Survivors: One Brave Detective's Battle to Expose the Rochdale Child Abuse Scandal

by Maggie Oliver

THE SHOCKING TRUE STORY BEHIND THE HIT TV DRAMA THREE GIRLS

When detective Maggie Oliver first discovered that children as young as 10 were being groomed, abused and trafficked for sex by gangs of men in the Rochdale area, she felt like a lonely voice calling for people to act.

Banging on closed doors, it seemed that nobody was able or willing to help her save these vulnerable girls, but she couldn't just sit back while countless lives were being destroyed forever in plain sight. Instead, she launched a one-woman campaign to bring down these sickening gangs.

This is the heart-breaking and shocking story of how the actions of one determined detective secured convictions in what is now one of the most notorious grooming cases in the UK. Along the way Maggie discovered countless examples of how the authorities were letting down our most vulnerable children. She blew the whistle, losing her job and at times her mind at times, in a bid to stop others from experiencing the same.

This is the first ever account from a police insider on the endemic problem of child sexual exploitation across the nation and how these cases are handled by the authorities put in place to protect us.

It tells the story of a woman brave enough to speak out and a group of girls who found the strength to fight for justice after having their lives completely shattered by their abusers; together they show in shocking detail why this must never happen again.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Audiobook, Biography, Memoir

368 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 11, 2019

Reviews

[Bookread2day · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you so much Maggie Oliver your so very brave for putting pen to paper to inform everyone on the Rochdale child abuse scandal. I cried reading about how the all systems that were involved with theses three girls that have been brutally rapped by gangs of paedophiles let them down, and what these girls had gone through. Maggie you were an amazing Family Liaison Officer and kind caring Detective Constable. Even after your husbands death, you found somehow the strength to carry on to fight for these girls that had been raped. Everyone you need read this book.

[Thea | (unapologetic_bibliosmia) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm. This book is not sure if it's an autobiography, or a non fiction about the Rochdale child abuse scandal. I'm not really sure it should be both, bad it certainly isn't labelled as both.

I am really not a fan of autobiographies. I don't really read them unless they are from someone I really respect, or about something that's unavoidably autobiographical - such as WW2 accounts. I was therefore somewhat annoyed when I purchased a book pertaining to be about the uncovering of a child sex scandal, and was 20 percent into a woman's autobiography. In fact it took a lot to keep pushing on, I found the chapters on her husband's cancer diagnosis and death, and her granddaughters death extremely difficult to read. I would have appreciated a bit more warning this was what I was buying into.

However, from the 40 percent mark we got into the Crux of it, and I found the information regarding the unfolding of the case really interesting. Sad and frustrating the way the victims were treated, and I was rooting for Maggie in her quest to do right by these girls. You can't help but feel frustrated by the whole ordeal. I would have liked a deeper exploration though. Maggie hints at police cover ups and deliberate silencing/downplaying of these abuse cases but doesn't ever offer her opinions or thoughts on why. Why are the police not keen to investigate? Why are the police not taking victims seriously? I feel a massive opportunity to discuss these themes in detail has been missed here and the surface is only lightly scratched in this book.

The, lo and behold we're back to the life OF Maggie by 80 percent. It flits between the bigging herself up (I demanded I was listed on my own in the credits, I demanded I got a ticket to the baftas, I wasn't happy with the lack of people interviewing me so I arranged my own etc etc) to a borderline CV with a list of her wants and desires for work opportunities in the future.

Don't get me wrong, I'm pleased these girls had such a wonderful support from Maggie, and her conviction in doing what is right in so far as even quitting her job is admirable, but I think the book needs sole focus on the story in order for credibility and justice to the cause. The life story and ego needs seperating.

[Farah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very much the Maggie Oliver show. Its focus is on her life and there is whole chapters wasted on describing holidays to Morocco, life with her husband and her time on Celebrity Big Brother! Regardless of how pivotal these moments were for her, these are not AT ALL relevant for the story of the Rochdale victims. In fact, the mention of her experience on Big Brother partly undermined the seriousness of the entire message of the book.

Whilst this book does give you an insight into the horrible ordeal that the victims of the grooming gangs went through, the constant validation of Maggie Oliver’s character and actions was unnecessary and frustrating. It also read a little repetitively and does not feel like a well written book because of this- I could not help but think that the publishers had not read through this book properly.

Despite the annoying aspects to the book described above, I am still giving this book 3 stars due to the importance of exposing the widespread incompetence of the police and the heartbreaking experiences of the victims, which is brought across. I hope there is a more well written version of this story released in future.

[helen ferry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful and emotional

From beginning to end this book is truly astonishing. The bravery of the young girls and what they have endured for years is remarkable. As for Maggie, I can only describe her as a true heroine. The story is beautifully written and hopefully opens more doors to put right the injustices of all these girls. Please read it and recommend to others.

