Counterfeit Son

Counterfeit Son. Elaine Marie Alphin. San Diego: Harcourt, 2000. 180 pp.
As Neil walked into the police station and told the police who he was, he got a blank stare as if they had seen a ghost. He had just escaped from Hank Miller’s house where he had been for six years being beaten regularly, and his bones had been broken and set to heal on their own. Hank Miller was a man who preyed on innocent boys and then killed them and Neil is forced to help, never recalling what has happened. Neil sends another man to jail because Hank forces him to so that Hank will not be sent home.
Counterfeit Son is an exciting story that involves a little bit of everything and goes along with a good police mystery novel. This story is the type of novel that keeps you interested in the story and wanting to keep turning the page to find more twists. It involves a normal family with a son who goes missing for a long time and they almost give up hope. This story is well constructed to keep a reader in the story so they can find out what happens. As you near the end, you definitely do not expect the surprising twist that makes this book worth reading. I give this book a nine out of ten.
Reviewed by Brye S.