My Brother the Killer by Alix Sharkey is a powerful and heartbreaking memoir that delves into the complexities of family, trauma, and the devastating consequences of violence.

Sharkey recounts the story of his younger brother, Stuart, a charismatic and seemingly ordinary young man who was convicted of murdering a young woman. The book explores the author's own childhood, marked by violence and dysfunction, and the impact of his brother's crime on his family and community.

I enjoyed this book but thought the flow could have been different to make it more enjoyable, it was also rather centred on the brother rather than the killer himself.

This is an interesting read. It s a true crime book. It’s very hard hitting and emotional but also very informative.
It is very readable but also so disturbing

I was really excited to read this book but I found it hard to get into and finish. It took me a while to process what I had read. It didn’t really describe Alix Sharkey’s brother but more on his feeling towards his brother and felt there was some parts that didn’t really need to be in the book.

Really enjoyed reading this book. Must be awful to be family. You do t look at it from there point of view. Very informative. Written well and flowed well.

Thankyou to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this ARC.
This book was so good!
I really enjoy true crime stories.
This book did make me feel sick to my stomach as i felt so bad and sad for Danielle and her family.
It just goes to show that you do not know who to trust.
Thank you again for such a well written book.
Will recommend to my friends
5/5 stars

Never heard of this crime story before, although it was much in the news (in the U.K.). Not an easy book to read because of the content, but it does have a coherent flow. The brother in the title is somewhat of a mystery, an enigma, so the book is really about the family.

3.5 stars
Before reading this book I had never heard about this case. The book is well written and shares the boys childhood and the conditions that they grew up in along side the disappearance of Danielle Jones but I wish it hadn’t flicked backwards and forwards so much.
I found it difficult to believe that Alix didn’t know about the extent of his brothers previous crimes and didn’t know how devious he was and in some ways abetted his crimes.
It must be difficult for both families involved especially Danielle’s who still have no proper closure as they still do not know where their daughters body is.
I went into this book in a bit of a slump so struggled to make it half way, once I passed the 50% mark I flew through the rest of the book and although it was an upsetting and difficult read I would recommend this book to people who enjoy true crime.

Here is an interesting book. I thought that the book was good but in parts it was a little long winded and that the author talked a lot about his upbringing etc. but that could have been to give the reader a picture of his and Stuart’s childhood and different their adulthoods had turned out.
As I was reading it I could not imagine what that family emotions and feeling where knowing what there own flesh and blood had done,

If you have an interest in true crime then I would recommend this book to you.

The true crime book presents life of Stuart Campbell and his brother and a murder of Danielle Jones. The book is well researched and well written , however doesn't answer a lot of questions.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I thought this book was quite long winded and could have been shorter, however I did enjoy reading it.

The two narratives of this book kept me gripped throughout. One chapter explores Alix’s childhood and growing up with his brother Stuart. A juxtaposition of the following chapter that involves a missing 15 year old girl. As the chapters progress we learn more about both Alix and Stuart’s upbringing. And that the missing girl is now a murder enquiry with Stuart as the main suspect. It had me grappling with lots of internal questions; how well do we really know anyone? How well do we know our own brothers? This is one for any true crime fan who wants to follow the story as it progresses: through the investigations leading up to the trial and ends in the years after Danielle’s murder.

As always thanks to NetGalley for the Arc and thank you Alix for your very honest and raw account.

As a true crime enthusiast I am always looking to come across a UK based story I have not heard of before.
This was a case I had never heard of told from the perspective of the brother of the murderer.
Interesting and frustrating in equal measure, the blend of past and present made for an good read.

Well written and fascinating to read. My Brother the Killer is based upon a difficult and complex situation but is both personal, and captivating to read. A must read if you are interested in the insight into criminal psychology.

This was a really well written and interesting true crime novel. I hadn't heard of this case before even on Youtube so was really interested to find out what had happened in the case.

I liked how the author narrates the reader through the events of Danielle's disappearance while also recounting his childhood and the linkage. It seemed very evidence that the abusive home life as a child had an impact on Stuart and his behavior and actions he would perform later in life. It was also interesting to see how two brothers from the same home could end up in different lives but also the impact that Stuart's crime had on Alix.

