The sins of the father are coming back to haunt his daughter… Leigh-Ann Hendy was only eight years old when her father, notorious child serial killer Mr. Bones, was caught. Too young to understand what happened to the boys she played with sometimes… or was she?

Now with a new name, Cherrie Forrester, ‘Little Bones’ has a son of her own and a new, peaceful life, living with her loving boyfriend and working at a local food market. She’s ordinary. As ordinary as you can possibly get. Until a wannabe crime reporter podcaster ties a modern missing-child case to her father’s crimes and reveals her new identity to the public.

Suddenly, people are asking if Little Bones is following in her father’s footsteps. A stalker appears at her work… and then on her doorstep. A psychic warns her son is in danger. And then, on an innocent visit to a travelling fair, Cherrie’s son goes missing. Is it revenge? A copycat? Or a horrific coincidence? To find her son, Cherrie knows she’ll do anything. Anything at all. Including letting out the darkness she keeps hidden deep inside. With the bones.

This definitely has more than a few resemblances to Prodigal Son - who do the children of monsters become? - but it’s not as atmospherically creepy. There are definite questions as to exactly what Cherrie knew, what she did, but even so… what can an eight year old understand about right and wrong when her father is the monster teaching her that making sculptures from childrens’ bones is perfectly normal behaviour?

The only thing I didn’t quite buy into here was the behaviour of Cherrie’s partner. Discovering your partner is the daughter of a notorious serial killer on the same day your son goes missing didn’t seem to provoke the extreme reaction I’d have expected, in either case. I would have had a whole lot more questions than Leo seemed compelled to ask, just to begin with. I’m also not sure I believed in the happy ending outlined for their little family; how could you live with that notoriety in a place where everyone knew who you were? Surely a name change and a relocation would have been on the cards.

I did really like Cherrie. Despite her shocking background, she was trying so very hard to be normal, to leave it all behind her, and quite frankly, I might have reacted with exactly the same kind of murderous rage if one of my sons went missing.

I’ll give this four stars for an intriguing exploration of what happens to the descendants of the worst criminals. There were a couple of delightfully creepy little touches, but I’d have liked to see more input from Mr. Bones himself and more interaction between him and Cherrie.

I really enjoyed this book. It was very different than other books. I could really see how it became an Tv adaption.

This book blew me away! I loved the tangled up mysteries at the center of the book. I did figure out the big reveal a little early but that didn't stop me from reading.

This book messed with your head! It was exciting to read and kept you wondering. I'm not really sure how to describe this, but I do know it's a must read!

This is a true crime thriller. If you are not a fan of true crime- this book is not for you. At times I found the plot to become entangled and confusing but otherwise it was a quick read.

There was nothing special here. It was a pretty straight-forward thriller actually. And that was actually ok with me. The writing was good. The pace was fine. The suspense was palpable. Then we have Cherrie and things fell apart for me and that was a huge bummer. While I could sympathize with our protagonist, I did not like her. She leapt to so many unbelievable conclusions it was actually annoying how confident and fixated she was in them. I tried hard to place myself in her position and wondered if I would have acted the same way. I’m not sure but I am sure that I couldn’t get past the stupidity she exhibited. The motivation was there but her actions were not warranted. At least toward the end she copped to all her mistakes. The story did end in a satisfying and believable way so credit to the author for pulling that off, and it was nice to see a thriller without some revelatory twist at the end. As the author says at the end: it takes an awful lot of effort to write a book and I am confident that they wrote a book that will be amazing to some people. Unfortunately, for me, I did not entirely enjoy reading it.

Thank you for letting me read this book!

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Three Things I Liked
- I really liked how this book starts. It’s suspenseful right off the bat.
- I liked the setting throughout the book. The scene in cold and wet and creepy.
- This one did have me guessing up until the end

Three Things that Bummed Me Out
- A couple of the major plot points don’t make sense when you find out who did it. I can’t say much more without giving it away.
- I wasn’t a big fan of the main character. Obviously, if characters in books were making the right choices the whole time we wouldn’t have nearly as much conflict but yikes, this woman was not my fav.
- I thought it was a bit too long, a couple scenes are a little repetitive but not to the point where the whole book is repetitive and it was probably needed to lead the reader down certain paths

"Eh..." is my overall feeling regarding this one.
The writing and flow were good. The story also kept me interested, although I did figure out part of what was going on early on. The only negative I have is the ending was a bit disappointing. I think I was expecting a little more, but things just kind of fizzled out.

