Part memoir, part national scandal expose, TELL ME EVERYTHING: THE STORY OF A PRIVATE INVESTIGATION is enraging yet fascinating. Author Erika Krouse shares her story as a private investigator working to hold a college football program and student athletes accountable for multiple sexual assaults.

Erika stumbled into her career as a private investigator. Prior to this role, she had a hodge-podge of jobs and no formal training in the field. Despite her lack of experience, her instincts and personal history of sexual abuse enabled people to share information with her that had eluded other investigators.

This was a quick audio listen that was well-narrated by Gabra Zackman. It was a quick listen as I followed Erika with her witness investigations and involvement in a historic civil rights case.

Given the graphic subject matter, this is a difficult read but one that sheds light on the systemic issues surrounding campus assaults perpetrated by seemingly invincible student athletes. Readers who were drawn to Chanel Miller’s poignant memoir, KNOW MY NAME, will want to pick up TELL ME EVERYTHING.

RATING:4/5
PUB DATE: March 15, 2022

A big thank you to Macmillan audio and NetGalley for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Review will be published to www.instagram.com/kellyhook.readsbooks on 3/18

Tell Me Everything is an important memior that details the author's experience as a Private Investigator seeking justice for victims of sexual abuse and rape at the local college. Through her investigation Erika uncovers a culture of sexual abuse and rape that centers around the football program and faces pressure from those involved with the program and the community that views her work as her attacking the team. I found the audio for this book to be very smooth and well-done.

Warning: discussions of rape, sexual assault, sex work, and language used to describe the acts/victims may be upsetting to some

Erika Krouse just has one of those faces, the kind that you are comfortable having a conversation with and perhaps revealing more than you should. After having on of those types of chats with a lawyer one day, he offers her a job to come do some private investigation work for him....he wants her to seek out witnesses and get direct/contextual information that will assist in him in case preparation. She takes him up on his offer and soon finds herself involved in a rape case seeking to hold a large university responsible for the actions of its football players/team/culture under Title IX. The book follows snippets of the investigation as it draws out over the years up to the conclusion of the case. Other parts of the book give Krouse's memoirs of sorts. She too was sexual abused for many years when she was younger by a close family friend, but most of her family members do not believe her/refuse to acknowledge the truth.

Despite the difficult subject matter, I really enjoyed this true crime and memoir....because of the crossover of experiences/trauma shared I think the mashup worked here. I am sure that it could have been easy to veer of course and get bogged down in spots, but Krouse's writing was direct and honest which kept the pacing well done. I think Gabra Zackman did a good job with the narration for the audiobook. I've come to discover that I like listening to narrative non-fiction because it reminds me of podcasts, which I also enjoy. Many thanks to Macmillan audio for the advanced reader's copy of this book for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Alright guys. This was a good one. With the vibes of Say My Name, Tell Me Everything, is a story about Erika who fell into a private investigator job working with a lawyer. These were her cases that she worked on. Erika has the type of face, where people just start blurting out their life story. Erika’s most important case that she takes on is against a University in Colorado where the football culture is to harass, sexually assault and rape women. The football culture says it is OK and they are not responsible for their players actions. The university uses the 4-dog defense. 1- It’s not our dog. 2- If it was my dog, it didn’t do what you said. 3- If it was my dog and it did do what you said, it didn’t hurt you. And 4- If it was our dog and they did what you said than you asked for it. This kind of defense is used all the time and it makes me sick. Erika works with the victims to help them tell their story in order to advance this case and get the university to admit guilt. I loved the way this was written. Krouse kept me engaged throughout the entire story. Sometimes memoirs are poorly written and drag on at parts. This was not one of those. The story also focused on Krouse’s life story and how she got to where she is. This was fascinating. How do any of us get to where we currently are? If your heart can take it, I suggest you pick with one up to read.

Wow! This book has several trigger warnings but I could not put it down. Just a fascinating look at how rape culture changed in college football. Very informative but yet subtle retelling of the university of Colorado case.

