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. Of course we never really find out what it was like to grow up with an alleged murderer. Sharkey's brother didn't run around the house wielding knives; the boys and their sister had a less than idyllic upbringing, but it wasn't brutally hopeless either, thanks to their mum, and until puberty hit the brother seems to have been more or less okay. There's no explanation for why he turned out the way he did (while Sharkey didn't), other than the hinted-at possibility of sexual abuse at the hands of a teacher, and no warning signs of the cutting-heads-off-bunnies variety, other than the brother's callous/cruel treatment of and early predilection for young girls; which obviously wasn't enough to set off alarm bells, at least during the 1970s and 80s. So if "My Life with a Murderer!" is what you're after, this book (thankfully) won't deliver. It's more of a memoir of growing up under very particular circumstances during a time that seems very far away now. As I began reading this book, I tried to recollect the circumstances around Danielle's disappearance, but it wasn't until I googled her and saw her picture that I remembered her from all those years before. The murder of Danielle is a very sad story, not just because of her age and the fact that her body has never been found, but also because Stuart Campbell was her uncle, someone who she should have been able to trust. What makes this book so special is that Alix doesn't cast himself as a wider victim, although I would disagree on some levels, but nor does he minimise the brutal childhood the boys shared. He shares his story, his fears that he shares his brother's, and father's, DNA and it is so easy for someone outside the story to truly understand how large those fears must loom. By writing the book in a way that avoids sensationalising poor Danielle's murder and focussing the story on the facts, the story is far more powerful than almost any other true crime portrait I have read by a relative of the perpetrator. 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.

What this book probably doesn’t need is another review. But there are a few things I will say: Content warning as well as a profusion of foul language. That said, the author is an engaging writer (as a journalist by trade). A macabre beach read with a strong intro where Stuart (frustratingly) plays his mind games upon confrontation with the author. Might as well have published all the prison letters as a book instead of the last two.

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 read it as I wanted to understand how you would feel if you found out someone you knew - were related to - had committed a horrific crime. It certainly delivered in this regard; the book shows the authors evolving emotions from confusion, to disbelief, to anger, and then to understanding (the cause - his brother's own history of being abused) - whilst never reaching forgiveness and retaining contempt at the pain he put his victims family through. 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.. If the author wasn't being offensive, he was writing about things that didn't matter. He would constantly talk about how the case affected him, despite the fact that Danielle Jones lost her life and her body has never been recovered. He talked about how the trial affected him, and how he didn't know who to cry for. Himself, or Danielle?

The book is part memoir, part true-crime story, part legal procedural. All of the parts gel and flow seamlessly, Alix has taken this complicated story and presented it in a straightforward way without artifice. It reads so much better because of this. This book simultaneously reaches into the past in two different time periods, one counting the time since Danielle's disappearance and secondly to their earliest days as brothers and both timelines shine through with an honesty that took my breath away. 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 don't know how this man writes for a living, it's so bad. Part of the book feels like he's writing a personal autobiography then it switches to a true crime write up then it switches again to a thriller where he's beating the hell out of a guy in a strip club. Half of the things the author wrote about really didn't need to be included, and I swear he repeated a few things. Then on top of all that, he throws in this random theory that his brother killed Danielle Jones because he could have been molested by a paedophile from when he attended boarding school. Maybe he was, but it just felt like the author crammed the theory in there, and then hoped for the best. I will never understand why murderers who have been convicted, and are already in prison for life, don't reveal where the victims bodies are. It's heatless and incredibly frustrating - this is something I still don;t understand from reading this book. I wish it could have looked at this further.

At 8.00am on Monday 18th June 2001, Danielle Jones left home dressed in her school uniform – and promptly vanished. Alix Sharkey is the older brother of Stuart Campbell, the man convicted in 2002 of murdering 15-year-old, Danielle Jones. Danielle's body was never found, and the author wrote this book in the hope his brother would finally do the right thing and reveal where Danielle's body is before his parole hearing scheduled for later this year. I love the true crime books that give you a glimpse of the twisted psychology of the killer in question. This is one such book. This was... interesting. A very smooth read, for better or worse -- there was a certain glibness to the prose at times, which, combined with the fact that this is basically a memoir, gave me the impression that Mr. Sharkey only told as much as he felt comfortable with or able to, while there were other layers to the story that were not delved into. Which I guess is only natural, but it also underscored what I felt was a certain shallowness he cultivated in his public persona -- this is someone who is very eager to tell us about his accomplishments (Parisian condo; young girlfriend; lots of money), the parties he went to, his fantastic cool friends, there's a lot of breathless hedonism that's very 1990s. Which is fine, especially considering the precarious conditions he grew up under (power to him to make it out of there), but it feels a bit weird to hear him talk about the missing Danielle and her family in between the bits about his crazy French life and whatever else he had going on; it's not like he knew the missing girl, or her family, beyond meeting them once at a family wedding, so the whole "poor Danielle; her parents must be going through hell" bit feels a bit hollow. There are times where I really wished Goodreads would do half star rating increments. This would be a 3.5