[Michelle W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was ok. Too much about Maggie's own life and not as much about the young girls. Nothing in it re the abuse scandal that people didnt already know from the Press.

[Robin Ramone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and detailed book about the life of Maggie Oliver and one of the biggest child grooming cases in England. The U.K. will unfortunately continue to have these problems until it addresses them properly. The sentences for the convicted are also a joke, 6 years and out in 3 - back into the community as their victims. When I was growing up being a pedo was the lowest of the low. It seems almost tolerated in society now, we have whole prisons dedicated to sex offenders. It’s pathetic.

[Alison Glover · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tricky one this because I think the work Maggie did and continues to do in relation to child grooming cases is exemplary and she has made personal sacrifices along the way. BUT, this book does not do her or her work justice.

I listened to the audio version on a couple of long drives and found it to be pretty repetitive and lacking detail on the Rochdale scandal. The majority of the book seems to focus on Maggie’s early life which, while interesting, isn’t what I was expecting the book to prioritise.

[Maggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book as I admire Maggie Oliver and her whistleblowing to expose a great wrong However the book I thought I was getting about the events themselves I only got in miniature
Over two thirds of this book was a long drawn out blow by blow account of Maggie’s life which to be honest I was not interested in atall.
Maggie goes into minute detail of her parents her boyfriend and how they were together and not together travelling in Morocco, property purchasing abroad
Going into the big brother house dispute with Ann Widdecombe who probably voted against her! I could go on and on
I just wish those chapters were marked so I could have skipped them.
Overall I did not get what I expected and I hope there will be another book written in the future factually telling the story of Rochdale which is what I was after in the first place Could not recommend this

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a sad situation but the majority of this was Maggie’s life, her family and her anger at the tv show not giving her enough credit.

[Tracy Hollen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

An emotional true story of one brave detectives journey to uncover the systematic abuse of children by a sophisticated gang of paedophiles in Manchester. The author was stoic in her determination to get justice for the children affected by the gang, and was hit by a system that was unwilling to listen to her cries.

This is an account of the failings of multiple agencies designed to protect the most vulnerable. It was adapted into a drama series called Three Girls by the BBC. Maggie Oliver now campaigns for the rights of victims and is a major spokeswoman for the cause, following her resignation from the police force.

An unnerving but important read.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is emotional and gripping. A story of one of the biggest grooming scandals of all time and how the UK police neglected it.

Maggie Oliver writes her version of events and how she tried so hard to bring the young women and girls who were groomed and abused the justice they deserve. She talks about all the obstacles she had to overcome at work as well as in her personal life.

The only downside to this book in my opinion is that it is very centred around Maggie’s life. There’s not too many details on the girls story’s which or the crimes that were committed against them.

None the less it is very moving and completely shocking. Well worth the read.

[Amos Lamb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have nothing but respect for Maggie Oliver and for what she did both during the investigation and in the aftermath… but I don’t think there’s enough of a story (from her perspective) to warrant this book. It’s a memoir of a woman who, by her own admission, is a regular woman and it shows. For the first three hours of the audiobook she recounts her early life and how she came to join the police force which is fine but myself and I imagine many others came to hear about the Rochdale grooming gangs not Maggie’s journeys across Europe and Morocco.

[Lauhren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d already watched the TV three girls prior, but the book was disappointing in some ways. I knew the documentary was through but i was hoping the book would dive in deeper but i felt like i was reading what i already knew. Also can’t believe it took 100 to even get into meeting the girls. I appreciate it’s a book about maggie but we didn’t need to know that much of her life. Sorry

[Lauren Hartley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic read that I couldn’t put down. Maggie Oliver is an incredibly inspiring woman who demonstrates the importance of standing up for what you believe in. Truely an amazing woman and a story that needs to be told and read.

[Paige Slater · Rating 4 out of 5]

How do you rate someone's life but I'm just a bit gutted that the girls are not talked about enough mainly about her but overall enjoyed

[✰matthew✰ · Rating 3 out of 5]

a lot about maggies life that i wasn’t expecting to be included, but didn’t mind reading, which meant there wasn’t as much about the actual rochdale abuse scandal included.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maggie Oliver is a decent hardworking woman who does the job she does because she is driven by righting injustices. I was mistaken in thinking the book was going to focus entirely on her police career and cases she worked on including the Rochdale grooming case. Much of the book covers her personal life, entrance to the police force, marriage, children, holidays and her husbands battle with cancer. She makes passing mention of some cases I would have liked to know more about - a little boy taken for ransom, a school friend that butchered and buried another little boy, an arsonist that set fire to his own home killing his three children, yet no further information is given. Instead we learn of Maggie’s family challenges and travel adventures. In this respect it’s a true biography rather than just stories from her career.