Have you ever finished a book and immediately (or while reading) needed to do a deep dive into the subject matter. When I read a memoir or true crime I'm often trying to find more information and this book as a combination of the two was one that sucked me down a black hole of trying to do my own investigative work.

Erika Krouse explores her introduction to live as PI because she had the right kind of face. She has the type of face and personality where people start opening up and spilling secrets. This simple fact led her to a lawyer working on a landmark case who needed someone to dig up some secrets and get people to talk. Erika was the woman for the job and she explored all the elements of a college recruiting scandal trying to prove a culture of rape acceptance by the University. She met all types of characters and explained the different approaches she uses to get people talking.

While sharing her research into the case she also shares her life story. From being abused as a very young girl to her family denying her truth her story was a tough one to read. Her exploration into the case helped her see things about her own experiences and learn and heal as a person. We also got insight into her personal life and relationships during the time she was researching the case.

Occasionally there would be a little interlude of her discussing the scenery of Colorado or something else a little random. I suppose it helped to not all be darkness as you read the story.

If you like true crime books or podcasts outside the realm of murder give this book a read or listen.

One of the best memoirs I have ever read (listened to). Erica has an incredible and empowering story and does a great job weaving her story with historical events. There are some elements that could be triggering to some.





I received a free copy of this audiobook from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All expressed opinions are my own and do not reflect any stance or position held by the author or publisher. This did not affect my rating or review in any way.

Tell Me Everything is a true crime memoir written by a private investigator who works on sexual assault cases. Erika Krouse is one of those people who everyone tells their secrets to, and I could really relate to this as I have been the holder of everyone's secrets as well. She also has a family history that interferes with her investigations, and the story interwines both in an intriguing and honest way. I thought this was a great memoir but also felt very conflicted by some of the things she did.. e.g. manipulating witnesses into giving her info by calling them at work and jeopardizing their job security. Is it fair to do this if it results in justice for the victims? I have great respect for stories that challenge your beliefs and make you feel torn between both sides.
Gabra Zackman narrated the audiobook with passion and pain, her telling was so genuine that I actually wondered if it was narrated by the author herself. Overall a great story, but not an easy one to listen to!

Thank you to author Erika Krouse, Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for gifting me with an ALC copy of Tell Me Everything. In exchange I offer my unbiased review.

What a wonderful mashup of genres this book was; parts memoir, true crime , history & sociology/ psychology. Erika Krouse intertwines her personal story of repeated sexual abuse as a child and her estrangement with her mother, to the shocking crime of college rape on campus perpetrated by university athletes. I did not recall the specific case that occurred in 2004 but unfortunately it’s become all too familiar.. What was shocking were all the details Erika uncovered while working as a private investigator for the college coed’s attorney. No spoilers here, but the misappropriation by those in power and their lack of compassion for the women were infuriating and heartbreaking.

I really enjoyed the audio narration by Gabra Zackman. While the subject matter is very tough and should be noted for potential trigger warnings, the book was written with empathy and respect for all those involved. I highly recommend this book in audio format, although I’m sure it will be equally gripping in print. Available March 15, 2022.

This audiobook was incredible. First of all, the storytelling for this non-fiction was on par with many fiction books about private eyes. It had me feeling like Eirka was Kinsey Milhone come to life. She wove the tale of her childhood into the events of the university case seamlessly. As far as memoirs go, this is easily one of my favorites.

The narration was also out of this world. I felt like I was listening to the author, even though I was not. The narrator did an excellent job of conveying all of the emotions behind this memoir.

Lesson 1 - don't listen to this book with your kid around because you never know when a graphic portion is going to pop up.

This is a good book that ended up not being about what I thought it would be about. At the heart of it it is about how Erika becomes a private investigator for a lawyer who ends up with the main client in the University of Colorado football team rape scandal., but investigating this incident brings up issues and demons surrounding her own long-term sexual abuse as a child so this book is A LOT. I started this book on audio, which I was generously gifted by Macmillan and NetGalley, and enjoyed the narrator and the story, but found it rough listening to graphic depictions of rape and switched to the printed version upon release. I found Erika's journey through the case, her family relationships, and her job as a private investigator interesting and at times heartbreaking. I recommend this book with a slight caveat regarding how detailed the rape information is.

