Impostor: A Variants Novel
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Impostor: A Variants Novel Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Susanne Winnacker (Author), Emily Rankin (Narrator), Listening Library (Publisher)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 87 ratings
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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.

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  1. Listening Length
    8 hours and 4 minutes
  2. Author
    Susanne Winnacker
  3. Narrator
    Emily Rankin
  4. Audible release date
    May 28, 2013
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Listening Library
  7. ASIN
    B00CQBKRMC
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 8 hours and 4 minutes
Author Susanne Winnacker
Narrator Emily Rankin
Audible.com Release Date May 28, 2013
Publisher Listening Library
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B00CQBKRMC
Best Sellers Rank #351,408 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#230 in Paranormal & Supernatural Fantasy for Children
#623 in Mystery & Detective Fiction for Teens
#833 in Paranormal Fantasy for Teens

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
87 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

T. Banghart
5.0 out of 5 stars Fast-paced and intense!
Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2013
Verified Purchase
First of all, I LOVE the concept of this book. How ridiculous would it be to pose as someone who is already dead? The implications of that...lying to the person's family, pretending to be friends with her friends....honestly it's an incredibly heart-wrenching situation to imagine. And Susanne doesn't flinch away from the complications and consequences of her main character's mission. IMPOSTOR is a murder mystery and a "superhero" book, but it also has a dark, emotional heart to it that's incredibly compelling.

Tessa is a great character: vulnerable and wounded, but also capable of this extraordinary power. Like most superheroes her unique skills come with a price. I was rooting for her from the first page, and am already looking forward to watching how she continues to grow in book 2.

That's another thing I loved about this book. It's got a great climax, a great ending. There are some tantalizing questions left unanswered, setting up a sequel, but in a way that's fully satisfying. No cliffhangers here! Just the desire to keep reading about Tessa and spending time in her world.

Unique Love Triangle

Yes, there's a love triangle, but interestingly Tessa is NOT at the center of it! Rather, she's got her eye on Alec, a fellow Variant...who already has a girlfriend. This twist on the triangle is really interesting and, frankly, very realistic. How many of us can relate to having a crush on someone who's already taken? Watching Tessa muddle through that situation - sometimes doing the right thing, sometimes not - felt really authentic to me. I appreciated how Susanne set up some really interesting, non-typical relationships in this book. It kept me guessing, waiting to see how everything would play out.

Overall, IMPOSTOR is a fast, intense read that will keep you guessing up until the very end. If you enjoy your murder mysteries paired with some fun scifi....or like your romances angsty and complicated...this is definitely the book for you! I really enjoyed it, and hope you will too!
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Dark Faerie Tales
4.0 out of 5 stars In this quick and easy read, a murder mystery is brought to life full of action, romance, and humor.
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2013
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: In this quick and easy read, a murder mystery is brought to life full of action, romance, and humor.

Opening Sentence: The straightjacket corseted my body so tightly my arms tingled and my fingers turned numb.

The Review:

Impostor is the story of Tessa, a Variant who has special powers, and can become the physical appearance of others just with a thought. Tessa’s a part of the Variant secret agency that works for the government. When she gets an assignment to pose as an almost victim of an at-large serial killer so she can investigate, Tessa must intrude in someone else’s life in someone else’s house with someone else’s family. Can she keep it together long enough to find the killer, or will she be discovered as an impostor?

Almost immediately I could tell that Impostor was going to be a short, refreshing read, and I was right: I finished within 2 hours. The plot was very straightforward and clear. I was happy with the book, and as some mystery books are I could not tell who the murderer was right off the bat. You constantly change your mind and switch between suspects, so it was an engaging time for both the reader and the characters.

Although Tessa was an okay heroine, she wasn’t very thought-provoking and I found it slightly difficult to connect with her in a way that I did with Katniss or Bella. (The Hunger Games and Twilight) Her mind was very simple, ordinaryish. I look for extraordinary and insightfulness in my characters, and with Tessa I feel that fell a little short. I didn’t very much like Alec (Tessa’s love interest) either because he seemed so uncaring and devoted to his girlfriend most of the time. With most romances it happens gradually — in this one, it seems completely turned off except for slight lapses at random intervals where they’re acting like they’re hopelessly in love. This confused me. When these tiny lapses weren’t happening they were two friends, or two enemies, nothing more.

This novel was quick, but didn’t leave anything out. There were no plot holes and everything was detailed and explained, and from the start you are hooked in. It’s one of those books that you can read on a plane, or when you’re bored, just because you want to read something. And let’s not forget it is also a mystery —- and a good one at that!

Altogether this was a very well-done story! Maybe this can be a New Year’s present for yourself, now that you’ve been introduced to it? Is it extremely thought-provoking? No. Does it have a unique, never before seen writing style? Nope. But should you check it out? Most definitely!

Notable Scene:

A figure stood on the other side of the street, clearly watching my window. His hoodie hung low over his eyes and the evening fog obscured the rest of him. It was impossible to make out who he was. Spotting me, he took off running down the street.

It wasn’t Alec. Who was it? The killer? I doubted he had the audacity to show up in front of my house so soon after my return. It was probably just some curious snoop who wanted the rumors confirmed.