Not terribly memorable. Unlikable narrator (which seems to be an inescapable trend), too many twists, not thrilling enough. I think the mark of an excellent thriller is that you dont need countless twists, you just need one really good one. That's what made books like Girl on the Train and Gone Girl so ground breaking. They set you up along one path so far, and then pull the rug from under you just the once. That's all it takes. When an author throws in so many twists that nothing seems believable and any ending is plausible, where's the fun in that?

“𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮, 𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙛 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚. 𝘼𝙨 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙮, 𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩.”

Let me tell you the premise of the story and the beginning was so exciting. It was almost impossible to put it down after reading first couple of pages. I admired the well portrayed characters and smooth story telling. However it went into slumber with a slow and repetitive pace of second half.

Cherrie Forrester has a secret about her past. She lives a normal life with an adorable son, an affectionate boyfriend, and a likeable job at Dawson’s Food. But a young boy disappears and a true crime podcast reveals Cherrie’s hidden identity as “Leigh-Ann Hendy aka Little Bones”, the daughter of infamous serial killer Mr. Bones who abducted and kill young boys and used their bones for sculptures. As a child, Cherrie witnessed her father’s crimes who sometimes used her to bait the little boys.

With her past being dug up by a wannabe journalist, her carefully curated life begins to fall apart, threatening her freedom, identity and her only son. Things starts to go haywire when her own child, Robin, goes missing.

This book deals with a wide variety of subject-matter such as victim blaming, ensuing mob mentality and dangers of Yellow Journalism. As I said earlier the writing was okay but the pacing was slow and inconsistent. Although there were some things I didn't like about this book, I cannot deny the fact that the first half was so strong for a debut novel. I will be looking for more from this author in the future.

*𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘼𝙫𝙤𝙣 𝙐𝙆 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘼𝙍𝘾 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨.

This is NOT a True Crime account

I almost didn't get this book. I had read a few reviews saying it was a True Crime account, which is not my preference. It is NOT True Crime. It is a totally fiction book about crimes against children.

Cherrie Forrester is 35 years old. She lives with her son and long-time boyfriend. She changed her name years ago, after her father was discovered to be a serial killer of young boys known as Mr. Bones who used their bones in his grotesque art pieces. It came to light after he was caught that his young daughter helped him lure the young boys and also helped him after they were captured, earning her the name of Little Bones.

Cherrie has done her best to outrun her infamous past but when a local boy disappears and a podcast announces her new name and describes her past history, she does her best to keep her secrets from her family and friends, who she has never told.

I enjoyed this story although it was slow moving and repetitive at times. I did find it hard to be sympathetic to Cherrie, based on her past history.

There were definite red herrings thrown into the path of the reader and I actually was almost to the end of the book before I figured out part of the story.

I actually rated this book 3 1/2 stars and would have kept it at 3 stars for rating purposes except for one thing. The very last sentence of the book had me raising my rating to 4 stars. I loved it. (Don't cheat and read it before the end of the book.)

I received this book from Avon Books UK through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

I began this book with no experience of reading other N.V. Peacock books. (Many of her previous books were published with Nicky Peacock as the author, but, before reading LITTLE BONES, I had yet to read any books written under either name.) I was unsure of what to expect since my research showed that the author's usual genre is Young Adult. However, reading LITTLE BONES with a completely open mind ended up being a pleasantly rewarding experience and I am very pleased that I did so.

There are two interwoven plots in LITTLE BONES; they are fascinating both separately as well as together.

Cherrie is a grown woman with a child of her own. She lives a comfortable life even though she doesn't make much money at her job at the deli counter of a local independent grocery store. The father of her child lives with them and Cherrie feels lucky. The only thing marring her perfect suburban existence is the knowledge that she harbors a secret.

She knows she should be honest with her boyfriend and with her close friends, but the terror and ostracism she experienced as a child has never been forgotten and she is afraid history will repeat itself.

As a child her name had been Leigh-Ann and her father was the notorious artist and serial killer MR. BONES. (Wait until you read about his crimes, you will be surprised at their uniqueness.) When he was arrested, Cherrie's entire world fell apart. Kids who knew about her father and what he had done began calling her LITTLE BONES, the media followed suit and the horrible nickname followed her until she was old enough to legally change her name.

But, all that happened twenty-five years ago. Noone in her present-day life knew about her past and she planned to keep it that way... FOREVER.

