My Brother's Keeper

by Tim Miller

Simon is a six year old boy with autism. He is often subject to throwing fits and tantrums at random times, sometimes lasting for hours. His father committed suicide when he was a toddler leaving the family to fend for themselves. Simon’s own mother is at the end of her rope and not sure what to do with him. The only stable force in Simon’s life is Bobby. Bobby is his twelve year old brother who loves Simon dearly and will protect him at any cost.

Bobby has had his own issues with anger and violent outbursts, yet he has all the patience in the world for Simon. This dynamic has created a “Her vs. us” situation with their own mother who each day despises her own children even more. As she slowly loses her mind, taking out her rage and frustration on the boys, Bobby will go to any length to protect Simon from the one who should care for him the most. The brothers thought horror was the monsters you see in books or movies. They are about to learn, true horror lives with us every day.

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 19, 2015

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t care for this much. I think there was an attempt at a powerful premise here, but I think the execution was poor. Just because the mother had depression, a drinking issue, and such doesn’t mean that she would turn into a crazed abuser and attempted murderer. Even if she did have abusive tendencies, she would not just become worse and worse. I also think the social worker, police and school investigations were so haphazard and unbelievable, that it hurt the story a great deal, too. The clear abuse and signs of it for both Bobby and Simon were way too obvious to just be ignored, even if Bobby had a history of troubles. If anything, the whole situation would have placed this broken family at the forefront of a full blown investigation and constant monitoring. The focus seemed to be all on the violence and child abuse, and not on the character development. If the author detailed the mother much more and maybe gave her a background of psychotic behaviors, who refused treatment, and found ways to creatively hurt herself and the children, outsmarting the system, that would have been more plausible. Then the ending felt like the conclusion of an action movie, not a psychological horror, and just fell completely flat. The whole story just felt disjointed and nothing really came together or had an impact. I say this as someone who was raised in a very abusive situation, too.

[Angel Gelique · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is simply heartbreaking. Six-year-old Simon has autism and is prone to long bouts of screaming fits and tantrums. His twelve-year-old brother has anger issues but is his loyal caregiver and protector. Their mother and sole guardian, Nadine, is fed up with the stress and her lack of control. She has grown bitter and resentful. Drinking certainly doesn't help. So what's a highly frustrated single mother to do?



Nadine unleashes her fury upon her children in horrifying ways. Be warned, this book graphically depicts the abuse and horrors that the two young brothers endure at the hands of their mother.

I read this story straight through in one sitting--that's how compelling it was. It evoked feelings of sympathy, empathy, outrage, sadness and anger. Nadine's actions are undeniably reprehensible, but I found the response by the police and child protective services caseworker equally deplorable. Worse, though this story is a work of fiction, I know that there are actual monsters preying on children in the guise of parents and guardians. It truly boils my blood. I don't think the author should be criticized for tackling such a difficult subject. Most people are too removed from such horrors to acknowledge that terrible things like this happen all too often.



Kudos to Tim Miller for giving us a glimpse into the madness. It is a gut-wrenching portrayal of the depravity that unfortunately exists and is often minimized or overlooked completely.

Readers will live through the cruelty and maltreatment the brothers sustain, but will also have Nadine's perspective, which I thought was very well handled. Though it was difficult to feel much pity for her, personally, I could see how her situation and failure to reach out to the proper resources led to her downfall.

This book will definitely stir up plenty of emotions. It is well-written and absolutely riveting.

[renee w · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Will you protect me from mom? Until the green ranger gets here?”
This is about a 12 year old brother named Bobby , an autistic 6 year old named Simon and their alcohol mother Nadine. It’s a story of protection , survival and mental instability at its worst. I read this in one sitting but it is honestly one the heaviest reads I’ve read in sometime. Literally what I classify as true horror.

[Christina McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real life horror

This was very hard to read and by that I mean that it was just so sad and difficult to process how a mother could act & feel this way and to make matters worse-this stuff happens in real life! I hope that everyone enjoys this story but Also that it raises awareness about autism and abuse, both mental, physical, and emotional.

[Alexandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is another Tim Miller special. Slightly disturbing if you are sensitive to certain things, but no one writes them like
Mr. Miller. No happy endings, ever! Just like real life!

[✨Cassie ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brother's Keeper is a lot different from Tim Miller's other book's, but still teetering on the edge of where he comes from. It definitely has you thinking throughout, that's for sure.

When Bobby, a twelve year old boy is the only thing to protect his autistic brother from their mother and other's, he'll do whatever he has to.

I really enjoyed this book. Like I said, it is different, but all of Tim's book's are. My heart broke for Simon and the way his mother treated him. I wanted to claw her eye's out. What had me wanting to pull my own children closer, is that I could see someone doing this. Hell, Someone has taken their autistic child's life, which is sick and just horrible. The way Bobby is you don't feel sorry for any of the people he had to kill because he was protecting his brother. I didn't see a monster, only a big brother doing what he thought he needed to do. Another great book my Mr. Miller!

[Frankie Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this story a lot, although it was tough to read and the police officers were very frustrating. The only thing stopping me from giving it 5 stars is the fact that there was a lot of spelling/grammar mistakes that really bugged me and sometimes confused me when the wrong names were used at the wrong time.

[Nicole Rubbo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simon a six year old autistic boy, whose only hope in this world is his 12 year old brother Bobby. The abuse that these boys suffer at the hands of their mother is unbelievable. She feels that her autistic child is a burden on her and that by physically and mentally abusing him he will stop having daily fits. Bobby tries to stop the abuse on himself and his brother, but it only gets worse. This book was extremely difficult to get through due to the graphic nature.

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel strange giving this book 5 stars because it is child abuse at it's worst, but it made me gasp in horror, it made me cry, and I could not put it down until I was done!! Which meant I finally got to bed at 4am and even after I shut off the light I thought about what I had read and I hoped I wouldn't have nightmares!! This book hit home for me which totally unnerved me, but being an adult and not a victim anymore made me appreciate the dark place Tim had to go to write this book. I wanted to put it down and walk away for a little while, but something in me wouldn't let me!! So yes I recommend this book because I absolutely LOVE Tim Miller's books (I've read a lot of them!!) but if child abuse is your hard limit I suggest you buy one of Tim's other books, which are crazy and horrifying, but in a fun way!!

[Terralyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has NO redeemable qualities. The description was vague and felt like it could be an interesting read, even if a little difficult due to subject matter.
My Brother's Keeper is disturbing on a level that is unforgivable. I continued to read it in hopes of having some sense of closure with what I had read. That never happened. The book just became increasingly depraved.
I'm sure this was the author's intent. Perhaps some people enjoy reading a book that leaves them feeling like they need to scrub their brain and memory in order to forget the awfulness that is contained in a story. Not me.
I can't even give another star for writing that was passable. Content aside, this was poorly written. The characters lacked depth. The story line was shallow.
Two thumbs down. Period.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've enjoyed Tim Miller's writing in each book or anthology that I've read by him. I really liked the idea of My Brother's Keeper as a psychological horror story. This book was intense right from the start and truly a collision of emotions. When Bobby had to leave and Nadine is left alone with Simon, things really took a turn for the worse. There were so many scenes that made me cringe and want to turn away. This book was not lacking in the darkness category. When Bobby and Simon met the other boys in the woods, it was jaw-dropping. When they returned home to their mother, I felt such hopelessness for them. The ending was terrible, yet satisfying. This was another fantastic book by Tim Miller.

[John Easton · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the specific story detailed in this book might be outside most people's experience, certainly the general theme of coming to understand a sibling who is very different is familiar. I embraced the ride and enjoyed where the story was familiar and appreciated even more the episodes that clashed with my understanding.

[April Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy crap! Not his usual style, but some how way more disturbing.