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1 of 1 copy available
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. Yet it was Alix's kid brother Stuart who defended his siblings at home, at school and on the streets. Their fraternal bond was deep and powerful until Alix moved away from their rough hometown. Stuart remained—and slid into a furtive life of sexual violence against teenage girls, punctuated by prison time.
Having started out inseparable, their paths diverged radically. Alix became a journalist, cosmopolitan and bilingual. Today, Stuart remains incarcerated in Britain's most notorious high security prison. Twenty years ago, he was convicted of the kidnap and murder of his 15-year old niece Danielle. 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 unresolved grief.
How do two brothers choose such different paths? Could anything have prevented Stuart from becoming a killer? What factors contributed to his fall? What does Alix owe to Stuart—the fiercely protective kid brother—and what does he owe to the truth?
In this piercing memoir, Alix tackles these questions and confronts a harsh reality: that the younger brother he once adored not only deceived their own family for decades, but destroyed another with his truly heinous crime.
"Sharkey offers an intimate, thought-provoking meditation on how his brother's childhood and adolescence affected his later actions." —Library Journal
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
November 21, 2023 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780063053083
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780063053083
- File size: 8290 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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July 23, 2021
Journalist Sharkey explores the horrific crime that his brother Stuart Campbell was convicted of--the abduction and murder of 15-year-old Danielle Jones. Danielle, the niece of Campbell's wife, disappeared in June 2001, and her body has never been found. Campbell was convicted of her murder based on circumstantial evidence, including text messages and witness statements. Sharkey interweaves the story of his brother's arrest and conviction with their childhood in Tilbury, England, where they endured years of abuse at the hands of their alcohol-addicted father. Sharkey is clearly seeking answers as to why his brother became fixated on young women, and his pain is palpable as he describes learning more about Campbell's previous arrests and crimes. Sharkey includes letters that he wrote to Campbell in prison, pleading with him to tell authorities where Danielle's body was buried. VERDICT Sharkey offers an intimate, thought-provoking meditation on how his brother's childhood and adolescence affected his later actions. For readers interested in books that blend memoir and crime, such as Liza Rodman's The Babysitter.--Amelia Osterud, Milwaukee P.L.
Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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October 1, 2021
Twenty years ago, journalist Sharkey was shocked to learn that his brother, Stuart Campbell, was under suspicion for the abduction and murder of his own niece. The 15-year-old girl disappeared in 2001 and has never been seen since. In this this tremendously powerful book, Sharkey's shares his traumatic journey to understand, and then accept, the idea that his brother is a murderer. Sharkey delves into his and Stuart's shared history (their father was a violent alcoholic, and Stuart inherited a tendency toward violence), using that history both as a way to give Stuart's crime some context and as a means of coming to terms with the idea that committing murder was not an aberration for him but, rather, the final step along a dark path that Stuart, currently incarcerated for murder, had been following all his life. Ultimately the book is at least as much about Sharkey himself as about his brother's crime. Writing in stark, raw language, drenched in emotion, Sharkey pulls no punches as he opens all the doors and windows into his life. A haunting piece of crime nonfiction.COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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