At almost the half way mark the book delves into Maggie’s role in the Rochdale grooming ring case. This was why I was reading the book, because earlier this year I read “Girl A” also about the case. Interestingly Maggie worked on two operations to expose these men, the first one, unbelievably was pulled, with no clear reasons given, and Maggie can only guess as to why. Five years later she would become a key component in the operation that finally bought the Ring to the courts. This fact really hurt me - that nothing was done for five years when clearly something needed to be done. Maggie’s role was crucial because she was tasked with befriending a family who were victims, and had to gently tease out co-operation and information that could put the abusers behind bars. This was an extremely difficult and sensitive job due to the victims distrust of police but also because of the general bunglings of various lawyers, her police colleagues and others within the system. It’s a wonder these things ever get to court when you see what Maggie had to put up with. There is also the judgement of those within the system of the victims. When these cases come to light in our courts you can never fully grasp the effort to get them there nor how close things were to never getting to court. Especially, when in Maggie’s case she was pulled from the investigation, leaving both Maggie and the victims hurt and bewildered. With the bullying and judgements within the system it becomes Obvious to me that police the world over let communities down and there must be thousands of cases out there that never get to court, abusers and law breakers that never get their punishment - a fact which sickens me. What further sickened me was the criminalisation of one of the victims, and how it cost Maggie her job and turned her whistleblower. Just this week the radio four program “4 on file” interviewed one of the victims featured in Maggie’s book - this case continues to catch the public and media attention Because I don’t think any of us can believe the level of betrayal the system fished out to the victims, and that has become the new focus of this saga rather than the original abuse by the pedophile groomers. Maggie oliver is an amazing woman - we need more of her in this world.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up purely by chance as I browsed my local library. I spotted Maggie’s face on the spine and thought I recognised the lady and picked it up to check. As I read the blurb I realised I knew why I recognised the lady. The biography follows Maggie Oliver, a Greater Manchester Police offer assigned to the Child Protection unit who worked on a case of paedophiles in the Rochdale area.
A few years ago I watched a documentary on Channel 4 relating to this case, and was drawn to it because I am from this area. I loved the documentary, even though it’s heart-breaking the stories of what those young girls went through, the story of triumph at convicting the disgusting individuals and the story around how it all happened was brilliant and so I pounced on this book!
Maggie begins the book describing how she began her life and her younger years, meeting her husband and then explains at how she gets into the police force as a mature officer and feeling out of place in a young person’s world. I think it’s remarkable to read what this lady went through in her private lives, with the loss of family members and all the while she was still able to carry out her job in the best way possible.
Maggie had always wanted to be involved in Child Protection and when she got the opportunity she jumped at the chance. The story is harrowing, but very interesting and awe inspiring the efforts this lady went to, to not only try to get the young victims on her side so they could send the men to prison, but also to persist when things were failing all around her. What a brilliant biography!
I appreciate not everyone would like to read a story like this, it’s mainly centred around the paedophilia cases, but there are also other police incidents in there from Maggie’s early years as a bobby on the beat. It’s great for any fans of police biographies and people local to the Rochdale area will be intrigued and if you haven’t watched the documentary I suggest you do! It’s called Three Girls. What brave individuals….. Maggie finishes the book by explaining her next steps in helping people who have been abused in the local areas and hoping to set up charities across all boroughs to help these people affected and provide support to them. I think this is remarkable and extremely powerful.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadly, this country has had many child sexual abuse instances in the last decade or so. Maggie Oliver’s work to combat the issue in Rochdale is not something I knew much about, until I read the harrowing detail in this book.
I was aware of the Rochdale scandal of course, but this exposes the blatant attempts to cover things up in the wake of the July 2005 bombings in London. It seems to have been deemed as too explosive to pursue as the offenders were Muslim men.
What, I said to myself? How can this have ever been in anyone’s best interests? Another incendiary fact was that in 2008 the Home Office sent a secret email to police forces telling them not to investigate child sexual abuse. WHAT? WTF?
The 3 girls whose story we read have come forward with their stories on several occasions and yet they still occasionally see the perpetrators on the streets of Rochdale and have to deal with their sniggering at having gotten away with their crimes. They specifically groomed white girls of lower class status as the easiest to manipulate and the least able to protect themselves.
I am infuriated and saddened equally. To all the abusers out there, you can’t rest easy as there is so much work being done behind the scenes and this time the police have nowhere to hide either.
Thank you Maggie Oliver and the girls for your bravery in coming forward. Many, many girls are safer because of your courage.

[Amy Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was originally drawn to this book after listening to Maggie on Katy Pipers podcast, extraordinary people.

At the time I think I was slightly too young to fully understand what was going on when I saw the newspapers and the headlines on tv but now I’m perplexed by the situation that took place many years ago.

