Book Review: Impostor by Susanne Winnaker

Pages: 274

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pub. Date: May 28, 2013

Source: Publisher for review

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads says, "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 is a Variant, which means she has a special talent.  Tessa's talent is that she can absorb the DNA of anyone she has touched before, which makes her very valuable.  She has been trained by a secret section of the FBI and her first mission is to become Madison, a girl living in a small town who has recently become a victim of a serial killer.  Tessa is going to become Madison and live her life while hoping to figure out who is wreaking havoc in the town.  Tessa's home life before comign to the FBI wasn't a good one, so becoming Madison and living with her loving family is entirely different than anything she has ever known.  Tessa loves being a part of Madison's family and experiencing a normal social life at high school, even if she is an "impostor."  The killer strikes again and Tessa is starting to think that this killer may actually be a Variant as well.  Susanne Winnaker's Impostor is an edge-of-your-seat type of read that fans of the paranormal genre will relish in, especially if you like X-Men or The Body Finder.

Tessa's good friend, Alec, is also a Variant and is coming along to this mission with her.  This would be an ideal sitaution except for the fact that Tessa has been pining over him since she first laid eyes on him.  I loved their relationship. It was very reminicent of Rose and Dimitri in The Vampire Academy. (swoon!) The only problem is Alec has a very controlling girlfriend, but as the story unfolds, it becomes aparrent that perhaps Alec is harboring feelings for Tessa too? Their relationship was one of the best aspect of Impostor.

As Tessa is impersonating Madison, she comes to realize that her life wasn't the perfect small-town cliche.  She also had some deep secrets and got involved in some scandlous situations, which complicate trying to figure out who the killer is.  Meanwhile Tessa is thoroughly enjoying being in Madison's world and hanging out with her best friend, her good looking brother, and her doting parents.  Tessa has to remember to not become too emotionally involved in the case, but the longer she is Madison the harder it is to separate her two worlds.

The mystery surroudning the serial killer in combination with the Variant's special abilities made for a fast paced and excting read.  The Body Finder is one of my favorite books and Impostor has many of the same ingredients.  I was competely captivated while Tessa was trying to figure out the serial killer and towards the climax, I was completely glued.

I can't wait for book two in the Variants series, which comes out in 2014. I hope we learn more behind Alec as well as a few other character's secrets. Also, I hear that Impostor has been optioned by Warner Brothers for television. I think it would make for an awesome TV series!