BUT, life has a way of throwing curveballs into the best laid plans...

When a local child goes missing and ends up dead, one podcast is all it takes to place Cherrie right in the middle of her worst nightmare.

She needs to keep her son safe, and she may just have to channel her inner "Little Bones" to do so.

The fast pace of this story left me unable to put the book down. I just had to know what would happen next.

Kidnapping, murder, stalking, grief, and shame are just a few of the many themes addressed in LITTLE BONES.

I am a mother, so I empathize with Cherrie and her desire to keep her child safe no matter what the cost. There are several incidents during which she crossed the line between legal and illegal, and between moral and immoral. Readers will have to answer for themselves just how far they would be willing to go to keep their family safe. I think the answer might surprise you.

Creepy, yet relatable, this story is one that readers will continue thinking about long after reading the final page. In fact, this book is perfect for Book Clubs and is sure to invite vigorous discussion.

I rate LITTLE BONES as 5 OUT OF 5  STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

*** Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book. ***

The age old question of whether a child's future is dictated by nature or nurture takes a BIG twist in LITTLE BONES. NV Peacock has given us a story line that will give you goosebumps!!!!

As a child, Cherrie, known then as Leigh Ann, was used as bait by her serial killer father. The trauma seems not have affected her emotionally and her current life is pretty good. Then a young boy is missing under similar circumstances as her father's crimes. A podcast host covering the boy's disappearance outs Cherrie as the daughter of Mr Bones. Cherrie is trying to cope with the backlash from the revelation when her own young son goes missing. At this point, you have to ask yourself....what does she know and what will she do now?

This was a very good thriller that is the ultimate page turner....no just one more chapter....once you start, you will not want to stop. Loved this book!!!!

I’d like to thank Netgalley and Avon Books for my e-ARC.

What I liked

Firstly, the book title. I mean, I had so many, sinister and unpleasant first impressions just reading the title, I think it really sets the tone of the book and what to expect. Talking of do not judge a book by it’s cover / title, this one definitely contradicts it!

We follow Cherrie, as she is striving to build a life of her own after going through some horrendous childhood trauma. However, it seems, the past is soon going to catch up with her, threatening to destroy the very things she loves. And it comes to a point where revisiting her traumatic past might be the only way out.

N V Peacock writes a gripping story, fast paced and with the right amount of ‘Gah!’ moments to keep you on the edge.

I am somewhat of a challenge seeker – in that, I love to see if I can figure out the plot twist, before the plot twist actually happens. And this book proved me wrong. At. Every. Single Point.

What could have been better

The plot does seem to waffle a little bit, also I did find Cherrie’s temper a little difficult to deal with, especially combined with her violent outbursts and abusive language.

Verdict

Definitely a recommended read especially if you are mystery and crime lover!

Trigger Warning: Abuse, Abusive Language and Violence.

"Bad memories are like tea bags; they taint the water around them, then defiantly bob to the surface." - pg 215

The world would come to know him as Mr Bones, but 8 year old Leah-Ann only knew him as dad. Although while traveling along with him to pick up young victims in the car, she might have cottoned on to him being a serial killer. That, and the arts and crafts they did with femurs might have tipped her off.
But now Leigh-Ann is a grown woman, with a family of her own. She's changed her name to Cherrie, to keep the past at bay. But the past comes back to haunt her in the worst way, when her own son, Robin, is abducted. Cherrie doesn't dissolve into the cliched tear-ridden mess one would expect, Instead, she goes rogue in search of her son, erratically and often violently. She is a roaring "mama bear" possessed.
I thought it a very interesting premise to centre the story around an adult child of a serial killer. Although I would have liked to have seen the author delve more into the psychological scars of that. Some of Cherrie's actions seemed a little extreme to me, but as a parent I can imagine how the abduction of a child could make you channel your inner homicidal maniac.
The novel is a dark one, but it's a dark subject. One I hope to never experience, whether behind the scenes as the protagonist was as a child, or thrust unwillingly onto the stage as the distraught mother of a missing boy.

This book Initially had me hooked and so interested in what was happening, but it felt like some of the story was dragged out and boring. It was definitely an easy read and easy to follow.

Little Bones, the daughter of Mr. Bones doesn't relish her fame. So much so that she changes her name and doesn't ever mention her father. A new podcast changes her anonymity forever. She's outed. Now her new family, her friends, and her coworkers will all know who she is and where she came from. Their reactions are pretty harsh. I get it, to an extent. However, these people need mirrors.