This book tells you a story about how a women signed up to the police not only as a career but for a life commitment. She battled many struggles not only at work but In her home life. I think being told about this makes you understand even more why she made the decisions she made throughout her career.

I’ve read many reviews on this book saying that Maggie talks too much about herself and her life but I think without that you wouldn’t connect with her and her decisions throughout the Rochdale scandal.

If you are reading this to solely understand what happened to those involved with the grooming scandal I’d move on, but if you want to know about people that fought for the girls then I’d say grab your copy.

[CarolynBill Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done Maggie for whistleblowing - not an easy task by any means, yet you did it.
Let's hope that the GMP and other forces learn to change for the good - why would they not want to? I cannot understand how people in power ignore these terrible crimes; who cares what colour these evil people are, it's irrelevant, they are just evil regardless of colour. The police must remember their oath - what is the point of it otherwise - and seek and punish these perpetrators of abuse, no excuses.
As for the way they treated Amber, just unbelievable and unnecessarily cruel. Hope karma bites these people one day...
I didn't mind learning a bit about Maggie's life at all. She has come through SO much but still she pursued this injustice when she could so easily have given up. Bravo Maggie!

[Dave B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must admit I shed a few tears reading this. The heartache of the loss of her husband and her granddaughter and then onto the sexual abuse by Asian men of vulnerable children. The cover-up because of political correctness by senior police officers, social services, and the CPS headed by Keir Starmer and locally by Nazir Afzal and finally the inability of Andy Burnham, means that thousands of rapists walk free in our communities and thousands of children have not received justice. The only downside to the book for me was Maggie started to believe in her own fame and this is apparent in the book, demanding to go to the BAFTAs and appearing in Celebrity big brother etc.

[✨️✨️✨️Emma✨️✨️✨️ Louise Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book though it was more of her autobiography this is still an on going case and this is happening all over the country and won't ever get stopped and the government aren't doing enough and still we have to put up with immigrants and illegal immigrants taking over and making England unsafe for our children

The government have never done enough to stop pedophilea and pedophilea gangs too many children have been let down by police professionals the justice system and the government

Maggie is asking for donations for her website to get abused girls after care which the government should of already put in place when all this came out and others came out

[Emma Salmon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have been listening to this on some long walks so it’s very real as she narrates it herself; I love Maggie Oliver for her tenacity with exposing the grooming scandal in Rochdale but this book was hard going. So many chapters at the start focused on her early life, travelling with her husband, her desire to join the police etc etc. the actual focus on the girls and the investigation is disjointed and it seems very much to be the Maggie Oliver show most of the time. I don’t doubt she has passion and skill and bravery in bucketloads but this book needed a rethink and better editing. I’m afraid I didn’t finish it, I couldn’t cope with the Big Brother rubbish and the endless waffle.

[Staceywh_17 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first part of the book mainly focused on Maggie & her family, tragically she lost both her husband & grandaughter in a short space of time. In the second half of the book we follow Maggie on her journey to get justice for the girls who have been the victims of the paedophile rings that are running in Rochdale. How or why did the system manage to let these girls down, why did they not listen to them, hear their cries for help. Heartbreaking to read in places especially when you know this was a true story & that even today this is still happening to underage girls in our country.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last third of this book was the hard-hitting, compelling story I was expecting. Maggie Oliver is clearly an amazing woman and I have gained huge respect for her. She unpacks a complex story of race and class with real skill. However I think the pacing and decisions around personal and professional content leave much to be desired. I would have liked a lot more info about her police career and I’m not sure how much all the stories about holidays etc add to the narrative. If it had been more judicially edited this book would have been much more impactful.

[Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very important book. A few who have reviewed it were whining about Maggie putting a lot of her own back story in the book, but it was important to show the reader who she was and is as a person; she also needed to convey how the force worked in the past, and how little the old boys club have allowed positive change in policing. I am not a fan of the police at all, but this story was an extremely important one to listen to, considering how the abuse of vulnerable girls is still very much rampant at the hands of revolting men.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read this after watching the “three girls” documentary. Assuming it would tell more of their story and what they went through.

Unfortunately it was heavily over powered by Maggies life before she joined the police, during and after. A lot of her personal family story included which didn’t feel necessary.

I feel like she mislead readers by naming it “survivors” implying it was about the girls when really only 4 or 5 chapters covered them.

If you like memoirs then it’s a good read but it’s not what it’s advertised as.

[Alexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Very conflicted on this review.

I understand that Mrs. Oliver's WHY is deeply entangled with her personal story. And I would have appreciated a vastly abbreviated version of her life story upfront and then gotten into the survivors, the scandal, and the rest.

The style just didn't suit, and my expectation was vastly different than what I got. Maggie Oliver is a wonderful woman who has done amazing things, and this portrayed her as a self-centered and egotistical. It was unflattering and did her a great injustice