Counterfeit Son

by Elaine Marie Alphin

Book Overview

Cameron Miller is pretending to be someone he isn't. When he began presenting himself as Neil Lacey, it was the only way he could think of to distance himself from what Pop had done, to finally climb... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0152026452
• ISBN13: 9780152026455
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Harcourt Brace and Company
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.7" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

The 7th time ive read it

it doesnt get any worse. ive read this book 7 or 8 times and everyrime i still find myself right along with the characters in the book. It is extremely well written and weel thought out and i cant stop reading it. it is by far one of my favorite books of all time

COUNTERFEIT SON will surprise even the most astute reader.

What would it be like to be the son of a serial killer? Fourteen-year-old Cameron Miller knows. He helps his father bury the boys who won't listen when Cameron tells them to do what Pop wants. He attends school without saying anything. He keeps Hank Miller's secret for years. Pop teaches him well; he teaches him to keep silent, telling him that he will kill him if he ever tells anyone anything. "They'll know. They'll know how bad you are," Pop tells him over and over again. Pop keeps records of all the boys he kills. Locking himself in the cellar, hidden away until Pop is done with his latest boy, Cameron spends his time going through the file cabinet, planning his escape. Finally, he chooses the boy he would most like to be. He chooses Neil Lacey, mainly because of the sailboats, and he waits for his chance. It comes on a day when, after Cameron leaves for school, his father is killed in a shoot-out with the police. Cameron walks into a police station, and Neil Lacey returns from the dead. Detective Simmons isn't easy to convince. "'Why did he keep you alive?' he demands. 'He killed over twenty boys -- why were you special?' 'Because I did what he said,' Cameron whispers. He wants to tell the police that he'd bought the right to stay alive, bought it with nights of white-hot pain and days of aspirin-choked silence. He paid the price because he dreamed that someday Pop would finally tell him he was good, and the nightmare would stop." Money, sailing, mother, father, brother, and sister --- Cameron has it all. He desperately wants to belong to this family. Not for the money, not even for the sailing, but because for the first time in his life he is happy and secure. No one will add to the scars already etched on his back by the beatings with a metal belt buckle; no one will tell him he is bad; no one will threaten to kill him. He is part of a family who loves him. However --- convincing Diane and Stevie that he is their long-lost brother is harder than he thought it would be. Just as he is beginning to think that maybe he can pull this off, Cougar, Pop's friend and accomplice, shows up. Cougar needs money and figures Cameron can get it for him. He threatens to take Stevie if Cameron doesn't help him. Will Cameron be able to stand up to Cougar and protect Stevie at the same time? Elaine Marie Alphin has written a chilling novel about a man who preys on young boys. Will his son's search for a new life destroy those around him? The final chapter of COUNTERFEIT SON will surprise even the most astute reader. --- Reviewed by Audrey Marie Danielson

:)

--After Cameron Miller's father, a man who abducted and killed many young boys, dies, Cameron takes on the identity of one of his father's victims, Neil Lacey, because he likes the sound of them and especially because of their sailboats, for some unknown reason. After joining their family in hope of finding happiness, Cameron finds out that several of his father's friends have discovered his plans and are after him. --I loved this book; it was very emotional and nicely written. It wasn't too disturbing although there is some mention of physical and sexual abuse, there aren't too many details. It worked its way up to a great climax extremely well. --Marisa

One of my favorites

This book is one of the best ones I have ever read. The main character and dialogue are so realistic that I really felt like I was spying on some boy's thoughts and emotions. Cameron is strong and likable, and I couldn't stop thinking about him for days after I finished the book. Everyone has to read this story.

Disturbing And Triumphant

Elaine Marie Alphin takes her readers on a realistic journey inside the mind of a child who has suffered horrible abuse at the hands of a pedophillic serial killer. Not the stuff for young adult readers? In other hands, perhaps not. But Mrs. Alphin skillfully keeps the reader's focus on her characters, rather than the horrors of their past. This is a story of survival and courage that is both disturbing and triumphant. A can't-put-it-down read that will be controversial and very, very popular with young adult readers.