Counterfeit Son

Rating:
Summary: Happy Ending
Review: I found Counterfeit Son by Elaine Marie Alphin to be an exhilarating book full of suspense and excitement. It's the type of book that you just can't put down because you just have to know what happens next. It's basically about a boy named Cameron Miller whose father was a child serial killer who kidnaped young boys and abused them, then killed them, but he kept his son, Cameron, and never killed him. When the police come to arrest his father, they end up killing him and Cameron goes to the police and tells them that he is Neil Lacey, one of the boys that his father killed. He goes and lives with this family despite the persistence of Detective Simmons who doesn't believe that Cameron is really Neil. The book is about how Cameron tries to trick this family into believing his story.
I liked the way that in the end, everything seemed to work out. During the whole story, you thought to yourself: How is Cameron going to pull this off? But in the end, all the conflicts are resolved and even though it seems like there will never be a happy ending for Cameron, there is.

Rating:
Summary: VERY GOOD!!!!
Review: I loved this book. Although it was very sad at times it was also very moving. I was amazed at how much you could feel the characters fear, pain and happiness. I was up late reading and then went to bed but I was so curious about what was going to happen that I got up and finnished it. The ending was definately not what I had expected. This was a great book.

Rating:
Summary: Very intriguing book for Young Adults or Adults
Review: I read this for an English Ed. class and really enjoyed it even though it is a young adult book. I finished the book in one sitting and found myself making a note to find more by Ms. Alphin. It is definately a 8th grade and up book due to the references to violence and a serial killer. The character develops quite well, but the ending may be a little too predictable for some. Great story and helpful lessons can be learned also.

Rating:
Summary: It's Not What It Seems
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. It was full of suspense and was a real thriller to the audience. It made you keep guessing what would happen next. At first you would think that Cameron was one person, then different clues would make you believe otherwise. I read this book in about three days. I wanted to find out what happened next and what would happen in the conclusion. It really makes you believe in miracles and that sometimes happy endings do really happen.
The Counterfeit Son was not only exciting, but it was also very sad. I can't imagine the thoughts going through those boy's minds as they were being tortured by a complete stranger. The things that "Cameron" had to listen to and experience must have been awful. He had to listen to those poor boys torture, and then bury them beneath the earth in a basement. This book also makes you realize that because of certain experiences witnessed, it can change a person's whole perspective on life.
This book has made me realize how lucky I am to have a family that cares about me and looks after me. I know not to wander around without someone I know and not talk to strangers. Because this book has had such a great impact on me, I keep a close eye on my younger sister so she doesn't experience what Neil went through with Cameron's father.

Rating:
Summary: Deep Characters but Slow Plot
Review: In this book, Counterfeit Son by Elaine Marie Alphin, the reader is given a very detailed introduction into the life of the main character that we first know as Cameron Miller. As the novel progresses we see that Cameron is in an abusive house and other than just being abused himself, his father kidnaps children from the area where they live and takes them home to beat them as well. The author gets us right inside the mind of Cameron and shows us the obvious mental strain that he has on his mind because of not being able to attend school normally (he's asked about his bruises, etc.), having to come home to be tortured by what is supposed to be his support system, and then on top of it all, to have to bear hearing other kids his age be harmed and/or killed. All of those things are shown ripping Cameron up and right when you think that is going to go on forever, his dad is killed in a stakeout. Now, Cameron, confused and wanting to get away from the abnormal existence he has supposedly had for forever, decides to take up the identity of Neill Lacey and even under the identity of Neill we are still given an extraordinary depth to his character. Overall, though Counterfeit Son has very well developed characterization in the form of Cameron Miller/Neill Lacey, we are not given that strong of a plot, and the characterization seems to slow the story down quite a bit at times.

Rating:
Summary: Finding Yourself
Review: In this captavating novel, the narrative shows a great difference from the way Cameron's Pop showed love, by punishing him with belts resulting in injuries, compared to the love shown by Neil's parents, love through warm and safe embraces as well as good-night kisses. This shift in the opposites of human behavior and the affect it had on Cameron is tremendous. He found that love is not shown by hurting each other, but is shown by wanting what is best for another person. It is a bond that can never be broken, even after years with no contact. Parents punish someone to show a lesson, not because it brings them perverse pleasure in seeing someone they love being hurt. There is a fine line, but a line none the less between love and punishment and in this novel Cameron learns of this line and how love should truly be.
This two contrasting relationships are on opposite ends of the human behavioral scale, and the author, Elaine Alphin, does a spectacular job of showing the reactions of these two worlds on a boy our age. She shows the fear he has of being sought out and hurting his new family, as well as being frightened and wanting to go back to his Pop so he can know straight out how to act. The twists and turns of this book take us through the conflicts, internal and external of a young boy trying to deal with problems of great weight. This is what kept me, as a reader, reading and what kept me engaged in this astounding novel.

Rating:
Summary: Am i Missing the Engrossing Part?
Review: The book "Counterfeit Son" written by: Elaine Marie Alphin, was semi-entertaining, I found it to be sort of demented and totally predictable. Usually I am very bad at guessing endings and from the second that Cameron wanted to go to the Laceys I knew that he actually was Neil Lacey and it made me mad. I like books that keep you guessing and this book had happy smileys and a bright sun written all over it, despite, ya know, th e mass murdering of children in a cellar. This author portrayed this scenario on an all way too perfect way. In real life it would not end up like this, maybe I didn't like this book a lot because I am more partial for realistic fiction not sci-fi (sarcasm noted). But even without all of this sarcasm this book was not satisfying to read and when it was finished I thought it was a waste of my own personal time (no offense to all of you who enjoyed it). It also made me very nauseated when the author described to the reader the horrendous things that happened in the cellar. I don't understand how this book can be "An engrossing, suspenseful novel that is sure to keep the reader glued to the page"-Kirkus Reviews (come on who uses the word engrossing?). Well I think that the publishers paid the Kirkus Review people to let them be able to write that because I found myself drifting to sleep while reading this book, and it was even during the afternoon hours when I'm not tired. Maybe I'm just being arrogant in saying all of this but I found this book so boring and dull and most parts that I can't understand how a person could read it for fun or for that matter, read it more than once. Maybe I'm just missing the picture...

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books today
Review: This book is sometimes graphic (they never come out and say anything) but any person reading it above the 6th grade will know what is going on in this book but this is still a very well written book nevertheless I also agree with some of the others have said it is not for children like some of the others I guessed the end but I keep second guessing myself to the very end so I loved this book very much

Rating:
Summary: A stirring read, but..........
Review: 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.