I Know Where You Live by Gregg Olsen
Published: November 15, 2022
Thomas & Mercer
Pages: 301
Genre: Crime Thriller
KKECReads Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.
Gregg Olsen lives in rural Washington State (about a mile as the crow flies from Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard’s infamous Starvation Heights sanatarium). His thriller, THE LAST THING SHE EVER DID was an Amazon Charts bestseller. LYING NEXT TO ME was a reader favorite, charting at No. 1 in the Kindle store and hitting the bestseller’s list at the Washington Post. His true crime book, IF YOU TELL, found a home on Amazon Charts for more than 125 weeks. In fact, it was the bestselling Kindle ebook of 2020. Gregg Olsen has been a guest on Dateline NBC, NPR, Good Morning America, The Early Show, FOX News, CNN, Anderson Cooper, Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, Extra, Access Hollywood, 20/20, Snapped, Deadly Women, William Shatner’s Aftermath, and A&E’s Biography. I live in rural Washington State (about a mile as the crow flies from Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard’s infamous Starvation Heights sanatarium). My thriller, THE LAST THING SHE EVER DID was an Amazon Charts bestseller. LYING NEXT TO ME was a reader favorite, charting at No. 1 in the Kindle store and hitting the bestseller’s list at the Washington Post. My true crime book, IF YOU TELL, found a home on Amazon Charts for more than 125 weeks. In fact, it was the bestselling Kindle ebook of 2020.
When Papa suffers a sudden, and suspicious, fatal heart attack at Violet’s wedding, she can barely conceal her joy. Maybe the fellow survivor at her support group is right: moving on is possible only when monsters are removed from society permanently. Violet is focusing on the now. Even if doing so calls for extremes.
For herself, and for the sake of other victims like her, Violet is reclaiming the power stolen from her as a child. Predator by predator, she’s coming for them. It’s intoxicating. It’s liberating. But the secrets she now keeps, and the lies she must tell, come with a price.
“Something started that night and there was no stopping it.”
Violet is getting married and starting a new chapter of her life. She lets her mother, Rose, know she does not want her Papa there. Rose knows why. Lily is the supportive sister; she wants her big sister to have the wedding day of her dreams, though, with this family, she knows that isn’t likely. And when Papa shows up, things shift.
Trigger warning for sexual assault, pedophilia, and self-harm.
This book was brilliantly written, and I have so many thoughts, feelings, and things I want to scream. Wow. Just wow.
The characters in this book were so well done, and the development gets better as the story moves along. The depth of these characters, the dynamic, the trauma, the emotions- are all so well done.
This book deals with weighty topics as Gregg was exceptionally respectful with how he presented these things. The way this story is presented is fiction, but there will be moments when you will find yourself finding understanding.
I enjoyed how this story was told, with alternating narrators and timelines. The balance between mother and daughters was strong. I found the element of generational difference and ignorance and the choice so incredibly well done.
The level of victimization in this book is so vast and heartbreakingly deep. But so was the level of choices made. I devoured this book, the last half being so fast-paced and incredibly intense that I couldn’t have stopped if I wanted to.
This would be a fantastic book for a book club. The discussion and debate would be incredible. Gregg Olsen is the absolute master of writing emotion, fear, anger, vengeance, and redemption.