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A Twisted Faith: A Minister's Obsession and the Murder That Destroyed a Church
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, Twisted Faith is a gripping and truly unforgettable story of a man whose charisma and desire rocked an entire community.
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, Twisted Faith is a gripping and truly unforgettable story of a man whose charisma and desire rocked an entire community.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published March 30, 2010
497 people are currently reading
3259 people want to read
About the author
Gregg Olsen
118 books7,192 followersThroughout his career, Gregg Olsen has demonstrated an ability to create a detailed narrative that offers readers fascinating insights into the lives of people caught in extraordinary circumstances.
A #1 New York Times bestselling author, Olsen has written ten nonfiction books, ten novels, and contributed a short story to a collection edited by Lee Child.
The award-winning author has been a guest on dozens of national and local television shows, including educational programs for the History Channel, Learning Channel, and Discovery Channel. He has also appeared on Good Morning America, The Early Show, The Today Show, FOX News; CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, MSNBC, Entertainment Tonight, CBS 48 Hours, Oxygen’s Snapped, Court TV’s Crier Live, Inside Edition, Extra, Access Hollywood, and A&E’s Biography.
In addition to television and radio appearances, the award-winning author has been featured in Redbook, USA Today, People, Salon magazine, Seattle Times, Los Angeles Times and the New York Post.
The Deep Dark was named Idaho Book of the Year by the ILA and Starvation Heights was honored by Washington’s Secretary of State for the book’s contribution to Washington state history and culture.
Olsen, a Seattle native, lives in Olalla, Washington with his wife and Suri (a mini dachshund so spoiled she wears a sweater).
A #1 New York Times bestselling author, Olsen has written ten nonfiction books, ten novels, and contributed a short story to a collection edited by Lee Child.
The award-winning author has been a guest on dozens of national and local television shows, including educational programs for the History Channel, Learning Channel, and Discovery Channel. He has also appeared on Good Morning America, The Early Show, The Today Show, FOX News; CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, MSNBC, Entertainment Tonight, CBS 48 Hours, Oxygen’s Snapped, Court TV’s Crier Live, Inside Edition, Extra, Access Hollywood, and A&E’s Biography.
In addition to television and radio appearances, the award-winning author has been featured in Redbook, USA Today, People, Salon magazine, Seattle Times, Los Angeles Times and the New York Post.
The Deep Dark was named Idaho Book of the Year by the ILA and Starvation Heights was honored by Washington’s Secretary of State for the book’s contribution to Washington state history and culture.
Olsen, a Seattle native, lives in Olalla, Washington with his wife and Suri (a mini dachshund so spoiled she wears a sweater).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 216 reviews
October 30, 2012
When I was in my early twenties, I dated an attractive young woman who had had a nervous breakdown a few years prior wherein she had pounded on her neighbors' doors in the wee hours of the morning proclaiming herself Satan. I don't know what happened in the intervening years until the point at which I met her, other than she had been ushered away to some facility for a while, but by the time we dated the only remaining trace of her very specific mania was a penchant for wearing black clothing. However, I held out hope, as young men desperate to get laid do, that her mental state was such that I could bed her with little effort. After all, what's the damaged, frail psyche of a young woman weighed against my preternatural compulsion to ejaculate little Estebans everywhere?
Well, you'll probably be relieved to learn that she was an annoying prude and I never got anywhere. I can't win for losing. If there is a devil, I imagine him being just like that: a luring foil, appealing to the most urgent of one's instincts only to glory in seeing them go unsatisfied, constantly reorienting himself to the disposition at hand. A morphing, nihilistic cipher. Which means the devil has a lot in common with the man at the center of this true crime story, Nick Hachney. A fat, silver tongued, evangelical Christian, he met a young woman while attending some Jesus college, and the two married. He took a job as a youth pastor and marriage counselor, the latter for which he had no qualifications, at a small fundamentalist church where prophecy and demon possession were the norm. Soon thereafter, as he became solely interested in the wives of parishioners, his marriage counseling devolved into one-on-one counseling. He seduced one woman, then, finding his own wife a liability, murdered her on the day after Christmas, the holiest of days to the observant Christian, ostensibly honoring a prophecy shared with him by his mistress who was celebrated as having some sort of hotline to God, but really only because he wanted to be free to seduce another woman, then another (the mother of his dead wife, no less), and then another. Two of these mistresses even became aware of one another.
But God knew about and sanctioned the good times, no worries.
In the meantime, the murder of his wife received only the most cursory of scrutiny from the authorities because he's a pastor and pastors, it is widely believed, don't smother their wives, then burn their corpses in their bedrooms and try to make it look like an accident. I'd say that's a fair assumption if you're Joe Sixpack, but not a very fair assumption if you're a criminal investigator. But what do I, Joe Sixpack, know about anything? I don't even think God makes people speak in tongues (aside: I encourage you to witness this phenomenon firsthand, if you haven't already) or issues instructions for the murder of specific people. But Nick did, maybe even still does, who knows? He's got some time to think about it because his first mistress ratted him out to the cops and now he's in prison for the murder of his wife. Although one of the mistresses saw fit to become his next, and current, wife, murder conviction be damned, because that is, apparently, what God wants.
Fuck dating Satan. If you want to get laid, become a preacher.
Well, you'll probably be relieved to learn that she was an annoying prude and I never got anywhere. I can't win for losing. If there is a devil, I imagine him being just like that: a luring foil, appealing to the most urgent of one's instincts only to glory in seeing them go unsatisfied, constantly reorienting himself to the disposition at hand. A morphing, nihilistic cipher. Which means the devil has a lot in common with the man at the center of this true crime story, Nick Hachney. A fat, silver tongued, evangelical Christian, he met a young woman while attending some Jesus college, and the two married. He took a job as a youth pastor and marriage counselor, the latter for which he had no qualifications, at a small fundamentalist church where prophecy and demon possession were the norm. Soon thereafter, as he became solely interested in the wives of parishioners, his marriage counseling devolved into one-on-one counseling. He seduced one woman, then, finding his own wife a liability, murdered her on the day after Christmas, the holiest of days to the observant Christian, ostensibly honoring a prophecy shared with him by his mistress who was celebrated as having some sort of hotline to God, but really only because he wanted to be free to seduce another woman, then another (the mother of his dead wife, no less), and then another. Two of these mistresses even became aware of one another.