Tell Me Everything is the true story of Erika Krouse becoming a private investigator and getting involved with a large sexual assault scandal at a well-known college. The names are all changed, but a lot of information/news articles can be discovered by a quick Google search.

Hearing the gruesome details of what happened in this case was extremely hard. Listening to the author open up about the horrific things that happened in her own life was even harder, My heart goes out to her and any victim of assault of any kind. I think she is so brave to be sharing her story and the other victims' stories.

I wouldn't feel the need to put a star rating on this if it weren't required by this forum.

I was able to listen to the audio version thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley. This book will be out on March 15th.

Marketed as part memoir and part true crime, Erika Kraus’s memoir, Tell Me Everything, was an excellent and compelling read! The subject matter is heavy, as it’s about her work in a civil suit case against a college football program that has covered up years of sexual assault, drug use and rape amongst its players. And along with that, the author weaves in her own personal experiences and trauma she’s dealt with since childhood. Erika’s writing was excellent from start to finish. I felt a lot of emotions as I read this book because the events and victims were all real. I think this would make a great book club pick. I know all I want to do now is talk to others about this story.

Read if you like:
-investigation stories
-true-crime
-the legal system
-college football
-fighting for women’s rights

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy to review. Though the names of the people and university are changed, it was rather easy to google to figure out the real cases. It’s a ton of fascinating good information but knowing no one was held accountable is really disappointing in this country. To hear quotes from men thinking they can do things to a woman just to have a winning team is infuriating. Well written book. Thank you for your work, Erika Krouse.

CW: this book has both child sexual abuse and sexual assault/rape on campus as well as the backlash that comes from reporting. It’s a very difficult read, so please take care.

I’m completely unaware of the sexual assault case this book is based on, probably because I don’t know anything that happens in the college football world. But when I saw a few reviews of the book, I knew I wanted to understand more.

I listened to the audiobook and while it’s not narrated by the author herself, I think the narrator did an amazing job capturing the raw emotions throughout, especially the sense of despair and helplessness that permeates due to the heart breaking situation of all the women who were assaulted and only received more allegations instead of justice, and the author herself who is a victim of child sexual abuse. As a reader, we also feel immense rage that such rape culture was deemed permissible by the university because they wanted to keep their coaches and players who felt entitled to women’s bodies, and I can’t believe that there exists an educational institution which felt winning football matches was more important than creating a safe and non discriminatory place for all its students. It just horrified me.

Just like the author herself who was a private investigator for the lawyer suing the university and had the task of talking to and convincing many of the women to be witnesses, I too felt uncomfortable sometimes that the women were being retraumatized by having to recount their experiences and then having to deal with threats and slut shaming but with no justice in sight. The author masterfully blends her own story within this narrative, talking about how the absence of support from her family, especially her mother, when she disclosed her abuse, has shaped her life. Reading about her anxieties, the numerous amounts of therapies and medications she tried to feel better, the affect her own experiences had in the way she felt about all the women she was meeting - it was all quite harrowing but I also was rooting for her and everyone to get the support and justice so that they could find peace in their lives. I was glad the author found a good man in her husband, who was her rock during difficult times and I could only hope that all the women had someone in their corner too.

While there is some resolution and relief to the plaintiffs, in the end, what the author says is true. There’s hardly any justice done because money can’t compensate for the horrors the women went through, and it’s not right that none of the perpetrators or enablers were punished. To know that some of them went on to play or coach in the NFL or even kept working in the same university just shows that violence against women will never be treated fairly and whatever small victories the survivors can gain, it’s only because of the many who keep fighting the fight against ugly odds.

