The Bone Keeper

A tale that will keep you awake at night, blinking at shadows; a creepy rhyme that will stay lodged deep inside your head. It's true what the early reviewers have said... this really is a masterpiece. I don't think I have read something as deeply chilling and disgustingly inventive for a very long time. Incredibly clever and beautifully dark. This is sure to be a much talked about book for years to come. Highly, highly recommended.

I've literally just finished reading this and wanted to get a few words down before the uneasiness left me. Because that's what this novel did to me. It made me uncomfortable and afraid that the bogey men of my youth might just be watching through the window and waiting.
Luca Veste has done it again. And now I need a shower!

A truly great tale of a serial killer with a difference & a detective with a dark and hidden past. I got so hooked I read this in one evening. Really keeps you guessing & the twists at the end are genius!

Luca Vested has produced another page turner, a very dark and complex storyline with plenty of twists to keep you guessing

I''d like to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster UK for the free advance copy of this Luca Veste novel.
Having read some of Luca Veste's previous books, I hoped that this would be of a similar standard, I was not disappointed. The story takes place in Liverpool (as usual for Luca) but with a brand new detective. Hopefully he will write more novels with DC Louise Henderson as I really liked her as the 'detective with her own demons' character.
The crimes are suitably gory and whilst the killer is fanciful, in a story about an urban legend brought to life, it never starts to drift into fantasy or horror and remains in the gritty crime drama setting.
Overall I really enjoyed the book, and I hope that there is more to come.

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read and post a review for The Bone Keeper.

From the start of the story the author has a very good way of writing that makes you feel involved in the story, the storyline has a creepy and eerie feel to it, that did give me shivers (which is very unusual as I tend to read lots of horror and murder mystery and not effected by stories).

The Bone Keeper is an urban myth, but does it come from any truth???? People go into the woods or tunnels but don't come out, where do they go, who else is in the woods or tunnels???

This was extremely well written, gives tingles down the spine with a page turning storyline, one of the best books I have read in 2017 and I would highly recommend it!!!!

Brilliant. Luca Veste is one of my favourite authors. This book is superbly written. It is nail biting and action packed. There is action right up to the end. This is a thriller that is spine chilling and scary. I now want to sit and read it again to see what I missed. This is the type of thriller that makes you want to keep the light on at night.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I have found a new author, this had everything and in parts very creepy. Good read

I can honestly say that I loved every word of this book! I received a copy to read and review via Netgalley. I was so excited to be able to read this early as I’ve been waiting for it for a while. I’ve only discovered Luca Veste earlier in the year and read his first novel so far but I loved that and as this is not part of the series I knew that I could read it without missing anything out.

Keep the lights on.
Remember to breathe.
This thriller will grip you like no other.

He’ll slice your flesh,
Your bones he’ll keep.
The Bone Keeper’s coming,
And he’ll make you weep.

This is based upon Louise Henderson who is all too familiar with the song from her childhood, where the woods are a place to be feared, now a detective she’s having to enter the woods and face her fears.

I couldn’t read this quick enough! I was convinced that I knew exactly what was going on and I was wrong!! This book kept throwing in twists and turns right up until the end....

Definitely a MUST READ

This one won’t be in bookshops until March next year, but it is definitely a story I will not forget to tell you about as soon as it hits those shelves. This is one bone-chilling, hella scary book about what they all thought was a childhood myth – a creature living in the woods labelled as the ‘Bone Keeper’ who sucks the life out of those that cross his path…

‘He’ll slice your flesh.
Your bones he’ll keep.’

Is he real though?! You will have to wait until next year to find out more…

Great story about a detective with lost memories that start to return during investigating a case. lots of twists and turns to keep you interested.

Brilliant!

Not what I was expecting but thanks Luca Veste for freaking me out, making me loose sleep and checking and double checking my doors are locked!!

I haven't been spooked by a book like this since reading Red Dragon in my late teens and Veste has created a similarly terrifying 'monster' to make you check under your bed!

Well written, complex characters who guide you through the novel with ease, despite it scaring the pants off me!

Disturbingly brilliant Thank you!

Luca Veste's series featuring detectives Murphy and Rossi is excellent but his new standalone novel takes him to a new level. The writing is excellent, the mood of the story is dark of brooding and the supernatural element feels perfectly normal. The legend of The Bone Keeper is well-known in Liverpool and has caused fear and consternation for generations. Detective Louise Henderson was familiar with the myth from childhood and now she must face up to her demons by venturing once more into the dark woods to solve the mystery of the bodies which have been disinterred. Brilliant!

I enjoyed Luca Veste's previous books and looked forward to reading this one very much. I particularly enjoy the descriptions of Liverpool and its surroundings. As the story unfolded I feared it may go down the supernatural route, which would have been a little disappointing. However the slick writing, graphic descriptions and building tension kept me enthralled. I particularly like the use of the two timelines and the fact that we weren't sure whose backstory was being described. A very polished novel from a talented writer. Looking forward to the next one!