But God knew about and sanctioned the good times, no worries.
In the meantime, the murder of his wife received only the most cursory of scrutiny from the authorities because he's a pastor and pastors, it is widely believed, don't smother their wives, then burn their corpses in their bedrooms and try to make it look like an accident. I'd say that's a fair assumption if you're Joe Sixpack, but not a very fair assumption if you're a criminal investigator. But what do I, Joe Sixpack, know about anything? I don't even think God makes people speak in tongues (aside: I encourage you to witness this phenomenon firsthand, if you haven't already) or issues instructions for the murder of specific people. But Nick did, maybe even still does, who knows? He's got some time to think about it because his first mistress ratted him out to the cops and now he's in prison for the murder of his wife. Although one of the mistresses saw fit to become his next, and current, wife, murder conviction be damned, because that is, apparently, what God wants.
Fuck dating Satan. If you want to get laid, become a preacher.
June 27, 2015
Audiobook: There’s something salacious about true crime stories that always intrigues, yet the author’s reportage of intimate thoughts and conversations always makes me wonder just how accurate they can be. Some of the intimate details and verbatim conversations where only the perp and one other person are present tend to set off my crap detector. The scene where the victim’s mother goes out with Nick and then gives him a BJ had me wondering just who his source was for that little tidbit.
Certainly this was a fun book to listen to while mowing and doing summer chores. You don’t have to listen too carefully as the broad strokes provide more than enough to get the gist and individual conversations aren’t necessary to keep things moving.
Basically, this is the story of a deeply troubled church pastor, Nick Hacheney, in Bainbridge, WA, who began an affair with a parishioner, Sandy, known for her conversations with God and her predictions (from God) about what would happen in the smallest details of people’s lives.
It’s also a cautionary tale of how naive people can be in believing what they want to and attributing their actions (and wishes and desires and lusts) to God’s will. Frankly, any sensible person would have tuned out of this church when people started talking about how God had told them to buy a new car or jewelry even though they couldn’t afford it. Apparently the jump to murder wasn’t very long when you think God ordains it. Hacheney drugged and killed his wife, then set the house on fire to cover his tracks. Then he proceeded to screw (in the literal and figurative sense) what seems like half the women in the church (God’s will you know; he needed comforting and missed the physical touch of his wife.) Gullible and stupid doesn’t begin to describe it.
The original investigation into the fire was very sloppy. (God and his minions always get away with have to meet a lower standard.) I think the first part of the book could have been cut and the last part concerning the investigation expanded.
Hard to put down though. Sort of like watching a train wreck in slow motion.
Certainly this was a fun book to listen to while mowing and doing summer chores. You don’t have to listen too carefully as the broad strokes provide more than enough to get the gist and individual conversations aren’t necessary to keep things moving.
Basically, this is the story of a deeply troubled church pastor, Nick Hacheney, in Bainbridge, WA, who began an affair with a parishioner, Sandy, known for her conversations with God and her predictions (from God) about what would happen in the smallest details of people’s lives.
It’s also a cautionary tale of how naive people can be in believing what they want to and attributing their actions (and wishes and desires and lusts) to God’s will. Frankly, any sensible person would have tuned out of this church when people started talking about how God had told them to buy a new car or jewelry even though they couldn’t afford it. Apparently the jump to murder wasn’t very long when you think God ordains it. Hacheney drugged and killed his wife, then set the house on fire to cover his tracks. Then he proceeded to screw (in the literal and figurative sense) what seems like half the women in the church (God’s will you know; he needed comforting and missed the physical touch of his wife.) Gullible and stupid doesn’t begin to describe it.
The original investigation into the fire was very sloppy. (God and his minions always get away with have to meet a lower standard.) I think the first part of the book could have been cut and the last part concerning the investigation expanded.
Hard to put down though. Sort of like watching a train wreck in slow motion.
February 1, 2010
If you are looking for an Ann Rule read-a-like or book that reads like a suspense novel, then look no further. Gregg Olsen is an underrated author who has written both true-crime (Starvation Heights is also excellent) and suspense/thrillers. This is what I hope is his breakout book because it deserves to be picked up by anyone who likes a fascinating story about faith and love gone wrong.
Nick Hacheney was a charismatic preacher for a small church on Bainbridge Island in Washington who burned down his house with his murdered wife inside and was found to be canoodling (and more) with four women from his congregation. You'll quickly flip the pages to find out how and how long it takes for everyone to finally figure out what is going on. Olsen deeply delves into the psyches of everyone involved and it's apparent that he did his homework. All I can say about this book is I found it amazing what people will do and what they will believe in the name of the Lord.
This will be published in April 2010, and if you want to meet Olsen, he will be at the Tea Party Bookshop on February 12 at 6:30.
Nick Hacheney was a charismatic preacher for a small church on Bainbridge Island in Washington who burned down his house with his murdered wife inside and was found to be canoodling (and more) with four women from his congregation. You'll quickly flip the pages to find out how and how long it takes for everyone to finally figure out what is going on. Olsen deeply delves into the psyches of everyone involved and it's apparent that he did his homework. All I can say about this book is I found it amazing what people will do and what they will believe in the name of the Lord.
This will be published in April 2010, and if you want to meet Olsen, he will be at the Tea Party Bookshop on February 12 at 6:30.
January 31, 2011
I like this author, he writes well but his subject in this true crime novel is so maddening that it is hard to give the book any stars in the ratings. I hated the characters........when you hate the characters, it is hard to like the book.
