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My Brother the Killer: A Family Story

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In the gritty docklands of south-east England, Alix Sharkey and his younger siblings grew up in awe of their charismatic yet violent father, a vicious alcoholic. Like Sharkey says some time earlier in the book, Campbell’s revelation would mean he would apologize, an indirect acknowledgment of his crimes (of which he denied).

Alix Sharkey is the older brother of Stuart Campbell, the man convicted in 2002 of murdering 15-year-old, Danielle Jones. And with the clock ticking towards his possible parole, can Stuart Campbell be convinced to reveal the location of Danielle’s remains?

He barely remembers Danielle who was a 10 year old bridesmaid at Stuart's wedding then disappeared as a 15 year old. 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.

This book has changing time frames; the author tells quite a bit about their family history, events that shaped the course of their lives, then jumps back to the time of Danielle Jones' disappearance, and how the case develops. The whole nature versus nurture question is lurking in the background and when Sharkey refers to Stuart's education at a 'special' school where the head teacher was later convicted of several counts of child sexual abuse I did wonder if that was the 'nurture' experience that helped turn Stuart Campbell into a killer. Although it didn't make it the person he became there's opinions that it could have contributed to it.Despite his conviction, a lost appeal, and repeated pleas by her parents, Stuart has steadfastly refused to reveal the location of his victim’s remains, condemning the girl’s parents to two decades of unresolved grief. For more than 20 years Stuart Campbell has denied his guilt and refused to divulge the whereabouts of Danielle’s body, causing her parents continuing grief every day. The author has recounted their past well, although the switching of the timeframes throughout the first half of the book did slow up the story of Danielle's disappearance for me.

With the clock ticking, can he convince Stuart to do the right thing and give the victim’s family the closure and peace they’ve sought for so long? The author could have at least detailed what the prosecutors THOUGHT (or alleged in court) happened to the 15-year-old girl.

I was particularly interested in the forthcoming parole hearing due at the end of this year, especially with 'Helen's Law's now in force, meaning cases where the location of a body is never disclosed a parole review is likely to be denied - no body, no parole. Are you born with those tendencies or is it due to socio-economic factors (lifestyle, education, upbringing), and if so why didn't both brothers end up going down the same path? They both had the same start, but one brother would go on to commit crimes, culminating in one so terrible, and it would be within his own family.

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