"Gripping and heart-breaking, Gregg Olsen uncovers the shocking true story of a troubled family. He delves into a complex mother-daughter relationship rooted in mistrust and deception, and the journey of the sweet curly-haired little girl from Oregon whose fierce ambition to live the American Dream led her to make the ultimate betrayal."

DNF at 27%. I read Gregg Olsen's If You Tell and I enjoyed it although admittedly I was bored at points. I think his level of research is a bit beyond my love of interest. Get ready for a LOT of in depth story telling about a relatively boring nonfiction story. At this point, I don't think I'll ever pick up another one of his books.

Thank you NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing and Gregg Olsen for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Not as good as starvation heights and it was longer than it should have been, I can tell the author has put in a lot of research into this and took time to explore the story of these poisonings.

I found American Mother too long and with too many details that were sometimes quite difficult to put together and relate to the specific character. What really caught my attention and broke my heart was learning that the story is based on true facts. Gregg Olsen, however, invested his time in interviewing and researching facts to put this novel together. This book is a must-read for true crime stories aficionados.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this story for an honest review. This is the 2nd Gregg Olsen novel I've read, If you tell being the 1st which I did enjoy more. I have found this novel a bit of a struggle to get through, but was still very interested in finding out the outcome.

What a fascinating read!! I love books like this and this one was told so well, it kept me hooked! The fact that it was based on a true story made it even more interesting, but I had to keep reminding myself it wasn’t fiction!

I love all of Gregg Olsen’s books. Unbiased true stories of the horrors people have unfortunately gone through.

I have heard about the cyanide poisonings but did.not know much about them. American Mother focuses on the murders of Bruce Nickell and Sue Snow in Auburn, Washington. Both died from Excedrin capsules laced with cyanide. The investigation eventually focuses on Bruce's wife Stella.

This was a very well researched account of the poisonings and the trial against Stella. The author gave an in-depth look into Stella's life and family as well. I found myself absorbed in the case and found the details were.really fascinating although at times the details felt a bit tedious. But overall I think this one is perfect for.true crime fans.

Well, wow.

To be honest, I just spent 20 minutes telling my mom about this book hoping that it would help me organize my thoughts so I could write this review. It did not. Sigh.

I remember this case as I was recovering from ankle surgery and spent most of my days on the couch channel surfing and watching all the news programs [watching the news and current events have always been a big deal in our house since I was young so I have always been interested in the stuff I learn there and even thought about majoring in journalism at one point] and this case was just heating up and fast forward to the trial and I was just back from Brazil, looking for a job and watching TV once again and being so intrigued by this. When I started this, it seemed familiar and as I read, I realized I remembered the case from that time, but the details were VERY hazy [it HAS been a few years LOL], so it was really cool to see it all laid out and explained, even though everything I was reading was WAY more horrifying than what I had remembered from seeing it back in the day.

Stella Nickell is one serious piece of work. Her expectations of others in spite of her own behavior was just insane. How she raised [and I use that term VERY loosely] and treated her daughter and the expectations she had of her [despite raising her in a complete opposite way] was absolutely mind-blowing and at no point did I ever think that Cynthia [the daughter] was involved. I believe she loved her step-father [he was kind to her, one of the few that were and I cannot see her working with her mom to kill him just for a pet/fish shop] and her willingness to testify against her mother [which had to be difficult no matter their relationship] to avenge Bruce [her step-dad] proved that to me.

There is a lot of a lot here, I am not going to deny that. The author really dives into Stella's past [as he needed to; you need to see just how depraved she was to see just why she stooped to commit such a heinous crime] and that was some of the most difficult parts to read. She is NOT a nice person [there is no other way to say it] and the author does a really good job in showing all of that in great detail.

The part that was really difficult was all the information [or almost the lack of it] about Sue Snow. The fact that Stella was okay with killing someone else to take the heat off of her is the most depraved thing about this whole story and I wish we could have learned more about them, but because Stella didn't care, there was no connection between them [as Sue's death was just a random throw of the dice essentially], there is little about them in the aftermath. At the end of the audiobook, the author and the narrator talk and he does an update of Sue's daughter [whom he has stayed in contact with over the years] and you get a little more information, but I really felt that of all the people involved, it was Sue Snow's family that got the biggest shaft in all of this.

