Pages

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Impostor by Susanne Winnacker


Author: Suzanne Winnacker
Title: Impostor
Series: Variants #1
Publication: May 28, 2013
Publisher: Razorbill
Genre: YA Paranormal, Sci-Fi
Pages: 288 pp.
Source: Publisher

CAN TESSA POSE AS MADISON . . . AND STOP A KILLER BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE?

Tessa is a Variant, able to absorb the DNA of anyone she touches and mimic their appearance. Shunned by her family, she’s spent the last two years training with the Forces with Extraordinary Abilities, a secret branch of the FBI.

When a serial killer rocks a small town in Oregon, Tessa is given a mission: she must impersonate Madison, a local teen, to find the killer before he strikes again.

Tessa hates everything about being an impostor—the stress, the danger, the deceit—but loves playing the role of a normal girl. As Madison, she finds friends, romance, and the kind of loving family she’d do anything to keep.

Amid action, suspense, and a ticking clock, this super-human comes to a very human conclusion: even a girl who can look like anyone struggles the most with being herself.



Tessa's mother left her at young age, wanting nothing to do with her talented daughter. Tessa takes this hard and when she gets an assignment to pose as Madison, she's at first hesitant. She doubts her ability to be successful in this mission but as she spends time with her subject’s parents, she starts to get attached to the life she never had. Eventually, being someone else allows her to lose herself in the fantasy. As she begins to put the pieces together about the events that lead to Madison's attack, she realizes that this girl lived in a secret world of her own. 

Okay, so Tessa spends all her time at FEA (Forces with Extraordinary Abilities), a place for people like her and they all have very interesting powers. She has this huge crush on this guy named Alec, who seems to like her but that darn girlfriend her has could be a major problem. For whatever reason, Tessa and Alec must stay apart and that would be easier if he didn't get himself assigned to protect during this mission. What happens next is whole lot of confusion and mixed signals, which leaves Tessa uncertain about what's happening between them. Now, I do believe there will be a love triangle in the next book because she has an attraction to someone that I shall not name but I am intrigued by how things will work for them in book two. Also, Tessa's ability to take on other people's DNA makes her a target for those that would use her for their own gain. So, much goes on in this book. Winnacker writes in a way that you get all the information in a fast, quick pace. I seriously finished this in a few hours as I couldn't put it down. The characters are engaging, especially Tessa, who is so easy to connect to with on an emotional level. I found myself wanting to kick Alec on several occasions. Overall, this reminds me of several movies about people with superpowers such as the X-men and I think anyone that loves Sci-fi type books will enjoy this one. Loaded with murder, mystery, suspense and a little romance...this is a good beginning to a new series.



About the Author

Susanne Winnacker studied law before she became a full-time writer. She lives with her husband, a dog that looks like a sheep and three bunnies that have destroyed every piece of furniture she's ever owned in Germany. She loves coffee (in every shape and form), traveling and animals. When she isn't writing, you can usually find her in the kitchen, experimenting with new vegan dishes. She blogs for The League of Extraordinary Writers.

 Website | Twitter | Facebook 

1 comment: