Counterfeit Son

Counterfeit Son

3.84 of 5 stars 3.84  ·  rating details  ·  458 ratings  ·  74 reviews
Cameron Miller is the son of a murderer. All he has ever known is the stench of the locked cellar, where he can hear the blows and cries and his father's torrent of terror and abuse. Then a miracle happens: his father is killed in a police shootout. In the aftermath, Cameron grabs his one chance for a normal life: he takes on the identity of Neil Lacey, a boy who Mr. Mille...more
Paperback
Published July 8th 2002 by Puffin (first published September 1st 2000)
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(showing 1-30 of 919)
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Jennifer Wardrip
Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

For years, a young boy lives with a serial killer and witnesses horrible acts of abuse and killing. Convinced that he has been "bad" and the beatings he receives are intended to correct his behavior, he follows the orders of his captor by attending school daily as if nothing is wrong, appearing in public places calmly and quietly, and returning to help his captor hide evidence and bury the bodies of other not-so-lucky boys.

When the...more
Mamzel
Teenagers love books about one of their own getting out of an abusive situation and this book fits the bill. It opens with a young man escaping the basement of a house where he had been beaten and locked up and where other boys had been buried. At the same time the police arrive and a shoot out ends in the death of the abuser, his father.

Cameron had plenty of time to read all the files his father kept on the other boys so when he was found he identified himself as Neil Lacey, one of the other vi...more
Mallory Wiskur
The book that I read this quarter was Counterfeit Son by Elaine Marie Alphin. This book was about a boy whose father kidnaps boys and kills them. I think that this book was a good example of a fiction book, confusing at times, and very interesting but hard to relate to.
The book focused on the boy’s, Cameron Miller, experience throughout this awful experience. Cameron has grown up with this life and doesn’t know any different, or so he thinks. Cameron could not remember anything about his early...more
Mrs_reif_librarian
Counterfeit Son, the 2000 Edgar Award Winner, is a dark and disturbing story about a teenage boy, Cameron who was held captive and sexually abused for years by Pop. In addition, Cameron witnessed the abuse and murder of dozens of other young boys and was forced to help dispose of the bodies. While Pop was brutalizing the boys, Cameron would hide in the far corner of the dark basement behind a filing cabinet in an attempt to get as far away from the screams as possible. He would distract himself...more
Amy
May 11, 2011 Amy added it
So Anna and I were at the library...
"Counterfeit Son...mmm...."
O.O
I've read this book "DUDE! I've read this book!!!!"
Memories flashing around as I recall the plot and the startling ending
"I SO READ THIS!!!"
How old was I? It has been so many years...one of my story ideas was like, created out of this plot...This book haunted me.
"I SO have read this bok."
But not really haunt...to strong a word...and to weak...Emotionally powerful...what story idea was it?? Wow. This book! I can't believe I...more
Josiah
"Sheer brilliance" isn't quite strong enough a term to describe the absolutely overwhelming suspense that permeates everything about this book. It is very, very rare that an author comes along with such a pronounced flair for the high art of writing as to be able to make me feel physically sick while I'm reading a book, but Counterfeit Son is all about that kind of dizzying, gnawing, nauseating tension. It never quits, not for one single moment, and waiting for the inevitable unleashing of such...more
Julie
Counterfeit Son is a tight, intense thriller and will appeal to mature young adults. As I read, I found myself thinking of the many middle-schoolers I have worked with who read A Boy Called It over and over again. This book follows a similar theme, but with a far different end result.
Cameron has been abused and terrorized by his Pop, and has watched other boys suffer as well. Because of his ability to submit and keep quiet, he manages to survive while the others do not.
Pop is killed, and Cameron...more
Sherish Bustamante
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Rachel Hanville
EDIT: Originally I gave this four stars, but I couldn't stop thinking about how much I liked it so I raised it to five.

I won't be writing very big reviews for the next month since I am doing Camp NaNo. However, this book was very powerful. It is about a boy named Cameron who is the son of a serial killer. Finally, when his father is killed, he decides that he is going to pretend to one oft he children who his father murdered.

I did guess the ending to this book at the beginning, and I was so glad...more
Brittany
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Ruth
Counterfeit Son is a really hard book to rate and review. It is a very dark story and the subject matter is deeply disturbing. I cannot say I enjoyed reading it but I was definitely riveted. It was very short so I ended up reading it in a single sitting but given the topic at hand it worked better as it was direct and to the point with no filler at all.

This book tells the story of a 14 year old boy called Cameron Miller. Cameron is the son of a serial killer who, at the beginning of the novel, t...more
Matt
Cameron Miller,14, is the son of a serial killer. Cameron’s dad gets killed in a police shoot-out. All Cameron wants is a regular life, a home and a family. He wants to be Neil, and forget he was ever Cameron. Cameron’s dad, the same serial killer that kidnapped and murdered the real Neil six years ago, locks Cameron in the cellar when he kills someone. Cameron hears screams coming from downstairs.
'Why did he keep you alive?' he demands.
“He killed over twenty boys -- why were you special?”

Will...more
Stephanie Banks
“What about the parents who should have kept their sons safe, and instead let Hank Miller take them? Cameron didn’t owe adults anything. This was his chance, and he was going to take it.”

