A Twisted Faith by Gregg Olsen left me disappointed in more ways than I expected. I have often wondered how difficult it really is to brainwash people, but if this book is any indication, apparently the bar is somewhere near ankle level. I kept waiting for more background on the women involved because I needed to understand how so many people were pulled into this chaos. We know one woman went to college, and maybe she was the exception, but based on some of the decision-making in this book, I have to believe a few IEP meetings were missed along the way.
Sandy, in many ways, seemed to be the blueprint. Nick had given her so much spiritual Kool-Aid that she not only felt honored to be one of his exploits, but also privileged to know about the others. He promised her they would eventually be together, and she clung to that fantasy while he was busy building a full-blown harem with church lighting. Even worse, he used Sandy as a counselor of sorts for the other women he was manipulating. That is not romance. That is a pyramid scheme with scriptures.
To me, Sandy was not simply a victim. She was an accomplice. I believe she benefited from telling her version of the story first and securing immunity. Nick told her everything, and I have a hard time believing she did not know more than she admitted. I would not be surprised if she helped him plan Dawn’s death, or at the very least, knew enough to stop it and chose not to.
Dawn, his wife, was perhaps the saddest example of what it looks like when a woman slowly shrinks herself to survive a man. She seemed to become smaller and smaller in her own life while Nick took up all the space. He did not want her seen, heard, or centered. He kept her on the sidelines, and I believe she became his first prototype. Dawn was the woman who taught him just how much he could diminish someone and still keep control. Once he saw that he could do it to her, I think it became a challenge for him to see how far he could cast his net.
His real superpower was not charm, faith, or leadership. His real superpower was identifying broken women and knowing exactly how to exploit their wounds. He understood insecurity, loneliness, guilt, and spiritual confusion, and he used all of it like a toolbox. It felt like a game to him: how far could he go, how much could he get away with, and how many people could he convince to look the other way?
Annette was another frustrating part of the story. She wanted to be seen as a victim, but I struggled with that. She knew having an affair with him was wrong. I find it hard to believe that she truly believed God wanted her to cheat on her husband. At some point, she had to see herself deteriorating. If God had really been in it, the results would have looked very different. I think “God told me” became a convenient excuse so she would not have to face the truth about her own choices.
Nicole was equally difficult for me to understand. After everything that came out, she still married him. I cannot fully call her a victim in this situation either. Surely, she knew about the women who had come forward and the inappropriate behavior he had been accused of. I believe she knew enough to make a different choice, and yet she stayed. I sincerely hope she does not become another statistic after his prison release. I would also be very interested to know what her children think about all of this now that they are older. What is their relationship with him like? How do they process everything that happened?
One of the most disturbing parts of the book was how many people refused to believe what was painfully obvious. There were so many disappointing and complicit people circling this situation. Pastor Bob, in particular, was not as ignorant as he pretended to be. He was simply weak, and weak men do not belong in leadership. He managed to speak up briefly when it involved his daughter, but then went right back to cowering. Personally, I could not follow a man who cannot address obvious problems directly. If you cannot confront the mess in front of you, you have no business trying to lead a church.
Overall, this book was frustrating because it showed how manipulation, weak leadership, spiritual language, and willful ignorance can create the perfect storm. Nick may have been the central villain, but he was not operating in a vacuum. Too many people made excuses, looked away, or chose comfort over truth. By the end, I was not just disappointed in him. I was disappointed in almost everyone around him.
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