I am not conversant with the religion of fundamental Christians but any church (in this case, more of a cult than a mainstream denomination) that espouses the dogma described in this book cannot be spiritual.........get whatever you want, run up your credit cards to the max, commit adultery, lie, and murder.....all because you were personally told by God that it is acceptable. The women in this group were so incredibly stupid (I can't put it down to vulnerability or naivete) that I could feel no sympathy for them when they fell under the thrall of their pastor, a true loser and master manipulator. It is so outlandish that it seems more like fiction. So be warned,this book leaves the reader with a bad taste in your mouth.
I am not conversant with the religion of fundamental Christians but any church (in this case, more of a cult than a mainstream denomination) that espouses the dogma described in this book cannot be spiritual.........get whatever you want, run up your credit cards to the max, commit adultery, lie, and murder.....all because you were personally told by God that it is acceptable. The women in this group were so incredibly stupid (I can't put it down to vulnerability or naivete) that I could feel no sympathy for them when they fell under the thrall of their pastor, a true loser and master manipulator. It is so outlandish that it seems more like fiction. So be warned,this book leaves the reader with a bad taste in your mouth.
July 23, 2010
Have you ever watched a 20/20 or Dateline special, where the focus is on a group of victims and who the producers of the show think is the killer? It's a voyeuristic experience, like you're peeking into someone's life and seeing all of their dirty laundry aired.
Well, this is the book form of that same experience. There are three ministers for a Christian church: One who is fairly nice, but has his own problems, and is as naïve as all get out. One who is more of a salesman/businessman than a minister, is hard-nosed and difficult to get along with, but not actually a bad guy. Then the last one who is sexual pervert who thinks that the solution to ANY problem is to sleep with the woman who has the problem. Seriously. Can't quit drugs? Sleep with me! Struggling in your marriage with your husband? Sleep with me! Miss your daughter who is dead (because I killed her but you don't know that) - sleep with me! All problems equal one solution - have sex with me!
The naïve minister, when he finally sees the light and realizes that one of his ministers is a sexual predator, sits down with the list of all of the members of his church and calls every female on that list. He simply asks them if they'd ever had an uncomfortable situation with the sexual predator minister - if he had ever made an advance, or hit on them, or whatever. Out of the entire congregation, only one said no, that never happened. Yeah - one. The book doesn't say, but I'm guessing that this female was 92 and in a wheelchair, because if you had two legs, boobs, and were breathing, you were hit on by this guy.
Anyway, the book was hard for me to read for several reasons:
It was depressing because the guy was a slimebag (he had multiple relationships going at all times, and he killed his wife so he could continue this pattern with impunity).
There were a LOT of people in this book who were stupidly naïve ("This guy's wife just died, he should be in mourning but instead he's hitting on me...It must just be the way that he deals with grief." What?!?!)
There were more than a few people who apparently have a direct line to God, and are constantly giving The Word, where they tell everyone else what God wants or is thinking. One of the ladies gave The Word that her husband was going to die in a car crash, and no one seemed bothered by this. She, of course, didn't tell her husband about this revelation, but she told a bunch of other people. She told her children, matter-of-factly, that their father was going to die, so don't get too attached to him.
People, are you listening to this stuff?! How could this possibly be normal? And apparently this God guy is mixed up, because he keeps giving revelations to the sexual predator to have sex with different women and to tell every one of them that God has said that they are The One that God has sent to this minister in order to help him now that he's single. Every one of them are special and chosen to do this. Yikes.
I've read several polygamy books, and in a way, this book reminded me of that. You have a male who is using religion to get sex from a lot of different women. In one of the polygamy books that I read, I remember that the narrator was saying that the men were to receive revelations when they were supposed to take a young girl to be their (13th) wife, and that apparently God kept getting his wires crossed because he would give 15 men a revelation to take the same (cute, young, fun) girl to be their wife, whereas an older, not-so-pretty lady was completely ignored by God. Amazing how that happens.
So in short, if you like 20/20 or Dateline, then this book will up your alley. But for me, it left me with a slimy feeling, and it certainly wasn't helpful for the Christian cause.
Well, this is the book form of that same experience. There are three ministers for a Christian church: One who is fairly nice, but has his own problems, and is as naïve as all get out. One who is more of a salesman/businessman than a minister, is hard-nosed and difficult to get along with, but not actually a bad guy. Then the last one who is sexual pervert who thinks that the solution to ANY problem is to sleep with the woman who has the problem. Seriously. Can't quit drugs? Sleep with me! Struggling in your marriage with your husband? Sleep with me! Miss your daughter who is dead (because I killed her but you don't know that) - sleep with me! All problems equal one solution - have sex with me!
The naïve minister, when he finally sees the light and realizes that one of his ministers is a sexual predator, sits down with the list of all of the members of his church and calls every female on that list. He simply asks them if they'd ever had an uncomfortable situation with the sexual predator minister - if he had ever made an advance, or hit on them, or whatever. Out of the entire congregation, only one said no, that never happened. Yeah - one. The book doesn't say, but I'm guessing that this female was 92 and in a wheelchair, because if you had two legs, boobs, and were breathing, you were hit on by this guy.
Anyway, the book was hard for me to read for several reasons:
It was depressing because the guy was a slimebag (he had multiple relationships going at all times, and he killed his wife so he could continue this pattern with impunity).
There were a LOT of people in this book who were stupidly naïve ("This guy's wife just died, he should be in mourning but instead he's hitting on me...It must just be the way that he deals with grief." What?!?!)
There were more than a few people who apparently have a direct line to God, and are constantly giving The Word, where they tell everyone else what God wants or is thinking. One of the ladies gave The Word that her husband was going to die in a car crash, and no one seemed bothered by this. She, of course, didn't tell her husband about this revelation, but she told a bunch of other people. She told her children, matter-of-factly, that their father was going to die, so don't get too attached to him.