Some parts where written in quite a slow narrative and I sort of wish the writer has started with the childhood leading to the events that would occur to make the story flow better for the reader and understand it better. I also wish the writer had used speech marks when people talked.

This hard hitting memoir for the brother of convicted killer was an eye-opening account of his life growing up in an abusive environement and how this could have contributed to the path that his brother took.

I found the method for this book confusing at times as we were jumping back and forth through the timeline and this was confusing for me. Once I got used to the author's method of writing this account then I was able to connect with the author and his feelings and motivation to write this book. Reading through the account you can see and feel the anguish that he has had when making the decision to write this account and what to include.

This is definately a gripping and raw story of emotion.

In 2001 a 15 year old girl, Danielle Jones, goes missing and the killer refuses to say where her body lies causing untold grief to her family. The killer is the author’s younger brother Stuart. Have to say that it doesn’t really sit well with me that a book is written and profited from on the back of such a tragedy unless money is being raised for suitable charities. Interesting to hear how the children were raised in Tilbury, Essex with a brute of a father but I don’t feel as if there’s very much insight into Stuart as it’s mainly about the author, what he did, how he felt etc. This is definitely a book which would have been much improved had it been written in chronological order rather than flitting about all over the place. A book for those who have an interest in real life crime.

Sorry but I just couldn't finish this one, I found it very boring and self centred. I wanted to read this one as I find true crime and the whole nature versus nature debate fascinating.

A fascinating, comprehensive and very honest account of a deeply harrowing loss.
This is a case only really in the periphery of my knowledge, which also feels like a tragedy as the young girl was abducted, presumed murdered but has never actually been found.
I loved how the author takes us back to the start of their life to examine important questions of nature vs nurture and examines the complex early life situations can form behaviours and shape future events.
The level of detail is excellent and this provides a really candid insight, which makes it feel very humbling to be allowed such candid access to such an emotive subject. I enjoyed this thank you.

Funny enough this is a hard review to write. I remember reading about Danielle Jones going missing in the papers and seeing it on the news, recently I heard it again recently on a podcast. I can't begin to imagine how the families have coped over the past 2 decades, Each time it resurfaces in the media or as in this case a new book it must feel like a plaster being ripped off for both families..

Alix Sharkey tells us about growing up as a child in the 70's, it was rife with bigotry and racism., life with a brother who was "normal" whatever that is until puberty. had issues and an unhealthy, but unknown predilection for young girls, not to mention an abusive, alcoholic dad and how his mother mum enabled both the father and the brothers behaviour. At some point his mum finally threw her husband out, who then went on to become a hapless drunk.

Stuart Campbell was a healthy, happy child but I think at some point the alluded to event did happen in turn this changed him, he became harder, more secretive. Although it didn't make it the person he became there's opinions that it could have contributed to it. Stuart was Danielle's 'Uncle', someone that Danielle should have been able to trust. It's believed that he abducted her and ultimately murdered her, but Stuart has never publicly admitted guilt or had the decency to tell the family where Danielle's body is. It seems unbelievable that he could keep that deviant and violent side of himself a secret so well and for so long, bearing in mind that he served 2 previous prison terms.

I struggle a little with how gullible that Alix was with regard to his brothers previous sentences and he took what he was told at face value. I think that as a journalist you'd need to have a curious nature as well as an inquisitive mind, that need to know spark so I'm surprised that he never checked it out., There's an awful lot of anxiety about how this would affect his daughter, worry about the way her peers would react to the news. I guess its expected and warranted to some extent, but I think he had a few missed opportunities to sit down and explain it to her.

I tend to agree with what I read and hear that without full disclosure of both guilt and the location where Danielle's body is to allow her parent the opportunity lay her to rest Stuart should not be given the luxury of parole.

Thank you to the author Alix Sharkey and #Netgalley for my ARC. All opinions are mine and mine alone.

I love any true crime book and this one didn’t disappoint at all.

This was a really distressing book but read but I couldn't put it down at all once I started it.
Is a very in depth look at the childhood and past of a child murderer by someone who knows him best and that his own brother.

The the author did well to keep the victim at the heart of the story which I really like from a author.
I Would 100% definitely recommend this book.