The story drags us through what happens to Little Bones, Cherrie, Leigh-Ann...whoever...when the world discovers who she is, more children go missing, and she has a loss of her own. Some of the reactions are ridiculous. I would have definitely cut some people out of my life here. But Cherrie doesn't really react in a logical way, either.

This book didn't know who it was. It kept changing its mind and while it did so, it also managed to get a little repetitive. I liked the idea of what it is like to be the child of a notorious killer. It has some real possibilities and other authors have done the same with differing success. This one worked much of the time. A few eye-rolls. Overall, a quick tale of how people get their (fake) news and how easy it is for that to be harmful.

(3.5/5) Happy Halloween & happy pub day to Little Bones! ☠️🎃

Cherrie is the daughter of Mr. Bones, who has been in prison for 25 years after killing numerous little boys & making “art” from their bones. Cherrie worked really hard to move on from her messed up childhood, until one day her son is kidnapped. Is this a Mr. Bones copycat? Is it an angry parent of a victim taking revenge on Mr. Bones’ daughter? Cherrie realizes to get her son back, she might need her father’s help to become Little Bones again & return to the world of psychopaths.

Why do I keep reading these stories of child abductions? 😂 it’s making me so paranoid. I really enjoyed this read though! It’s such an interesting plot line & I thoroughly enjoyed Cherrie’s decent into madness while searching for her son. & the Ghost Train legit freaked me out 👻 The ending was predictable (to me) & there were parts where I thought to myself “Um. This is super unrealistic.” which brought my rating down. Overall though, this is a great debut novel from NV Peacock & I’m excited to see what else she has in store. Little Bones is unique, hair raising & I definitely recommend it for the spooky season to all of my thriller/true crime lovers!

A big thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK & NV Peacock for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Favorite quote 💬 “People look at you differently when they assume they know what you’re capable of.”

Little Bones is NV Peacock’s dark, twisty and top-class debut thriller, which puts a whole new spin on the serial killer genre. William ’Billy’ Hendry is a notorious serial killer, also known as Mr Bones, who kidnapped young boys before murdering them and boiling their bodies to use the bones in his macabre and disturbing artwork. His crimes were carried out 25 years ago and now he is incarcerated. His daughter Leigh-Ann was only 8 years old when her father used her as bait to lure young boys into the car, which scarred her and took her a long time to heal from. At age 17 Leigh-Ann decides to change her identity to kill the association with her father and escape her past; she becomes known as Cherie. She builds a new life in which she has a son, Robin, and a boyfriend named Leo who have no clue who she is. But when a young boy goes missing and Cherie starts to follow the story. She finds a podcast ’The Flesh in the Bones’ and begins listening. To her horror, they mention her new identity, place of work and her residence.

Then one evening she takes Robin to the fair and he disappears completely; she had only looked away for a second when she received a text and when she looked up he was gone. She calls the police, but when they learn exactly who she is they are unsympathetic and imply she may have killed her own son. This is a riveting, original and high tension read, which never lets up ur gives you time to breathe throughout. There are twists upon twists and the whole story of Mr Bones is a gruesome and disturbing one. I felt quite sorry for Cherie as at 8 years old she was part of her fathers killing team and feels terribly guilty that her father used her to lure boys away to be murdered. It's creepy and full of exciting developments and the cast of characters are well-wrought and believable. The truth is Cherie will never escape her past but is it fair that she is judged based on her fathers crimes? This is an entertaining, captivating and gripping read from first page to last. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Avon for an ARC.

No one should be defined by the past, particularly a past curated by a parent. But Cherrie is. She is living her life in the secret shadow of her incarcerated father. But one low subscriber podcast blows it out the water.

The more I learnt about the “Bones” history, the more I was intrigued. How much did Cherrie know about her dad’s crimes? How much of life is nature and how much is nurture? Is being a serial killer genetic?! But Cherrie’s problems don’t end with hiding her and her family’s past… someone is out to destroy her future.

I zipped through this fast paced read in under 24 hours, totally hooked into Cherrie’s world. Practically everyone I met along the way had a reason to take from Cherrie. I tried to work out was going to happen but each time I thought I was right, Peacock proved me wrong.

This is a fantastic thriller that grabbed me from the start. If this is Peacock’s first adult book, I’m definitely looking forward to see what’s coming next!