My Brother the Killer

‘A hugely impressive achievement.’ – Hadley Freeman, author of House of Glass

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?

In My Brother the Killer, Stuart’s older brother Alix Sharkey chronicles the violent childhood and troubled teens that helped shape a bright and handsome little boy into one of Britain’s most notorious killers, and led to one of the UK’s most unusual murder trials. Sharkey also poses several terrifying questions: what happens when you discover a deadly sexual predator in your family? Is it possible to trace the root of his heinous crimes? And with the clock ticking towards his possible parole, can Stuart Campbell be convinced to reveal the location of Danielle’s remains?

A devastating hybrid of true crime and family memoir, My Brother the Killer examines the true cost of keeping dark family secrets.

Author Biography

Alix Sharkey began his writing career at i-D magazine, eventually becoming co-editor. Over more than three decades in journalism he has filed hundreds of features on crime, popular culture and fashion for the Guardian, Observer, Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph, as well as various UK and international magazines. Alix has worked as news editor of MTV Europe, written a weekly column for the Independent and more recently studied creative writing at UCLA. He is presently working towards his MFA at Goddard College, and lives in Koreatown, Los Angeles.