop, rides to his favorite fishing and hunting places, and, most importantly, sex. When Eli starts asking people to kill his wife for him, Barb offers to help. One night, just after Eli had hitched a ride with a group of men to go fishing in the hours before dawn, Barb Raber entered the Weaver house and shot Barbara Weaver in the chest at close range. It was only the third murder in hundreds of years of Amish life in America, and it fell to Edna Boyle, a young assistant prosecutor to seek justice for Barbara Weaver.She wakes to find herself alone in complete darkness. Fearing for her life, in that moment her only thought is for her beloved daughters. What will they think when they find out she's missing? Then it hits her. She's kept a secret hidden from her family for years. Is she about to pay for it with her life?
When Victoria Marsh disappears from her family's exclusive resort in Cougar Point, Washington, her family is devastated. A charity worker and pillar of the local community, how could she just vanish without a trace?
Though not officially her case, Detective Megan Carpenter races to the scene for a very personal reason. Victoria is Ronnie's mother and Megan will do anything to help her when she has sacrificed so much.
Together they build up a picture of the days before the disappearance but the only clue is a note with the words, You promised scrawled on it. It soon emerges that Victoria's marriage was far from perfect and she had spent years running from a deadbeat brother. Could someone in Victoria's family want her dead?
But when the body of another woman is found, Megan starts to link the cases. Both women had huge ransoms placed on them. Both families received chilling threats in the mail. And with one victim already dead, time is running out to find Victoria alive.
Local law enforcement warns Megan off the case but she's certain that the disappearance is more than just bad blood. But with a potential serial killer on the loose, how much is Megan willing to risk? Worse still, could they be closer to her than she had ever imagined?
A completely gripping mystery thriller that will have you hooked to the very last page, from a number one, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author. Perfect for fans of Robert Dugoni, Michael Connelly and James Patterson.
Read what everyone is saying about the Detective Megan Carpenter series:
OMG!!... I was simply blown away by this... I couldn't look away from my Kindle even when I wanted to. The story took me by my throat making me gasp every few chapters... Wow!! Shalini's Books and Reviews, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
OMG! Wow. I loved this book!!... it was amazing! I can't wait to read more! It kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't put it down. Loved, loved, loved it! Goodreads reviewer, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Holy cr*p what a complete stunner of a read this is. It had everything, sensational, creepy, addictive with a stunningly complex plot from beginning to end and I loved, loved, loved it !! Goodreads reviewer, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Absolutely heart stopping... gripped my heart and soul... A fantastic read! Goodreads reviewer, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I HAD to get my hands on this... will keep you up way past your bedtime!... an edge-of-your-seat, hold on for dear life, kind of thriller. The suspense is out of this world! @ThrillByThePage_ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Had me hooked right from the first page... a must read. NetGalley reviewer, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In If I Can't Have You, bestselling author Gregg Olsen and co-author Rebecca Morris investigate one of the 21st Century's most puzzling disappearances and how it resulted in the murder of two children by their father.
Every once in a great while a genuine murder mystery unfolds before the eyes of the American public. The tragic story of Susan Powell and her murdered boys, Charlie and Braden, is the only case that rivals the Jon Benet Ramsey saga in the annals of true crime. When the pretty, blonde Utah mother went missing in December of 2009 the media was swept up in the story - with lenses and microphones trained on Susan's husband, Josh. He said he had no idea what happened to his young wife, and that he and the boys had been camping in the middle of a snowstorm.
Megan, you need to call me. Wallace was here. He left a message to say please don't worry. He's coming for you soon. As I hang up the call, my blood runs cold. I've spent a lifetime running from this man. But as I look down at his next victim, their face frozen in one final moment of fear, I can't escape the feeling that I will be next to die.
When the body of Detective Susan Dupont is discovered lying across the dividing line of two counties, Detective Megan Carpenter is immediately called to the scene. When her body is examined they find a sharp piece of metal has been lodged in her eye. A detail that takes Megan back to a deeply-buried memory which she has long been running from.
Twenty-four hours later, retired Detective Riley Denton is found dead at home. His death is deemed a tragic accident. He fell down the stairs and had no enemies. Why would anyone want him dead? But Megan feels sure there is a link to the deaths and there is only one person she can trust with her theory.
Calling in the help of her partner Detective Ronnie Marsh, they start to piece together a link that places Megan right at the centre of a deadly plot. As they race to find the killer before they strike closer to home, a string of murder victims going back years starts to emerge. And when Megan discovers how the murders are linked, she has to finally accept a dark truth she has spent her life running from.
A killer from her past is back just like they promised and they will stop at nothing to take everything she loves. Can Megan stop them dead in their tracks or will she pay the ultimate price?
A totally addictive mystery thriller that will have you racing to the end, from a number one, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author. Perfect for fans of Robert Dugoni, Michael Connelly and James Patterson.