🅐🅤🅓🅘🅞🅑🅞🅞🅚 🅡🅔🅥🅘🅔🅦⁣
Title: Tell Me Everything⁣
Author: Erika Krouse⁣
Narrator: Gabra Zackman⁣
Genre: Non-fiction True Crime/Memoir ⁣
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🅢🅤🅜🅜🅐🅡🅨:⁣
In 2002, Erika accepts the job as a private investigator. She doesn’t have any experience, but has one of those faces, that people tell everything too. She is assigned to investigate a sexual assault, where the victim was a college student that was attacked by football players and recruits at a party. Being a victim of abuse herself as a child, Erika thinks about turning down the case, but takes it anyway. Over the next five years, Erika hones her skills as a private investigator. As time goes on, the case becomes a historic civil rights rights case. ⁣
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🅡🅔🅥🅘🅔🅦:⁣
This audiobook grabbed me from the beginning, and kept my interest throughout. ⁣
It was so interesting to read about this case and how it impacted the lives of all that were involved. Some things were hard to listen to, but I definitely think it is important to understand the rape culture that was/is happening on college campuses and the effects it has on its victims. Erika also did an amazing job at weaving in personal details of her abuse and relationship with her family. ⁣
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Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC.

‘Tell Me Everything’ by Erika Krouse is a fascinating piece of narrative nonfiction about her experiences as a private investigator working on a sexual assault lawsuit against a prominent college football team in the early 2000s. Major trigger warnings for this book as it covers multiple sexual assaults as part of the lawsuit against the university and the author’s own assault experiences as a child.

The book is part memoir, part investigative nonfiction and reminded me of ‘She Said’ or ‘Catch and Kill,’ but goes more into the author’s background and introspection. I especially found the information regarding reading people interesting. It’s curious to see how deep cover ups can go within institutions. It almost seems implausible that institutions will go so far to cover up scandals, but we have seen it time and time again. I especially loved the writing in ‘Tell Me Everything.’ Krouse is such a gifted author and storyteller. I listened to the audiobook, which was perfectly narrated by Gabra Zackman. She seemed to suit the author and tone of the book.

Thank you Flatiron Books / Macmillan Audio for providing this ebook / audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It was extremely eye opening hearing the psychology behind the culture of the football team in relation to personalities and things that would drive them to act the way they did. I loved learning about Erika's life and the long road that got her to where she is now. It is terrifying that it took six years to settle a blaring issue of systemic rape culture at the university this is based on.

The narrator read this book so well and fit perfectly with the story!

✨ Review ✨ Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation by Erika Krouse
"Part memoir and part literary true crime, Tell Me Everything is the mesmerizing story of a landmark sexual assault investigation and the female private investigator who helped crack it open." This book follows Krouse's work as a PI that starts as a football recruiting weekend gone awry to uncover a larger culture of abuse and Title IX violations. Krouse blends this story with her own memoir of her life, her struggles, and her childhood abuse.

CW: Sexual and emotional abuse; sexual harassment; and rape run rampant throughout this story. Please feel free to DM if you need more info.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Genre: Narrative Nonfiction; Memoir
Location: Colorado
Pub Date: March 15, 2022

I LOVEEEE Narrative Non-Fiction but almost never read it because it's so slow for me to read. I listened to the audiobook for this one though and was captivated - finishing in a little over 24 hours after I started, and audiobook narrative non-fiction is my new jam.

I really loved how she blended her own life stories and experiences learning to be a PI with her detailing of this civil rights case. It's horrifying to realize how recently this happened and how pervasive issues like this still are today. I thought she brilliantly raises chicken & egg type questions (are more aggressive men drawn toward football or do the injuries and football culture create aggressive men?) without speculating on the answer. There were also lots of fascinating and sad reflections about the impact on psychological and physical trauma on the brain and its processing/function.

This is undoubtedly a hard read as it's rife with abuse and systemic ignorance of these issues. Be prepared for this going in!

Read this if you like:
⭕️ Narrative Non-Fiction
⭕️ Bad ass women investigators
⭕️ Learning more about systemic discrimination in academia and sports

Thanks to Macmillan Audio, Flatiron Books, and #netgalley for a copy of this book!

Tell Me Everything by Erika Krouse kept me hooked the whole way through and became unputdownable. It reads like fiction, and times I wished it was. The content is shocking and difficult at times but propels you forward to hear what happens next. This was a captivating 5 star read for me, highly recommend.