If you love true crime, you will really like this book. It will make you VERY angry, very, very sad and in the end, there is just no happy ending for anyone [there rarely is in true crime stories, but sometimes you get lucky; that is not the case here] and one is left with frustration, a sick stomach and nothing but empathy for all the people that Stella and her actions hurt.

I also was given an audiobook ARC for this book and I am really glad I did as it helped me dissect everything that was going on. I didn't love the narrator, but she was better than a lot I have had recently, and I would listen to her again should she come up in a book I need an audiobook for. The way she narrates grew on me and by the end, it wasn't all that bad. I am so glad as this book could have gone a MUCH different way in the hands of a different [and indifferent] narrator.

Thank you to NetGalley, Gregg Olsen, Karen Peakes - Narrator, Thread Books and Bookouture for providing this ARC and audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Gregg Olsen has clearly come a long way as a writer since he first published this true crime novel in 1993 and I'd love to see what he would make of this novel now. It's a notorious and fascinating case, that of Stella Nickell who was accused and convicted of killing her husband with painkillers spiked with cyanide. She was also accused of trying to make it appear as a random crime by spiking other bottles of painkillers with cyanide and planting them back on the shelves of shops, causing the death of a random woman.

Olsen clearly spent a lot of time researching and interviewing witnesses and others for the book. Unfortunately there is almost too much information making it long and rambling and it became repetitive in places, especially when much of it was repeated during the trial. There are also a lot of friends, family members and ex partners mentioned and it was difficult to keep track of who everyone was. I struggled to read the book at times and never became fully invested in the book, despite the shockingness of the case.

Although I was very interested in reading about this true story, I found the writing to be difficult to get through at times throughout this book.

Enjoyed this true crime book about Stella Nickell and the ultimate betrayal. This was a story 8 and never heard of and I enjoyed the detail that was included and the way the story was presented.
Highly recommended for those who enjoy true crime.

* I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley and Thread Books in exchange for my honest review

Whether or not you are familiar with this crime, Gregg Olsen offers a fresh perspective and answers questions with the latest shocking facts. This account includes the relationship between Stella Nickell and her daughter Cynthia. The in-depth look back at the psychological aspects and relationships of all those involved including the innocent bystanders is an interesting read for true crime fans. Gregg Olsen leaves no stone unturned in his intriguing account of the premeditated brutal murders.

I have read many Gregg Olsen books and enjoyed them all. He has a way of telling these true stories that leaves you shaking your head and saying....this can't be true......but it is. His skillfully written stories are easy and quick to read, no slow chapters here, while definitely holding the reader captive until the last page.
American mother introduces the reader to the small town of Auburn, Wa where the residents must reconcile their small town culture with the criminal activities of Stella Nickel. Her actions seem unbelievable until investagations leave no doubt. I'd recommend Gregg Olsen's books to any true crime or mystery/thriller reader. You will not be disappointed when you pick his titles.

Thank you so much for this ARC! I was so excited to see Gregg Olsen with a new book, I am not typically a true crime fan. However, he has such a brilliant way of writing, I find myself forgetting it’s nonfiction! The narrator had me so involved in this story. It could become monotonous with court hearings, and talking to family members and neighbors, but she does an amazing job of making the story enthralling. I appreciate the work that goes into these books, and how much time is spent gathering intel!

WoW what a strong audiobook American Mother by Gregg Olsen Narrated by: Karen Peakes Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins. I found this book very interesting from start to finish especially as I love true crime books, about Dangerous Women. However, this audiobook was very hard to get into it and the narrator slightly irritating - So glad I had the ebook as well as I ended up reading this. Which was so much better. American Mother is a true story of a troubled family, motherhood, and the cyanide poisonings that shook the world in the decade of 1980s.

At 5.02 pm on June 5, 1986, an emergency call came into the local sheriff’s office in the small town of Auburn, Washington State. A distressed housewife, Stella Nickell, said her husband Bruce was having a seizure. Officers rushed to the Nickell’s mobile home, to find Stella standing frozen at the door… Bruce was on the floor fighting for his life Stella became the beneficiary of over $175,000 in a life insurance pay-out, forensics discovered that Bruce had consumed painkillers laced with cyanide.