Read what everyone is saying about the Detective Megan Carpenter series:
OMG!!... I was simply blown away by this... I couldn't look away from my Kindle even when I wanted to. The story took me by my throat making me gasp every few chapters... Wow!! Shalini's Books and Reviews, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Holy cr*p what a complete stunner of a read this is... It had everything, sensational, creepy, addictive!... I loved, loved, loved it!! Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
OMG! Wow. I loved this book!!... it was amazing! I can't wait to read more! It kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't put it down. Loved, loved, loved it! Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Absolutely heart stopping... gripped my heart and soul... A fantastic read! Goodreads reviewer, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I HAD to get my hands on this... will keep you up way past your bedtime!... an edge-of-your-seat, hold on for dear life, kind of thriller. The suspense is out of this world! ThrillByThePage_, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
True crime journalist Gregg Olsen, author of the instant bestseller If You Tell, unravels the twisted tale of a shocking murder in Amish country.
On Christmas Eve in 1985, a hunter found a young boy's body along an icy corn field in Nebraska. The residents of Chester, Nebraska buried him as Little Boy Blue, unclaimed and unidentified-- until a phone call from Ohio two years later led authorities to Eli Stutzman, the boy's father. Eli Stutzman, the son of an Amish bishop, was by all appearances a dedicated farmer and family man in the country's strictest religious sect. But behind his quiet façade was a man involved with pornography, sadomasochism, and drugs. After the suspicious death of his pregnant wife, Stutzman took his preschool-age son, Danny, and hit the road on a sexual odyssey ending with his conviction for murder. But the mystery of Eli Stutzman and the fate of his son didn't end on the barren Nebraska plains. It was just beginning... Olsen's Abandoned Prayers is an incredible true story of murder and Amish secrets.New York Times bestselling author Gregg Olsen investigates the sensational story of a minister who seduced four of his female congregants, and hatched a cold-blooded plot to murder his wife.
On December 26, 1997, near the affluent community of Bainbridge Island off the coast of Seattle, a house went up in flames. In it was the shy, beloved minister's wife Dawn Hacheney. When the fire was extinguished, investigators found only her charred remains. Her husband Nick was visibly devastated by the loss. What investigators failed to note, however, was that Dawn's lungs didn't contain smoke. Was she dead before the fire began? So begins this true crime story that's unlike any other. It investigates Nick Hacheney, a philandering minister who had been carrying on with several women in the months before and just after his wife's death. He would be convicted for the murder five years to the day after the crime. From one of the foremost names in true crime, A Twisted Faith is a gripping and truly unforgettable story of a man whose charisma and desire rocked an entire community.Mommy, I'm scared. Marlena's precious boy lies with his little arm thrown over her thigh. It's pitch-black, and she can hear seagulls. She realises they must be near water, and a new panic rises in her.
At 2 a.m. one icy winter morning, in the smart suburbs of Jefferson County, local father Ben Parker reports his wife Marlena and their little boy missing.
Rushing to the impressive family home, Detective Megan Carpenter finds the halls adorned with pictures of the beautiful, stay-at-home mom and their bright-eyed son. But that's not all she finds...
A bottle of prenatal vitamins in the bathroom cabinet reveal that Marlena is pregnant. Why didn't Ben mention this in his panicked call to the police?
Digging deeper into their seemingly perfect marriage, Megan's fear begins to grow. The couple are separated, there's talk of an affair, and the neighbors report loud fights. And then, Megan tracks a young woman believed to be Ben's secret girlfriend, only to find her lifeless body in a secluded wood.
Ben's watch lies in the undergrowth, and Megan's team think she's cracked the case, but she's sure something's not right. Ben's family has wealth including a private island, and connections in high places. Is someone trying to block their investigation?
As Megan starts to wonder if the answer lies on the Parkers' closely guarded island, just offshore, a shocking revelation makes her question everything. With a killer on the loose, can Megan find the missing pieces to the most complex case of her career and bring Marlena and her little boy home alive? Or will it be too late to save them?
A totally edge-of-your-seat mystery thriller that will have you racing to the end, from a number one, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author. Perfect for fans of Robert Dugoni, Michael Connelly and James Patterson.
Read what everyone is saying about the Megan Carpenter series:
'The best one yet. Megan is a strong, no nonsense woman... a disturbing story that will make you hold your breath and I kept thinking about it when I wasn't reading it. Gregg Olsen has excelled himself with this book.' NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'This is a series that's getting more and more compulsive with each book... I found it impossible to put down ...Highly recommended and a five star read I loved every page...' Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'OMG!!... I was simply blown away by this... I couldn't look away from my kindle even when I wanted to. The story took me by my throat making me gasp every few chapters...Wow!!' Shalini's Books and Reviews ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Holy cr*p what a complete stunner of a read this is. It had everything, sensational, creepy, addictive with a stunningly complex plot from beginning to end and I loved, loved, loved it !!' Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Megan is one ballsy detective...I love this character and this author's storytelling which kept me reading late into the night. This series just keeps getting better andbetter and has definitely left me wanting more. A well deserved five stars and a fantastic addition to a gripping and very addictive series.' Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
From the Amazon Charts and #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a psychological thriller exploring the things we dare to do when no one is looking . . .
The community along Oregon's Deschutes River is one of successful careers and perfect families. For years, up-and-comers Liz and Owen have admired their good friends and neighbors, Carole and David. They appear to have it all--security, happiness, and a beautiful young son, Charlie.