I rubbed my arms and let down the blinds, double-checking that the window was locked before I finally crawled into bed.

FTC Advisory: Razorbill/Penguin provided me with a copy of Impostor. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
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Jenn R
5.0 out of 5 stars I am the perfect spy...
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2014
Verified Purchase
I am the ultimate weapon.

When I was young, teachers told me I could be whoever I wanted to be. I never guessed that it could actually happen. My name is Tessa and I am a Variant. Who ever I touch I can shape shift into. Sounds freaky doesn't it? I've done it so many times through out my life I'm used to it now.

A serial killer has killed three people in Livingston, Oregon. One of the victims is in a coma. While she is in the hospital, I am to impersonate her. After years of training I'm finally ready to go out into the field. I'm a little nervous but I think I'll do ok. All right I am very nervous. I have my doubts. I only hope I will be able to pull this off.
****
The cover was the first thing that attracted my attention. It was the different color eyes. I read this book in one sitting. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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DJB
5.0 out of 5 stars awesome
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2014
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I loved it i hated the cliff hanger but its good that there will be another book coming out soon
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sammie easley
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2014
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such an amazing book, the second one was even amazing too
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Top reviews from other countries

Soobie Mennym
4.0 out of 5 stars Well, that was nice!
Reviewed in Germany on May 17, 2015
Verified Purchase
So, we have our heroine named Tessa who can alter her appearences and look like someone else. She attends a special school where other teens with similar capacities are trained in a government facility. She's got a good friend in Holly, who can become invisible, and she's desperately in love with Alec, who's über-strong. Too bad that he's already in a relationship with Kate, who can read people's mind, or better she can read only women's.

One day, a girl is almost killed in an attack in Oregon and Tess is called upon to transform into this girl, take over her life and find the killer. At the beginning Tessa doesn't like the idea of usurping the life of a young girl, but she soon gets used to have a family who loves her, or the real girl she's replacing.

The mystery is kind of good, I didn't guess who the perp was. But I usually don't so... And at the beginning I was misguided by the letter A, which the perp carves on every victim.

One thing that baffled me was the fact that Tessa was able to reproduce Madison's scars when she turned into the poor girl. I mean, if Tessa is able to copy people's DNA she can't copy scars because they're not written on the DNA. If some of you is old enough to have read the Animorph series, maybe you can recall that when one of the protagonists shifted back to his original form all wounds and scars would disappear.

Anyway. This little detail wasn't that important and I enjoyed the book.

I'm really curious about the second book in the series, I've bought it three seconds after I finished the first one and I'm really looking forward to read it.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 27, 2014
Verified Purchase
Should remind you of x men, cranes girl in the box or a few other books/plots but while there are similarities, this book is so different in so many ways. The female lead is a strong character, but without the attitude of many female leads in other stories. There's so much to say about this book, but the only thing worth saying is read it!
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad at all
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 15, 2014
Verified Purchase
I liked this book from the beginning; it puts you straight into the story, into this world of variants within the FBI. I purchased this book because I heard it was like a cross between X-Men and Veronica Mars – two franchises I love, so I of course had to have it.

A variant is a person who has a super or extra human ability (think X-Men) and our main character Tessa has the ability to morph into anyone she has touched. Tessa works for the FEA, which is a secret department of the FBI and she is sent out on her first mission – to play the role of a recently murdered young woman in order to catch a serial killer.

I did like Tessa, for the most part, I just found her to be a bit immature and weak at times. She has been training to be a field agent for about two years but when she finally gets a mission she kinda just fumbles her way through it. She spends most of her time mooning over her crush, Alec, who in return spends most of his time being overprotective of her. Theirs is supposed to be a professional relationship but its so not. I did let Tessa of the hook for most of her flaws because she is only sixteen and hopefully in the next books we will see her grow, not only as a person but as an agent.

What I did like about Tessa though, was her humanity, while everyone else doesn’t seem to care about the death of a teenage girl (aside from catching her killer), Tessa does. She also, does show some growth, mostly in coming to terms with her childhood.

Tessa’s crush, Alec is a character I wanted to like but mostly because Tessa liked him so much, but he is a douche. He has no respect for Tessa – as a girl or as an agent. I can’t really go into why I don’t like him because spoilers. Again, I hope the next books show more depth to his character. There was only one character that I really liked and that was the dead girl, Madison’s twin brother, Devon.

Aside from the flawed characters, I really enjoyed the story and the writing. The mystery of the serial killer kept me guessing to the end and I did not have a single clue as to whom the killer was until it was revealed. I read it in one sitting which shows just much I enjoyed it – it was a fun, easy read and if you can see past only slightly annoying characters, I totally recommend it.

I will read the next book in the series Defector when it comes out late June, not just because this was an entertaining read but also to see how the characters grow.
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Soph
5.0 out of 5 stars If you're into supernatural powers in teenagers along with the odd love interest and action scene, this is your kind of book😉
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 11, 2015
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Such a good book! Loved it! Read it so quickly!!
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Buffy
4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 21, 2014
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The grammar and spelling mistakes need to be worked on but the storyline is just incredible, it's such a gripping book!!! 😃
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