Double

December 12, 2011
What starts as a case of mistaken identity turns into a bizarre mystery in this exhilarating thriller from Valentine (Broken Soup). Homeless, 16-year-old Chap is killing time in a London hostel when he’s presented with a coincidence-born opportunity of a lifetime: if he pretends to be Cassiel Roadnight, a teen who has been missing for two years and who looks just like Chap, Chap can have the life and family he’s always dreamed of. As he tries to pass in his new identity among the dysfunctional Roadnights, constantly fearful of giving himself away, Chap
begins to suspect that there’s more to Cassiel’s disappearance than meets the eye. Now he’s caught in a delicate balance between knowing too little and asking the wrong questions. Valentine ramps up the paranoia and mystery steadily, letting the story unfold with a grim inexorability. Some of the twists are a little unbelievable, but the slow series of revelations, coupled with Valentine’s incisive exploration of identity and perception, add up to the kind of tense, nerve-wracking story that teens will race to finish. Ages 12–up. Agent: Adams Literary.

Starred review from January 1, 2012
What are the odds of two identical missing boys? The possibility will haunt readers in this British import by Morris Award finalist Valentine. When 16-year-old runaway Chap, named by his reclusive grandfather, gets locked up for fighting in a London hostel, detectives are certain that they've found missing Cassiel Roadnight, who disappeared two years ago on the firework-filled Hay on Fire fall festival. Longing for a real family, Chap assumes Cass' identity and tries to ingratiate himself with the Roadnights as he moves into their home. Weighed down by his lies and the family's doubts ("Your eyes used to be blue"), his ruse is not as easy to carry out as he imagined. Chap's spare, first-person narration intensifies this taut, psychological thriller as he also begins to wonder why and how Cass disappeared. Flashbacks, fraught with identity, loss and betrayal, fill in the back story on Chap's own life, which is just as mysterious as Cass'. Piecing together clues from his and Cass' lives, Chap can't help but believe that he may be living with Cass' killer. With the next Hay on Fire quickly approaching, will Chap meet the same fate as Cass? Readers who like the quick pace of Gail Giles' mysteries and the dark, finely crafted suspense of Kevin Brooks will find the perfect combination here. (Thriller. 12 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2012) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

February 1, 2012

Gr 9 Up-Sixteen-year-old Chap has no past and no family. When he is mistaken for a missing teen, Cassiel Roadnight, whose family has been searching for him for two years, Chap sees an opportunity for a new identity. The circumstance seems like a gift from the universe: food, a warm bed, security, love. But is he willing to give up his freedom to maintain a lie? Chap soon discovers that he has become part of a dysfunctional family with plenty of secrets about themselves, Cassiel, and even Chap. As Chap struggles to maintain his adopted personality, he is thrust into the role of detective, slowly uncovering the truth of Cassiel's disappearance and the Roadnights' unusual dynamics, a position that eventually helps him discover things about his own past, family, and name. As in Me, the Missing, and the Dead (HarperTeen, 2008), Valentine shows her skill at creating a teen detective story in which external and internal mysteries must be simultaneously solved. The intense story is full of twists, and the conflicts are complex. Fans of psychological thrillers will not be disappointed with this dark and danger-filled tale.-Jennifer Miskec, Longwood University, Farmville, VA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2012
Grades 8-12 In a case of mistaken identity, homeless 16-year-old Chap is thought to be a missing boy who is his exact double. When he is welcomed into the boy's home, Chap decides to play along with the misunderstanding because it offers him what he has always wanted: a family. But how long can he safely maintain his ruse, since this particular family comes freighted down with a full complement of dark secrets, some of which may prove to be deadly? Will Chap be able to stay out of harm's way or will he, too, go missing? Valentine's latest novel, long-listed for Britain's prestigious Carnegie Medal, is a fast-paced and suspenseful mystery that is also an examination of one teen's urgent struggle to discover his identity. Though not without its implausibilities and weighted down by a lengthy stretch of exposition near the end, the story remains a page-turning read that will attract teen mystery buffs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)