People, are you listening to this stuff?! How could this possibly be normal? And apparently this God guy is mixed up, because he keeps giving revelations to the sexual predator to have sex with different women and to tell every one of them that God has said that they are The One that God has sent to this minister in order to help him now that he's single. Every one of them are special and chosen to do this. Yikes.
I've read several polygamy books, and in a way, this book reminded me of that. You have a male who is using religion to get sex from a lot of different women. In one of the polygamy books that I read, I remember that the narrator was saying that the men were to receive revelations when they were supposed to take a young girl to be their (13th) wife, and that apparently God kept getting his wires crossed because he would give 15 men a revelation to take the same (cute, young, fun) girl to be their wife, whereas an older, not-so-pretty lady was completely ignored by God. Amazing how that happens.
So in short, if you like 20/20 or Dateline, then this book will up your alley. But for me, it left me with a slimy feeling, and it certainly wasn't helpful for the Christian cause.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 27, 2015
Truth can be stranger than fiction, but what I initially found strangest about this book was that so many people would be taken in by Nick Hacheney for as long as they were - believing even that his actions had the sanction of God.
This book takes place in the late 1990s in Bremerton and Bainbridge Island, Washington, where I have lived more than half my life. Bainbridge Island is known for having a well-educated demographic, more people with secondary and post-secondary degrees than just about anywhere in the US, but this story could have happened in the dark ages for the number of people that accept God's word could come in the form of apostolic visions that okay just about any action, in this case, from "God wants me to buy diamond earrings or a new car" because God wants me to be happy to "God needs me to have sex with the pastor" to give him comfort right after his wife just died in a pretty sketchy-looking accidental fire where all the valuables in the house just happened to be safely stored out of harm's way. Even while I feel sorry for the women that Nick Hacheney duped (most especially the one woman with no voice in this story, Dawn Hacheney), it is hard for me to understand the naivete that would lead some of these people to think God would advise them to run up credit card debt so that they could be happy while others go hungry in the world.
A disturbing read that keeps you turning pages to find out where this story will go and whether justice will be served.
This book takes place in the late 1990s in Bremerton and Bainbridge Island, Washington, where I have lived more than half my life. Bainbridge Island is known for having a well-educated demographic, more people with secondary and post-secondary degrees than just about anywhere in the US, but this story could have happened in the dark ages for the number of people that accept God's word could come in the form of apostolic visions that okay just about any action, in this case, from "God wants me to buy diamond earrings or a new car" because God wants me to be happy to "God needs me to have sex with the pastor" to give him comfort right after his wife just died in a pretty sketchy-looking accidental fire where all the valuables in the house just happened to be safely stored out of harm's way. Even while I feel sorry for the women that Nick Hacheney duped (most especially the one woman with no voice in this story, Dawn Hacheney), it is hard for me to understand the naivete that would lead some of these people to think God would advise them to run up credit card debt so that they could be happy while others go hungry in the world.
A disturbing read that keeps you turning pages to find out where this story will go and whether justice will be served.
November 4, 2022
What a total scumbag.. Using religion as a con.. It's a shame this creep will ever see the light of day.
October 6, 2022
It was so difficult to finish this book. I've never before encountered so many foolish, gullible people.
To be fair, I don't understand how much sway a church and pastor can have over its congregation, but the fact that this gross, unattractive, immoral man just said "God wants you to" and numerous women willingly went along with it and slept with him--whether they were married or not--made me want to scream in frustration.
God was used as an excuse for everything by the women in this book. "I can't afford diamond earrings, but God wants me to have them." Give me a break. If "God" spent as much time trifling with the lives of everyone in this community as the women clearly feel he did, he'd have no time left over for anything else.
And then, when the truth came out, Satan or demons were to blame. No, ladies, you were all taken in by an opportunistic loser who could twist the Bible to suit his own sexual needs. Ick.
I have no idea how Olsen told this story without beating his head against the wall. How anyone could have been taken in by "Pastor Nick" is beyond me.
To be fair, I don't understand how much sway a church and pastor can have over its congregation, but the fact that this gross, unattractive, immoral man just said "God wants you to" and numerous women willingly went along with it and slept with him--whether they were married or not--made me want to scream in frustration.
God was used as an excuse for everything by the women in this book. "I can't afford diamond earrings, but God wants me to have them." Give me a break. If "God" spent as much time trifling with the lives of everyone in this community as the women clearly feel he did, he'd have no time left over for anything else.
And then, when the truth came out, Satan or demons were to blame. No, ladies, you were all taken in by an opportunistic loser who could twist the Bible to suit his own sexual needs. Ick.
I have no idea how Olsen told this story without beating his head against the wall. How anyone could have been taken in by "Pastor Nick" is beyond me.
February 5, 2025
This was definitely not Gregg Olsen’s best. I had to force myself to get through the middle of the book. If you want to try a Gregg Olsen true crime book, read If You Tell, and skip this one….
August 5, 2020
I was very thankful that this account didn’t become a Christian-bashing session. There are good and bad people everywhere, and although the church should be the exception, it is not. This account should serve as a wake-up call to the faith community to act when something doesn’t feel right and not to hold our leaders up as equal to God. They are merely human and fallible, like the rest of us.
I am deeply saddened by the reluctance of the church members to accept that one of their own - a pastor, no less - could be guilty of adultery, sexual coercion, spiritual abuse, and murder. So many good-hearted people wanted to believe the best of Nick, and chose not to act when they were given evidence to the contrary. I can’t help but wonder if Dawn would still be alive if Sandy had not put faith in her pastor above faith in God. And if the women who were made uncomfortable by Nick’s advances had spoken up, his destruction of other lives may have been stopped before it began. And if PB hadn’t trusted Nick so unconditionally, he may not have been in the position to prey on Sandy. And what about the school where Nick got his theological training? Weren’t there warning signs there that were ignored? Come on people, we are called to be as gentle as doves, but as wise as serpents! And we are called to hold one another to account!