When, a week later, a fifteen-year-old Hayley was getting ready for another school day. Her mom, Sue, called out ‘I love you’ before heading into the bathroom and moments later collapsed on the floor. Sue never regained consciousness, and the autopsy revealed she had been poisoned by cyanide-tainted headache pills. Just like Bruce.

But Why?

A daughter is grieving the sudden and devastating loss of her mother, a young woman, Cindy, was thinking about her own mom Stella. She thought about the years of neglect and abuse, the tangled web of secrets Stella had shared with her, and Cindy contemplated turning her mom into the FBI…

American Mother was written with so much detail from start to finish and brilliantly written. This is a Must read if you enjoy reading Trie Crime stories.

Thank you Netgalley & Thread Books for an eARC of American Mother by Gregg Olsen. I loved Gregg Olsen’s If You Tell, so found myself requesting this one quickly.

This book kicks off in June of 1986 when Stella Nickell makes a 911 call that her husband Bruce was having a seizure. This kicked off a wave of devastation - a shocking true story of a troubled family.

I would recommend this book if you REALLY love true crime. This is a long book, nearly 500 pages, with so many details of different individuals. While interesting, I found that there were so many details that I found myself getting bogged down and lost in them. As always, though, Olsen has a knack for structuring a true crime story in a way that keeps the reader on the edge of their seats.

✨ American Mother ✨⁣
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⁣In June of 1986, a distressed housewife, Stella Nichelle, calls 911 after her husband, Bruce, starts having a seizure. A week later, a forty year old mother, Sue Snow, collapses while getting ready for her day never to regain consciousness. Forensics soon discovers that Bruce and Sue had both consumed painkillers laced with cyanide. This book tells the shocking true story of a troubled family plagued by years of abuse and neglect. ⁣
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⁣Meh. This book started out strong, but soon felt so bogged down with alllllll the details that I lost focus. There was a ton of different characters and Gregg Olsen tried to tell their entire life stories! It was just too long and felt like a big information dump. ⁣
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⁣I did enjoy reading about Stella and Cynthia’s relationship and appreciate the decades of research that has gone into this story. Unfortunately, I was just bored. ⁣
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⁣I’d only recommend this one if you are VERY interested in this crime! Three stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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⁣Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review!

In June 1986, an emergency call from Stella Nickell claiming that her husband Bruce was having a seizure, shook the small town of Auburn in Washington State. A week later 15 year old Hayley finds her mother collapsed on the bathroom floor. Soon the investigators discovered that in both cases the victims took painkillers that were tainted with cyanide.

As I was totally unaware of this case, I was intrigued when I requested a digital copy on Netgalley and since I loved Gregg Olsen's 'If you tell' I was happy to be approved for the ARC.

What I like about the author is that he does a fantastic job of writing true crime
non-fiction about dysfunctional families and this was no exception. I must say this is a well researched book and started out just fine with the facts clearly stated and the introduction of the characters. I liked reading about Stella's relationship with her daughter Cindy but as the pages progressed I found the facts to be repetitive and too many characters to keep track of was exhausting. The book could have been at least a 100 pages shorter in my opinion. I read the afterword by the author and it was evident of how much involved and dedicated the author had been in this case.

Those interested in true crime court proceedings and especially this case will enjoy this one.

Thank you NetGalley and Thread Books for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I’m fascinated with true crime books. Even though true crime can be heartbreaking and haunting, I can’t tear myself away from the psychology behind what drove this person to commit this crime.
I was drawn to this book by the title and because I’d never heard of Stella Nickell. I thought Gregg Olsen did an excellent job of writing and researching this book. There’s a ton of information to absorb from both families—the Nickell’s and the Snow’s. American Mother is intense and long (about 500 pages). However, the story was so compelling that I couldn’t stop reading. This is the first book I’ve read by Olsen and definitely won’t be my last!

Highly recommend to all true crime fans!

Thank you NetGalley and Thread Books!

I was very very hopeful for this book and unfortunately it fell very flat for me.

American Mother was extremely and unnecessarily long and felt like it just went on and on. It was a very dry and kind of uninteresting read.

This one just didn't do it for me.