Cameron is the son of Hank Miller, a kidnapper who abuses and murders the boys he abducts. From the cellar, Cameron can hear the screams of boys his father tortures upstairs and smell the decaying bodies his father has buried in the cellar floor. When Hank is gunned down by the police, Cameron comes up with a ne...more
Cyndi
This book is about a young man who has been abused for eight years. His abuser is someone he believes to be his father. His father abducts young boys beats them to death upstairs while he locks this young man downstairs. His father is killed and the young man escapes and is placed with a very nice and normal family but someone threatens his new family and he is conflicted as to what to do.

This is a very believable and fast-paced mystery. I didn't like the dark theme but it was handled well witho...more
A
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Lucy
Oct 31, 2007 Lucy rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: teen
Cameron Miller is the son of a serial killer. His father Hank would lock him in the basement when he killed the boys he had kidnapped, and Cameron would spend those miserable hours reading through his father’s files on each of his victims.

When Hank is killed in a police shootout, Cameron sees a way out. One of the boys would have been his ages if he hadn’t been murdered, and he had the same general build and coloring. And perhaps even more importantly, he had a sailboat, and Cameron has been dre...more
Cinthia Velasco
This book is about a young 14 year old boy who has a dad that abductes, rapes, and kills the children. One day his dad is shot by the police, not knowing what to do he takes the life of a similiar boy, Neil Lacey. While he lives with his "parents", he is faced with difficulties trying to fit in and live the way Neil "lived". There's many suprises at the end, and who knows maybe he discovers something of his past. =] I Recommend

Oh and P.S
I read this book in only one day [=
Alex Lorenz
Overall I thought the book made me think and kept me engaged for the whole story. The story I think spoke to me because the topic is relevant to real life today and kidnappings and murder is very real and problem in world. Also it makes anyone feel bad and how someone like Hank Miller could even have done that to twenty three kids. I liked the book and it made you really dig into your morals and then flip them on you and then change them back at the end. I would recommend this book to anyone who...more
Jo Ann
This is a young adult book. I really liked it even though I am not a young adult.


Cameron Miller is the son of a murderer. All he has ever known is the stench of the locked cellar, where he can hear the blows and cries and his father's torrent of terror and abuse. Then a miracle happens: his father is killed in a police shootout. In the aftermath, Cameron grabs his one chance for a normal life: he takes on the identity of Neil Lacey, a boy who Mr. Miller had abducted six years ago. As Neil, he ha...more
Nate Pothour
This book was pretty incredible. I was surprised every chapter and there was insights on life offered in this book. I could really relate to the feeling of being lost in this big world. I think that a lot of people would relate to this book and I would recommend this to anyone.
Quahaila
I read this book once in middle school , I remember liking it but couldn't really remember it. So I decided to read it again, it's a light read and very well written. I really enjoyed this book and in glad I decided to re read it.
Gina
This was one of the books that I read for a YA Materials class project. It deals with a serial killer pedophile. Without being to graphic, the book provides some insight into the fear and guilt felt by one of the surviving victims.
Sue
This is not meant for middle school. I would not put this on my classroom shelf. While the premise is interesting, I wish that the father was not a sexual predator as well. This would be a rough one for kids who are abused.
Brittany
I loved this book, although it was a bit predictable i just couldn't stop reading and it was sad and dramatic and i was just completely sucked into the storyline and i just really enjoyed it.
Teen
Nov 21, 2008 Teen added it
Shelves: audience-boy, crime
When serial killer Hank Miller is killed in a shoot-out with police, his abused son Cameron adopts the identity of one of his father's victims in order to find a better life.
Liz
This book was a decent read. I was disappointed to have predicted the ending within the first chapter, but I appreciated the look into the mind of someone who has been abused.
Katelyn
I really liked this book. I thought it was very suprising at the end. It is also very sad, and a little bit confusing at first. But once you read the entrie thing it will make since. I really enoyed this book a lot.
Vicki
Apr 23, 2012 Vicki rated it 3 of 5 stars
Shelves: teen
Cameron escapes abusive father when he is killed, but poses as one of the dead boys to be a part of a normal family-but can he survive as Luke, retelling all the lies?
Bookwatcher ~Mary MooCow~
My Thoughts.......

I love it. No explicit violent scene, but tragedies and abuses is the only think Cameron remember and know. It's a hard book to read, it's only his point of view. So yes, no need to explain it's horrible.

I loved it. Finish it. Now will burn the paperback and bury the ashes under a ton of dirty.... And burn the dirty too.... And put a stone above it... A big stone... Maybe I can put the Everest. Yep, that can be big enough to keep this book away from me... And from all humankin...more
Linda Clark
I cannot think of a single student, grandchild, niece or nephew I would recommend this book to. And yet, it kept me reading well into the night.
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Counterfeit Son (Paperback)
Counterfeit Son (Hardcover)
Counterfeit Son: Dua Wajah Cameron (Paperback)
Counterfeit Son (Kindle Edition)
Counterfeit Son (Library Binding)

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I was born on 30 October 1955 in San Francisco, California, and attended Lafayette Elementary School in San Francisco. Then my family moved to New York City, where I attended William H. Carr Junior High School. This is a school picture of me from my junior high school days. After that we moved to Houston, and I went to Westchester High School and on to Rice University.
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