Many thanks to Gregg Olsen for handling this story with such sensitivity and honesty.
I am deeply saddened by the reluctance of the church members to accept that one of their own - a pastor, no less - could be guilty of adultery, sexual coercion, spiritual abuse, and murder. So many good-hearted people wanted to believe the best of Nick, and chose not to act when they were given evidence to the contrary. I can’t help but wonder if Dawn would still be alive if Sandy had not put faith in her pastor above faith in God. And if the women who were made uncomfortable by Nick’s advances had spoken up, his destruction of other lives may have been stopped before it began. And if PB hadn’t trusted Nick so unconditionally, he may not have been in the position to prey on Sandy. And what about the school where Nick got his theological training? Weren’t there warning signs there that were ignored? Come on people, we are called to be as gentle as doves, but as wise as serpents! And we are called to hold one another to account!
Many thanks to Gregg Olsen for handling this story with such sensitivity and honesty.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2022
My dirty little secret as a reader is that I absolutely adore true crime books. I think they're fascinating. I like police procedurals, forensic science, the justice system, and especially, justice. I really like for the bad guy to get his or her just rewards. This was an interesting case, especially for me as a Christian, because it highlights the dangers of not knowing and understanding scripture on your own. This guy seriously twisted things to get his way and to have what--and who--he wanted. While there are several adulterous affairs going on in this, there are no gratuitous scenes of description. This was well-written--better than many I've read by Gregg Olsen. I thought he did an especially good job of detailing the issues within the church itself. However, I do have a complaint. The victim--Dawn--was little more than a prop in the drama of her husband's life. There is no fleshing out of who she was. I wanted to know her a little better. She is a very sympathetic character in this, of course, but very, very little is said about her. I would recommend this if you like true crime. It's a good read.
July 11, 2010
What's truly frightening about this book is how easily this Church leader
dove into a life of spiritual depravity; one of greed, sex, and murder while claiming to be following God and capable of leading a Church.
Perhaps even more frightening is that these people listened to this guy and allowed him to lead them and talk them into joining this pastor's sinful lifestyle. They thought they were following God, when it's obvious that none of them were. Not one of them had the intellect or spirituality to question or stop behavior that is considered an abomination even in the secular world.
What's truly sad about this telling of the story is that the author makes no attempt to keep us in suspense. The author keeps telling us what will happen in advance, then we have to keep reading until it finally does. It's obvious what will happen with whom, even before the people involved knew.
But this book does have a plain and easily deciphered moral: Question the Church and its leaders. Don't accept everything they tell you as truth, just because they claim to be following God.
dove into a life of spiritual depravity; one of greed, sex, and murder while claiming to be following God and capable of leading a Church.
Perhaps even more frightening is that these people listened to this guy and allowed him to lead them and talk them into joining this pastor's sinful lifestyle. They thought they were following God, when it's obvious that none of them were. Not one of them had the intellect or spirituality to question or stop behavior that is considered an abomination even in the secular world.
What's truly sad about this telling of the story is that the author makes no attempt to keep us in suspense. The author keeps telling us what will happen in advance, then we have to keep reading until it finally does. It's obvious what will happen with whom, even before the people involved knew.
But this book does have a plain and easily deciphered moral: Question the Church and its leaders. Don't accept everything they tell you as truth, just because they claim to be following God.
December 14, 2013
While reading this book, I couldn't figure out whether I liked it or not. I had a hard time keeping all the names straight of the women Nick slept with - Lindsey, Nicole, Annette, Sandy, his wife Dawn - as well as their husbands, boyfriends, and, later, ex-husbands. Talk about a soap opera. At times the story seemed unbelievable, although I know it's all true. It's just crazy that one extremely unattractive man could display so much charisma. Until, that is, one sees how gullible and vulnerable the women he seduced were. He certainly knew who to target. I enjoyed the author's writing style and will check out his other books.
January 22, 2016
The true life story in and of itself is fascinating. Unfortunately the narrative here piles on redundant, repetitive and endless chapters about the preacher's relationships. There is very little info about the actual investigation that occurred, so you read an entire soap opera of love triangles with no comeuppance payoff.
February 17, 2018
There can be different types of Faith
A very good book. It shows you, when you mix religion with a lie, it's not going to work out good. Very good book.
A very good book. It shows you, when you mix religion with a lie, it's not going to work out good. Very good book.
October 9, 2024
This was the book club pick for October, which was a nonfiction true crime story. The story of Nick Hacheney and the path of destruction he carved through his family and his church is truly disturbing. There were points in reading this that I wondered how it could possibly be true - how could anyone actually believe any of this? And then I remembered that I'd seen the pattern repeated. A lot.
There is a two-edged truth to faith. We must accept that there is a world beyond what we see if we are to accept that God exists and that He has power. I have always believed that to be true. That faith also provides a vulnerability because... we believe there is something greater at play. There are also those who would seek to exploit that. Nick Hacheney was one of those.
There is plenty of information about this crime out there. Olsen does a good job of creating a readable tale that recounts the basics. It's a good book. I'm glad I'm finished with it. I'm ready for a good horror or end of the world book, where the monsters don't seem so close.
There is a two-edged truth to faith. We must accept that there is a world beyond what we see if we are to accept that God exists and that He has power. I have always believed that to be true. That faith also provides a vulnerability because... we believe there is something greater at play. There are also those who would seek to exploit that. Nick Hacheney was one of those.
There is plenty of information about this crime out there. Olsen does a good job of creating a readable tale that recounts the basics. It's a good book. I'm glad I'm finished with it. I'm ready for a good horror or end of the world book, where the monsters don't seem so close.
February 5, 2025
This is a true story about a pastor who killed his wife in a house fire and carried on numerous affairs with women from several churches. I would have given the book 5 stars, however, there were so many names to keep up with who I assume the author thought we understood who they were. It is an eye-opener.
October 14, 2019
If lying, gossiping, and adultery were mortal sins, everybody in this book would be on their way to Hell. I’m exaggerating, but still . . .
May 16, 2013
It was a hot sweltering week at Christian Youth Fellowship camp just outside Colorado Springs, the now mecca of sprawling evangelical churches to rival that of America's tasteless and tacky strip malls. I managed to narrowly escape the deceitful hands of a camp counselor four years my senior. Actually I didn't escape him entirely because of my numerous unexplained falls. He always appeared out of nowhere to cradle me with his athletic and toned 18-year-old arms. I was a scrawny 14-year-old girl in braces with frizzy hair who was voted "best dressed camper."
After too many falls, a team decided to send me home and advise my parents to have me tested for a brain tumor. I did not have a brain tumor. This was not some Godly based medical intervention under the guise of a probable tumor to save me from this man. No clouds parted, no trumpets sounded and God did not speak to me in my sleep. Thank goodness for a geographical separation.
After years of sending letters back and forth to one another, he finally revealed his true intentions. He sent me a letter in this twisted "I've groomed you for five years" creepy way that read, "now that you are a young woman, I want to deepen the level of our correspondence." There was more dribble about discussing our dreams, goals and his desire to have a family.
I read this while sitting in the hallway of my dormitory at The University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. Thankfully he was in Chicago. Thankfully he decided not to become a minister but worse, he became a professor. Oh what glorious joy he must have with a fresh batch of young vulnerable women arriving each year to stare at him and absorb his love of American literature and his toned arms. Hemingway, the philandering manly man is his favorite author of course.
I called him in the late 1990s much to his surprise. He had to go to a meeting. I am not one to suffer fools so I said, "I bet you have a lot of meetings. I bet meetings are a great excuse to end painful conversations. By the way, I was told you had interest in more than one girl several years younger than you during your volunteer work as a camp counselor."
The clouds parted on this grey Pacific Northwest day when I confronted him. I am lying. Clouds rarely part in this part of the nation. Olsen's book is yet another story of how everything can go wrong when religion and churches meet. People falling to the floor and the release of demons is drama no one truly needs.
The sordid relationships in his novel are not surprising to me, only the murder. Olsen is undoubtedly a talented writer. I don't normally read true crime but I could not stop reading this book. I have had nothing but bad experiences in organized religious settings. I often wonder if churches are built so one can find God after fleeing the building flinging one's arms in blessed relief.
After too many falls, a team decided to send me home and advise my parents to have me tested for a brain tumor. I did not have a brain tumor. This was not some Godly based medical intervention under the guise of a probable tumor to save me from this man. No clouds parted, no trumpets sounded and God did not speak to me in my sleep. Thank goodness for a geographical separation.
After years of sending letters back and forth to one another, he finally revealed his true intentions. He sent me a letter in this twisted "I've groomed you for five years" creepy way that read, "now that you are a young woman, I want to deepen the level of our correspondence." There was more dribble about discussing our dreams, goals and his desire to have a family.
I read this while sitting in the hallway of my dormitory at The University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. Thankfully he was in Chicago. Thankfully he decided not to become a minister but worse, he became a professor. Oh what glorious joy he must have with a fresh batch of young vulnerable women arriving each year to stare at him and absorb his love of American literature and his toned arms. Hemingway, the philandering manly man is his favorite author of course.
I called him in the late 1990s much to his surprise. He had to go to a meeting. I am not one to suffer fools so I said, "I bet you have a lot of meetings. I bet meetings are a great excuse to end painful conversations. By the way, I was told you had interest in more than one girl several years younger than you during your volunteer work as a camp counselor."
The clouds parted on this grey Pacific Northwest day when I confronted him. I am lying. Clouds rarely part in this part of the nation. Olsen's book is yet another story of how everything can go wrong when religion and churches meet. People falling to the floor and the release of demons is drama no one truly needs.
The sordid relationships in his novel are not surprising to me, only the murder. Olsen is undoubtedly a talented writer. I don't normally read true crime but I could not stop reading this book. I have had nothing but bad experiences in organized religious settings. I often wonder if churches are built so one can find God after fleeing the building flinging one's arms in blessed relief.
June 1, 2011
Olsen does a good job of writing respectfully about religious people--a skill often found wanting in modern authorship.
Unfortunately this just isnt that gripping a story. It basically boils down to The Anatomy Of A Church Split With A Murder Thrown In. Aside from the "murder" part, for a 41 year old woman like me who grew up in church and Christian school, the whole church politics/cliques/legalist bullies thing is about as normal and unremarkable as a lightswitch. A sad commentary to be sure, but it is the truth of the matter.
The other quibble I have with the book is Olsen's tendency to sort of leap around without much connective tissue in some places. It was pretty jarring to be reading along as he outlined one person, only to get to the next paragraph and find we're across town with another parishoner. Likewise, he mentions things casually which seem like they should be given more attention, while also repeating himself in an almost tic-like way. For instance, he casually mentions that the main couple were buying a house as a next step up the property ladder and alludes to other homes they remodelled. That seemed like a big pieceof information that deserved more than a few casual sentences. Instead, Olsen talks in several places aBout how a person ran up a huge debt on credit cards by charging things for friends. The book cries out for anouther good edit.
Unfortunately this just isnt that gripping a story. It basically boils down to The Anatomy Of A Church Split With A Murder Thrown In. Aside from the "murder" part, for a 41 year old woman like me who grew up in church and Christian school, the whole church politics/cliques/legalist bullies thing is about as normal and unremarkable as a lightswitch. A sad commentary to be sure, but it is the truth of the matter.
The other quibble I have with the book is Olsen's tendency to sort of leap around without much connective tissue in some places. It was pretty jarring to be reading along as he outlined one person, only to get to the next paragraph and find we're across town with another parishoner. Likewise, he mentions things casually which seem like they should be given more attention, while also repeating himself in an almost tic-like way. For instance, he casually mentions that the main couple were buying a house as a next step up the property ladder and alludes to other homes they remodelled. That seemed like a big pieceof information that deserved more than a few casual sentences. Instead, Olsen talks in several places aBout how a person ran up a huge debt on credit cards by charging things for friends. The book cries out for anouther good edit.
