David Stahler Jr., Doppelganger

Doppelganger

David Stahler Jr.

Eos, May 2006, $16.99 272 pp.

ISBN: 0060872322

In their natural form they are hideous monsters who are shapeshifters taking the form of the person they kill. They have no conscience, and they live among us without us being aware of it. They can't hold their assumed shape indefinitely, so when they revert to their natural form they leave behind people who never know what happened to those who disappeared. One doppelganger (they have no names) has just been kicked out of his home by his mother, and the first person he kills is a wino who wants to die.

In that form he reaches Bakersville where a high school football star Chris Parker beats on him until he kills him and takes the teen's form. He takes over Chris' life and notices that "his" father verbally abuses and physically hits "his" younger sister Echo. He wonders who the real monster is, as he tries to protect Echo and maintain a relationship with Amber who he has come to love. He makes a place for himself, but he knows that it can't be permanent because he will shift back into his natural form soon.

DOPPELGANGER is a fantastic young adult urban fantasy in which the one who calls himself a monster regrets what he has to do, while his human "father" is the real fiend who abuses those he should cherish. The doppelganger is an interesting creature who is unlike the rest of his race because he doesn't like to kill. He wants to know love and other good human emotions, and genuinely cares about the Parker females. Amber is his biggest regret, because he knows that in the near future he will lose her, but he also realizes "you've got to accept the best of a bad situation", which in his case is his entire life.