Then Charlie vanishes without a trace, and all that seemed safe is shattered by a tragedy that is incomprehensible--except to Liz.
It took one fleeting moment for her to change the lives of everyone she loves--a heartrending accident that can't be undone. Neither can the second-worst mistake of her life: concealing it. As two marriages crack and buckle in grief and fear, Liz retreats into her own dark place of guilt, escalating paranoia--and betrayals even she can't imagine. Because there's another good neighbor who has his own secrets, his own pain, and his own reasons for watching Liz's every move.
And only he knows that the mystery of the missing boy on the Deschutes River is far from over.
One bath wall is a mural of a brilliant-yellow sunflower. The theme carries over to the shower curtains, but the yellow vinyl is spattered with red blotches. Propped against the mirror is a South Kitsap High School photo of a teenaged girl.
Detective Megan Carpenter is no stranger to horrifying crime scenes, but when she arrives at the home of a woman whose body has been brutalized, Megan is shocked to discover that she knows the victim. Monique Delmont helped Megan when she was in danger years ago. And the killer has left a disturbing calling card... two laminated photographs of a sixteen-year-old high school girl - Megan.
Someone is taunting her in the worst way possible and Megan is convinced she knows who is responsible. She just has to find him.
With the help of her new partner, Deputy Ronnie Marsh, Megan begins to unravel the clues that will lead them to the killer including links to three female murder cases from nearly twenty years ago - one of which was Monique's daughter.
But to protect those closest to her, Megan must continue to hide the dark truth of her past, even if that means lying to her team about her connection to Monique.
When two photographs of a teenage Megan are found at her boyfriend's place in Snow Creek, she knows the killer is circling and ready to strike again.
Can she get to him before he finds her? And will she pay the ultimate price for trying to keep her terrifying past buried?
An addictive edge-of-your-seat crime thriller from the Number One, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Amazon Chart bestselling author.
The #1 New York Times and Amazon Charts bestselling author Gregg Olsen solves a murder among the Amish and reveals the conspiracy to keep it a secret in a heartbreaking and horrifying true-crime story.
In 1977, in an Ohio Amish community, pregnant wife and mother Ida Stutzman perished during a barn fire. The coroner's report: natural causes. Ida's husband, Eli, was never considered a suspect. But when he eventually rejected the faith and took his son, Danny, with him, murder followed.
What really happened to Ida? The dubious circumstances of the tragic blaze were willfully ignored and Eli's shifting narratives disregarded. Could Eli's subsequent cross-country journey of death--including that of his own son--have been prevented if just one person came forward with what they knew about the real Eli Stutzman?
The questions haunted Gregg Olsen and Ida's brother Daniel Gingerich for decades. At Daniel's urging, Olsen now returns to Amish Country and to Eli's crimes first exposed in Olsen's Abandoned Prayers, one of which has remained a mystery until now. With the help of aging witnesses and shocking long-buried letters, Olsen finally uncovers the disturbing truth--about Ida's murder and the conspiracy of silence and secrets that kept it hidden for forty-five years.
Former homicide detective Nicole Foster has hit rock bottom. Driven off the force by her treacherous partner and lover, she's flat broke and struggling with a gambling addiction. All Nicole has left is the dream of a warm bed at a homeless shelter and the haunting memories of three-year-old Kelsey Chase--whose murder case ended her career.
As Nicole obsesses over the old facts, she realizes everything about that case felt off: a disinterested mom, a suicidal pedophile, and too many questions left unanswered. When the little girl's grieving father begs Nicole for help, she's drawn back into the investigation...and given one shot at redemption.
But the deeper Nicole digs, the more evil she uncovers, including betrayals that hit painfully close to home. Will a shocking discovery be the key to finally getting justice for Kelsey and resurrecting her own life?
From a #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a gripping story where Detective Megan Carpenter must put a stop to a dangerous killer--but not before discovering the secrets of her own dark past.
Footprints were scattered about like fallen leaves. She looked down into the ravine, and once more her lungs filled with fear. A body lay silent and unmoving in the bushes.When Ruth Turner walks into the Sheriff's office in Jefferson County's Port Townsend claiming her sister Ida Wheaton has been missing for over a month, Detective Megan Carpenter's instincts tell her that she needs to do more than just file a report.
Racing over to Ida's secluded farmhouse in the hills above Snow Creek, Megan finds Ida's teenage children alone and frightened. She can't help but notice there's no TV. No video games. Nothing of the outside world. Something about the Wheaton family doesn't add up and triggers a painful childhood memory for Megan - when one day, in a flash, both her parents were gone.
Then the body of a woman is discovered in an abandoned pickup truck close to the Wheatons' home and Megan's convinced the cases are connected.
If she has any chance of catching the killer, Megan must first unravel the secrets of the isolated Snow Creek community. But Megan has dark secrets of her own...
Hidden in the back of her closet is a box of tapes containing every single recording of her therapy sessions over thirteen years ago. Can she finally confront the past she's spent years trying to block out? And will reliving her own painful story help her solve the complex case unravelling in the hills above Snow Creek before another innocent life is lost?