Customer Reviews

Counterfeit Son

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Cameron Miller's father is a sadistic serial killer. He deeply enjoys beating and sexually abusing his son, and when he tires of this he kidnaps a boy and locks Cameron in the cellar, and Cameron has to listen to the victim until the screaming stops. This is his life; he knows no other. He can't remember much of his childhood, but seems to think that it's perfectly normal to be abused in such a fashion. Cameron survives by being totally obedient. He does whatever his father says. The reason the boys die is because they won't obey. Cameron notes that one boy who came did obey, and lived for three weeks, but went berserk and started screaming and throwing things, and Cameron's dad had to kill him.

Cameron gets a lucky break when his father is killed in a police shootout. He goes through his father's newspaper files on all the victims and decides to try to pass himself off as one of them, a boy named Neil Lacey. He picked Neil because he bore a strong resemblance to the boy, and because he knew Neil's family was wealthy (though another victim had been even wealthier) and had sailboats. Neil's parents immediately embraced him, but Neil's younger sister and the police detective in charge of the case were suspicious. Nevertheless, Cameron thought he could pull it off -- until one of his father's criminal associates showed up and started blackmailing him, and threatening to kidnap Neil's younger brother.

If it wasn't for the ending, I would have really liked this book. The ending is not quite so bad as in Terry Trueman's "Stuck in Neutral" but it certainly makes the book lose credibility. I'm not going to say what the ending is, except that Cameron Miller knows way more about how to sail a yacht than he should. Nonetheless, I would recommend this book, perhaps as a companion to Catherine Atkins's "When Jeff Comes Home".

As a middle school teacher, I selected this book for my more *reluctant* male readers. The characters and their struggles seem real, and teenage boys could identify with Cameron. The author also treats Cameron's abuse in a manner that can be digested by young readers - it is apparent that bad things have happened to Cameron, but nothing is explicitly depicted.

In a market floodly by teen fiction primarily geared toward young girls, most of the offerings for young men are sports related or special interest. *Counterfeit Son* is that rare exception that appeals to young male readers without the heavy sports emphasis. 95% of the guys like it, from the football team to the marching band.

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.

I am an 18 year old senior in high school. I never really enjoyed reading until I found some pretty interesting books. I didn't know they existed! Counterfeit Son was a great book. It kept my attention the whole time and had a crazy ending. I love suspense. This story is about a little boy who believes he is the son of a serial killer. His "father" has killed over 20 boys, and buries them in his cellar.

When the boy is bad, he throws him in the cellar to be with the bodies. The man gets killed in a police shoot out and that is the boy's opportunity at freedom. He has read up on one of the boys, Neil Lacey, and found a way into the Lacey's family pretending to be their long lost son. A suspicious detective does not believe that the boy is really Neil Lacey, nor does his sister Diana.

Cameron feels totally comfortable with his new family until the day his father's accomplice is released from prison. He comes back and finds Cameron and threatens to kill him or take his little brother if he is not paid off. The ending is full of twists and turns, and it's definitely a page turner. If you like books that keep you guessing, than this is the book for you! It goes from being scared and feeling all alone to being loved and loving.

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

This book wasn't anything spectacular, but it was an interesting and quick read. The concept was definitely an interesting one - the son of a serial killer takes the place of one of the victims after his father is killed - and although the outcome (that he can't really pull it off) is predictable, it's interesting to see how it comes about.

However, I was a little disappointed by the "twist" at the end. I won't say what it is, only that I felt as if it was a bit of a cop-out, and it might have been more interesting to explore other possibilities. (I would have given it 4 stars, but for the ending.)

Overall, an interesting story, although I would recommend WHEN JEFF COMES HOME, by Catherine Atkins, more highly.

This book was very predictable and boring to read. There was not enough action in this book from what I expected from reading the prologue of this book. I was very disappointed at the dullness of this book, and of the evident clues to the ending of the story. Opposed to the first impression of this book, it is an awfully tedious and predictable book. Nothing in this book enthralled me or kept my attention to read, except to find the extremely obvious clues that the author leaves for the readers to find. I would not recommend this book to anyone but for those individuals that enjoy short and easy reading.

--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

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.

This book was good, don't get me wrong, but as a teacher, I can't think of a single child that I would give this book to to read. I think parents would be banging my door down at school. Not only was the main character sexually abused, he talks about it throughout the book (but not in detail...it's implied by what he says). A pretty good mystery that I figured out early-on, may not be solved early by some readers. Personally, I found this book to be disturbing and that is why I would probably show great reluctance to recommend it to kids in my classroom.