A doppelganger, a rare and unknown-to-man species is forced to take on a human's body and live their life until the human body slowly shrivels away and the doppelganger form takes it place again. Chris, a trouble teenage boy with a tough life at home and a football career, is killed by the doppelganger whom takes his place and deals with all of his problems. Not only is this novel exciting and unexplored, it's stimulating and captivating and will make you wonder if there really are aliens or different forms existing other than what we know of now. ( )

In this book, the main character explores the ups and downs of human nature. He is a doppelganger, a rare and secretive breed of species that kills humans and lives their lives.
At the start of the book, it describes the everyday life of a doppelganger; it's filled with abuse, harsh feelings and hatred. His mother, another doppelganger, treats him like garbage, and she would mercilessly kill humans and obtain their forms just for their money and fortune.
He, the main character, doesn't have a name, and he has never felt the emotion, love before. This all changes when he murders a teenager by the name of Chris, he takes over his troubled and screwed up life, falls in love with a beautiful human girl, and truly experiences the hardship and stunning life of a human.
As a not so typical life of a small town teenager are seen through the eyes of a doppelganger, someone who has been neglected for the past sixteen years of his life, the reader will realize that many small problems in life can be solved by an action just as simple, but no one takes the time to do it, and therefore, misunderstanding and useless arguments break out. ( )

The main character wants to fit in with people "His" own age, but "He" can't go out in "His" normal form . "He" has to take someone's life over. That's when "He" ran into a hobo who was drunk and thought "Him" to be an angel. That's when "He" made his first kill. The next thing "He" did was to keep moving. The next person "He" runs into is Chris. Chris was a teen who was drunk at the time and was mad at "Him" for what "He" said about his mom and started to pace back and forth like a caged lion. "He" apologized about his remark and tried to calm Chris down some, but "He" failed. Chris started to throw the first punch at "Him". "He" just blacked out for a while and found "Himself" as Chris. Thats when life goes downhill for "Him". "He" does not know a thing about Chris, yet he has to live his life. This book is by far the best book that I have read and the only book I have read by David Stahler Jr. ( )

Reviewed by Karin Perry for TeensReadToo.com

"He" doesn't have a name. "He" isn't one of us. "His" species lives among ours without us even knowing. "He" is a monster. "He" is a doppelganger. A doppelganger is a shape shifter, but before a person can be copied, they must be dead.

Growing up, he lived in an isolated cabin in the woods with only his mother and television for company. He spent much of his time alone reading because his mother went out to change skins often. He never knew what she was going to look like when she came home. Finally, at the age of sixteen, his mother kicked him out. She didn't want to be tied down to him any more and felt he was old enough to take care of himself.

At first when he leaves the cabin he is frightened. He'd never killed before, but knew he couldn't survive looking like his true self. He hears a train in the distance and approaches it, not knowing what he'd find. A hobo, who isn't well, happens to be riding the rails. He puts his hands around the hobo's neck and kills him, then assumes his form, leaving the dead man on the train to be discovered later. He spends several weeks in the hobo's form, traveling from town to town, but when he stops in Bakersville his life takes a turn he's not prepared for.

While sitting by a fire on the edge of town as the hobo, he is approached by three high school boys who start to poke fun and be cruel to him. Two of the boys lose interest and leave because one boy in particular, Chris, starts to go over the line and looks like he is going to harm the hobo. Once the other two leave, "he" kills Chris, wraps his body in plastic, stuffs him in a storm drain, and assumes his shape. Once in Chris' skin, he heads back to meet the other two boys and goes home.

As Chris, he falls in love, feels some family attachment, and learns that humans can be monsters, too. Once you get into this story, you won't be able to put it down. David Stahler has written a fantastic young adult fantasy that will have you questioning the definition of good and evil. ( )

A doppelganger, as the reader quickly learns, is a creature who is driven to kill humans, and once they've made a kill, they take on the form of their victim, and can retain that form for anywhere from a few weeks to several years, depending on their maturity. The doppelganger narrating this tale steps into the life of a teenager named Chris, and learns that Chris's life was less than perfect. The new Chris may be a weak doppelganger because he has human blood in him due to the fact that his mother mated with a human. Chris falls in love with the human Chris's girlfriend, Amber, and eventually even tells her the truth about what he is. I passed the book on to my local high school due to the violence and content. Chris's father is quite abusive to his family. ( )