December 14, 2019
Meh. I feel like far too much of this book was spent focusing on the relationships that Nick had with other women in the church and not enough time was spent on the actual solving of the murder. I mean, it’s not fiction so that stuff can’t be added for a stunning denouement, but I feel like Olsen could’ve cut at least 40-50 pages of the stuff about Nick romancing other women, because it just got repetitive.
But this did make my church-disliking heart happy, I will say that. All of the pettiness and rivalries sounded very familiar to things I’ve experienced in real life (aside from the actual murder, that is). People are the worst and Christianity, as seen in the majority of churches and as demonstrated by pastors and the majority of church-attending humans, is not actually all that great.
But this did make my church-disliking heart happy, I will say that. All of the pettiness and rivalries sounded very familiar to things I’ve experienced in real life (aside from the actual murder, that is). People are the worst and Christianity, as seen in the majority of churches and as demonstrated by pastors and the majority of church-attending humans, is not actually all that great.
June 25, 2016
4.5 stars Truth is stranger than fiction!
June 14, 2010
There is a story here; but the author fails to captivate with his rendition of it.
January 8, 2023
First a rant, and then the review...
These people suck. All of them. This is once again a perfect example of the Christian lemmings; just slap a "Christian," or "Pastor," in this case, sticker on someone and everyone believes he's good. Even law enforcement of all levels were bamboozled by this label. And it was clearly only a label in this case.
Never have I ever been ready to literally throw a book across the room in my life, until this one of course. When Diana told Nick she wanted to be Dawn for him, I nearly threw the book and threw up my dinner simultaneously. How low can a person go? Just when I thought the people couldn't be more atrocious, Diana was there to prove me wrong. She is gross, all of them are, but Diana is only a hair's width better than Nick.
I found myself wondering many things while reading this, how come people don't question Christians? How come people just believe them to be good without ever looking further? How can someone view helping another as sleeping with them? But not just having sex with them, compromising their very own morals and themselves to help another. How can the same person, that chooses to compromise their morals then be a victim? Are these women actually victims? Not counting Dawn of course, the actual victim here.
While I tend to believe the smarmy, grotesque, lying, boob of a human known as Nick took advantage of struggling women who were in a weakened state across many areas of their lives, I also tend to believe these women let his flattery go to their heads. I believe all of these women, excluding Dawn, willingly chose to enter inappropriate relationships with this cretin and therefore play a role in their own pain. I also share the belief of law enforcement that they basically made a deal with the devil giving Sandy immunity. She's as smarmy as Nick.
Now, to the quality of the book itself, I believe many of the reviews are unfair. As previously mentioned, these people suck, they are terrible, awful human beings, not one single one of them is at all likeable and it does make the book hard to read. It took me forever to get through this one because of a combination of holiday busy-ness and because I could only read in small doses as I literally rolled my eyes several times per page, was actually nauseous on multiple occasions and vocally expressed my disgust in various ways, with various combinations of colorful language, at least once a chapter, earning many weird and questioning looks from my family. This is a true crime book. If you need likable characters, this book and likely the entire genre isn't for you. We need to be careful not to confuse the terrible people in a story with the quality of writing.
Olsen has quickly become one of my favorite authors. The pacing was great and there wasn't a lot of unnecessary childhood information unlike some of the other true crime books I've read. Again, I Ioved the Western Washington setting as that is where I am from, a theme across all of the Olsen books I've read. My one and only critique is that there were too many stories of Nick's lies and encounters, they were all so similar it tended to feel like Ground Hog's Day. I cannot imagine how this author was able to write about this group of people. I would have lost my mind. And he actually interviewed them! I would not have been able to keep my disgust hidden but God bless Olsen because I did enjoy the read. I will continue to read and enjoy his books, both true crime and fiction.
These people suck. All of them. This is once again a perfect example of the Christian lemmings; just slap a "Christian," or "Pastor," in this case, sticker on someone and everyone believes he's good. Even law enforcement of all levels were bamboozled by this label. And it was clearly only a label in this case.
Never have I ever been ready to literally throw a book across the room in my life, until this one of course. When Diana told Nick she wanted to be Dawn for him, I nearly threw the book and threw up my dinner simultaneously. How low can a person go? Just when I thought the people couldn't be more atrocious, Diana was there to prove me wrong. She is gross, all of them are, but Diana is only a hair's width better than Nick.
I found myself wondering many things while reading this, how come people don't question Christians? How come people just believe them to be good without ever looking further? How can someone view helping another as sleeping with them? But not just having sex with them, compromising their very own morals and themselves to help another. How can the same person, that chooses to compromise their morals then be a victim? Are these women actually victims? Not counting Dawn of course, the actual victim here.
While I tend to believe the smarmy, grotesque, lying, boob of a human known as Nick took advantage of struggling women who were in a weakened state across many areas of their lives, I also tend to believe these women let his flattery go to their heads. I believe all of these women, excluding Dawn, willingly chose to enter inappropriate relationships with this cretin and therefore play a role in their own pain. I also share the belief of law enforcement that they basically made a deal with the devil giving Sandy immunity. She's as smarmy as Nick.
Now, to the quality of the book itself, I believe many of the reviews are unfair. As previously mentioned, these people suck, they are terrible, awful human beings, not one single one of them is at all likeable and it does make the book hard to read. It took me forever to get through this one because of a combination of holiday busy-ness and because I could only read in small doses as I literally rolled my eyes several times per page, was actually nauseous on multiple occasions and vocally expressed my disgust in various ways, with various combinations of colorful language, at least once a chapter, earning many weird and questioning looks from my family. This is a true crime book. If you need likable characters, this book and likely the entire genre isn't for you. We need to be careful not to confuse the terrible people in a story with the quality of writing.