The opening few pages had me gripped, four young friends were daring each other to go through the tunnel where the Bone Keeper was supposed to live. This was a legend that scared the children but was not real but when they went into the tunnel only three of them came out.
DS Shipley and DC Louise Henderson are called to a scene where a young woman has collapsed after being beaten and stabbed but the strange thing is a witness said he heard the song about the Bone Keeper when she went past.
It's difficult to review it further without spoilers so all I can say it is worth picking up and reading yourself, I loved the book and it had me on the edge of my seat from the beginning to the end and had lot's of surprises in between.
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of the book.

This is a standalone by Luca Veste who is best known for his series of novels featuring DI David Murphy and DS Laura Rossi.

20 years ago, four teenagers went exploring in the local woods seeking to find to the supposed home of The Bone Keeper. Only three of them returned.
Now, a horrifically injured woman is found wandering the streets of Liverpool claiming to have fled the Bone Keeper. DC Louise Henderson must convince sceptical colleagues that this urban myth might be flesh and blood. When a body is unearthed in the woodland the woman has fled from the case takes on a much darker tone.
The disappeared have been found. And their killer is watching every move the police make.

This is a mix of the horror and the crime novel which will grip you throughout.
Like many of his books this is not at all cozy being quite dark at points but it will make you think and make you keep turning the page.

When myth becomes reality. So there’s a local myth kids talk about to scare one another, about a creature who takes children called the bone keeper, it lives in a tunnel and one day 4 kids set off to find it in the tunnel and only 3 come out.....a few years later a woman is attacked and again blames the bone keeper. The story flits from past to present and is a genuinely creepy read. I can’t say much without giving things away but I will say if you want a dark and creepy read that will have you sleeping with the lights on this book is for you!!!!

Oh, that wee rhyme at the start just sets the tone for the rest of this brilliant new standalone from Luca Veste, creeped me right out it did! When Caroline Rickards is found injured and bleeding in the streets the case seems to echo the dark myth of The Bone Keeper, who haunted the children of Liverpool many years ago. Caroline is insistent that it was The Bone Keeper who done this to her. Will others believe her that the urban myth of childhood nightmares could actually be real? And when the body count keeps rising it becomes harder to believe that it really was a myth!

The Bone Keeper introduces us to DC Louise Henderson, a woman who would appear to have a bit of a troubled past. We meet her as she is having a panic attack in her car as she is called out to an incident and it is clear that she is hiding something from her colleagues. Outside of police, she seems to have no friends; the police are her family and they seem to be as dysfunctional as her own had been. She keeps her past firmly hidden from her colleagues, even DS Paul Shipley, the one person that she appears to be close to. I got a real sense that she wanted to open up to someone, yearned for a connection but was trying to protect herself. While this aspect of her personality makes her difficult to connect with, it also makes her more intriguing as a character. There is definitely a dark secret here, something from her childhood that is hinted at, tantalising the reader and making them eager to discover more. Just what is her connection with The Bone Killer?

DS Paul Shipley is a mix of the "old school" and "new man" type and while he is sceptical of the connection to The Bone Keeper myth it is also clear that he cares for Louise. The two of them have a strong working relationship and insights are given throughout as to their connection. Louise and Paul are definitely a duo that I'm keen to see Luca develop, very different from Rossi and Murphy(check) but a couple that works well together. There is a connection and a depth to their characters that engage the reader, their shared history and knowledge of TBK myth brings them closer yet both of them view TBK in very different terms

This book is as creepy as hell, the woods, the non-human black mass with dead eyes and stench of death is enough to ensure you are pinned to your bed in fear when you wake up at 3am!

The novel skips between timelines and characters which can be slightly confusing at times, you certainly need to pay attention throughout or you will find yourself a little bit lost! Please don't let this put you off though as the story does pull together and all becomes quite clear and when those pennies drop then OMG they don't half drop, they come flying down, clattering around you and terrify the bloody living daylights out of you!

Luca Veste is a storyteller extraordinaire! The Bone Keeper is a perfect read for those who like a dark and twisted plot that will make them think twice about taking their dogs for a walk in the woods the next day! (Review to be published on my blog nearer publication date)

When a local myth becomes a chilling reality and past nightmares become present terrors you know that you're in for a treat.

Difficult to review without spoilers but this is a dark and creepy read that will have you checking that you've locked the doors and will keep you turning just one more page. It's tense and well written but you need to keep your wits about you as the changing between timeline and characters does get a bit distracting at times. I would have liked to like the main character more, but maybe that was the writer's intention, perhaps the damage from her past set her at a bit of a distance from the reader as well as from her colleagues.

This standalone book has made me want to read his Murphy and Rossi series!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC copy of this book

Nothing about this book was predictable! I was expecting a detective fiction story and although the central character, Louise, is a DC this isn’t in any way a conventional story. It’s a dark, disturbing novel, that at times is scary and leaves the reader feeling decidedly uneasy.