I raced through this haunting but important book. I have to disclose that I know the author so that obviously added another layer of intrigue. But from anyone's perspective, it begs the question, how can someone I grew up with and thought I knew so well behave so monstrously? And why won't he 'fess up to the whereabouts of her body? There was a moment of foreshadowing in the text that never seems to have been pursued. When the brother went to another school, the writer was jealous and destroyed his brother's electronic calculator (a new device at the time). Even though the writer was beaten by his mother, he never confessed and refused to admit his guilt because then he would have had to apologize. When I read this I thought, well, that is the same pattern as the killer years later — he will never admit his crime, will never apologize. The writer did not seem to have made this connection, how his own behaviour as a boy so strongly evokes his brother's actions years later. My brother, the killer is an interesting, first hand account into the life of child-killer Stuart Campbell. It’s written by Alix Sharpley, his elder brother, and describes in great detail events such as their childhood and the murder charge itself.

I'm not sure I can say I enjoyed reading this book - purely because of the nature of what this book is about. However it was super interesting, and the idea of nature vs nurture was a strong theme within this book - particularly with the final couple of chapters. (i won't say more in case it's a spoiler) This is the true crime memoir of Stuart Campbell, his brother and the murder of Danielle Jones. Alix Sharkey writes about their lives growing up, his own feelings, and thoughts now about his these could have affected his brother if he’d only known. The tale of family secrets, abuse and deception, and how a little innocent boy can grow up to be a murderer… May be spoilers. One particularly upsetting element for everyone involved is that the girl's body has never been located. The convicted killer refuses to help. Understandably, this is an ongoing open wound for all the families touched by this tragedy. Especially since he's not even around -- his daughter lives hundreds of miles away in another country, and Mr. Sharkey is basically Fun Dad who pops over every now and then. The Danielle chapters IMO had a bit of "me me me" to them ("OMG that was MY brother, what does that mean for ME, what if the press find out that he's related to ME, what do I do now", etc. etc.), and Daughter seemed to function almost as an extension of the author.

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. 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 wasn't familiar with Danielle's story, and I had a hard time putting the book down. As someone who likes true crime, especially trying to understand how a killer becomes a killer, I found the story of their childhood, with an abusive father, an often enabling mother, and possible abuse at a school that was supposed to help, intriguing. The author obviously has made it out on the other side of a what was and still is a terrible situation.But this book is about the author, not about his brother. It is very self-centric. You'd say, fine? But it is isn't. The book covers everything supericially, except for the author's life. And not his emotions towards his brother, but about his career! Well written, well narrated, a horrible topic of course. But it calls to my fascination with personalities and behaviours that sit outside the norm; dysfunctional families and how people survive (or not); what drives people to do the unthinkable... Yes, it jumps all over the place in time and place (that didn't bother me, I didn't find it hard to keep up), yes the answers aren't all there, its not all wrapped up in a nice neat bow (that's what makes it real). I do admire the courage it must have taken to dig into memories, to question family behaviours, to challenge family protocol as would have been required to write this. Enjoyable, no, but a good read/listen. Stuart Campbell, Alix Sharkey's brother abducted and murdered Danielle Jones one June day in 2001. Her remains have never been found and Stuart is coming to the end of his minimum 20 year sentence imposed on him. The 15-year old’s body was never recovered, but Danielle’s parents soon learned that her ‘Uncle Stuart’, a close family friend, had concealed a decades-long history of sexual violence against teenage girls. Despite the absence of a body, Stuart Campbell was sentenced to life in prison for Danielle’s abduction and murder. But what set him on his path as a violent sexual predator? And how do you come to terms with his actions if he’s your own flesh and blood?