Olsen has quickly become one of my favorite authors. The pacing was great and there wasn't a lot of unnecessary childhood information unlike some of the other true crime books I've read. Again, I Ioved the Western Washington setting as that is where I am from, a theme across all of the Olsen books I've read. My one and only critique is that there were too many stories of Nick's lies and encounters, they were all so similar it tended to feel like Ground Hog's Day. I cannot imagine how this author was able to write about this group of people. I would have lost my mind. And he actually interviewed them! I would not have been able to keep my disgust hidden but God bless Olsen because I did enjoy the read. I will continue to read and enjoy his books, both true crime and fiction.
February 7, 2019
Fantastic. Loved the writing.
Side Note: Oh. My. Goodness. People, read the Word of God for yourselves! Deception is knocking at your door...
Side Note: Oh. My. Goodness. People, read the Word of God for yourselves! Deception is knocking at your door...
April 30, 2023
Could have been 4 stars, but comparing it to the other book I read by Olsen (which I gave 4 star) I liked this one less. That doesn’t mean this wasn’t still a solid read. It was one of those true stories that just makes you mad at some people for being horrible, and irritated at others for being naive. I also agree with a few of the other reviews I’ve read that the sexual details seemed a little in detail and I wonder if Olsen embellished the details a little bit. Nonetheless, a good read and one that will keep making you go “what the, how could this get any worse” like every other chapter.
November 4, 2024
Read this one bc it was a local Kitsap County murder and If You Tell was SUCH a page turner, but it dragged in spots and then felt really rushed in the end. Not the best, but it was interesting reading about so many local landmarks. Even the Boat Shed in Manette got a quick mention!
January 1, 2011
For some reason, this particular true story just blindsided me. I simply had a hard time believing that the women used by a narcissistic, sociopathic, probably borderline personality, individual who passed himself off as a man of God, failed to heed any of the many red flags they all saw in their relationships with him. I suppose that the fact that their religious community was rather insulated by location (Bainbridge Island, WA) and not having healthy relationships with many men in their lives contributed to their blindness. These women, and some men, all seemed to lack a purpose in life and were looking for their church to provide it for them. It does not work that way in any religious or spiritual community. This is how people end up drinking cyanide-laced Kool-Aid as in the case of Jim Jones, or refusing to see the evidence of the young man in this story murdering his wife to further his own sexual agenda with many women, including his mother-in-law. All he had to tell them was that God spoke to him; and they fell back with their clothing off. One woman was so caught up in her own delusion, that she claimed the Angel Gabriel was speaking to her, in addition to God, telling her that her husband and the young pastor's wife were both going to die. She even told her small children this.... God? This is pure, unadulterated evil based upon wishful thinking, lost hopes and dreams, perhaps mental illness as to a "higher calling". If that higher calling involves taking the lives of others, or doing emotional harm, it surely isn't a divine voice (God) speaking to a person. People need to be grounded enough to question everything, and to KNOW that if a person or a "voice" is asking one to perform a harmful, cruel, unjust action, then that voice does not belong to anything divine. Some things truly are black or white. I cannot believe how naive these people were. It scares the hell out of me to think that this is no doubt, a story that is repeated daily somewhere around the world.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 12, 2013
I don't normally get that disturbed by true crime books, particularly when, like in this case, I have seen the true crime television program(s) telling the story. However, this book really disturbed me. The television retellings of these events limited the discussion of Nick Hacheney's sexual proclivities to his affair with Sandy Glass. This book makes it clear that there were others who fell under his creepy but charismatic spell.
I was appreciative of the sensitivity with which Olsen portrayed the various levels of spiritual belief in this book, because he didn't really make the book an indictment of religion or faith or even some of the less mainstream Christian beliefs discussed among the church members. I was less appreciative of the continued and in-depth focus on the predatory pursuit of the women and sexual gratification by Hacheney -- it was revolting. There were times when I wondered how these women could not have seen through him. In the end, though, I accept that this story was less about the murder of Dawn Hacheney than it was about Twisted Faith as the title says and the mind/soul rape committed by Hacheney. He is one sick dude and I am glad he is locked up -- and he is clearly a psychopath, given how many people have decided that the evidence against him doesn't add up, including Dawn's mother (who slept with him!), and his current wife.
I was appreciative of the sensitivity with which Olsen portrayed the various levels of spiritual belief in this book, because he didn't really make the book an indictment of religion or faith or even some of the less mainstream Christian beliefs discussed among the church members. I was less appreciative of the continued and in-depth focus on the predatory pursuit of the women and sexual gratification by Hacheney -- it was revolting. There were times when I wondered how these women could not have seen through him. In the end, though, I accept that this story was less about the murder of Dawn Hacheney than it was about Twisted Faith as the title says and the mind/soul rape committed by Hacheney. He is one sick dude and I am glad he is locked up -- and he is clearly a psychopath, given how many people have decided that the evidence against him doesn't add up, including Dawn's mother (who slept with him!), and his current wife.
April 27, 2020
This true-crime book is by one of my new favorite authors, Gregg Olsen. There are no spoilers in this review. Nothing I am about to say cannot be found in the publisher's discription.The book begins with a devastating, but poorly investigated fire. A youth pastor's wife dies alone, seemingly sleeping through a flash fire that took out her bedroom. Her husband is not a suspect. He was away from home on a hunting trip with some church members. But, while the police aren't concerned with Pastor Nick, some of his congregants are. He has a way with the women of his church and the ability to twist "scripture" in his favor.
The book can get a little confusing because so many people are involved (there's a list provided in the front of the book), and it makes the story drag at times. It's an interesting psychological study into the mind of a psychopath and the people who fall under his charismatic spell.
The book can get a little confusing because so many people are involved (there's a list provided in the front of the book), and it makes the story drag at times. It's an interesting psychological study into the mind of a psychopath and the people who fall under his charismatic spell.
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