Fake ID

“The government has spent a lot of money protecting you and your family over the last four years, James. We’d like to see a return on that investment. But we are willing to cut our losses if you continue to be a problem. I can read you some information on what life is like for an unprotected federal witness. It’s a short paragraph.”

In their weekly phone conversation, Bertram, the WITSEC handler for Nick’s family, expresses the government’s frustration with the illegal behavior of James, which has resulted in WITSEC repeatedly having to move the family to different locations. Bertram warns that any further misbehavior will cause them to be removed from the protection program, jeopardizing their lives. Giles uses this to increase the tension of Nick’s already unstable circumstances and to raise the novel’s stakes.

“The Pearsons were the victims of an auto industry layoff in Detroit. We moved to Virginia because the cost of living was cheaper than up north. Dad, he’s good with numbers, so they got him a job at a local accounting office. Mom worked as a Realtor at our last assignment, but they made her a housewife here. Me? My legend says I’m an average teen who likes to play lacrosse, is an overachiever when it comes to science, and enjoys hip music.”

Nick relates that each move to a new community means learning a new “legend,” or false backstory meant to sound believable to new acquaintances. When Reya discovers the great influx of WITSEC families into Stepton, she remarks that witness-protection youth will be easy to spot because their stories are too good to be true. Giles uses this comment to reinforce that everyone is Concealing Dark Secrets.

“What she said next was just above a whisper, but I still caught it. Being the sole kid in an unstable house over the last few years had led to some finely developed hearing.

‘With you it’s always secrets on top of secrets,’ she said. ‘Haven’t you learned anything? I won’t stick around for WITSEC to toss us from the Program. If you’re up to something, again, I’ll take Tony and leave. Try me.’”

The conflict between Nick’s parents and his mother’s determination to leave his father if he commits more crimes puts more pressure on Nick: Abandoning WITSEC is basically a death sentence. Donna’s resentment of James’s inability to commit to their new life, and James’s desire for the lavish lifestyle they enjoyed when he was an accountant for the mob, show Nick’s parents’ self-involvement and their lack of concern for their son, whose home life is increasingly more unstable.

“‘What does all this have to do with the high school paper?’

‘Nothing, except I’m the only paper in town. The Stepton Chronicle stopped printing years ago. There’s no one else left to look into this but me. This isn’t about printing a few hundred copies for everyone’s homeroom. I’ve got bigger plans for this story.”

After Eli’s death, several people comment on his ambitions, his perseverance, and his journalistic skills—ironically, the same talents that led to his murder. The plot point about the school newspaper going online echoes real world events: At the time of the novel’s publication, in 2014, many periodicals, newspapers, and journals shifted from print to digital.

“His name was Stefan ‘Bricks’ Bianchi. His business meant that the world’s seven-billion-person population just got decreased by one, at least. He was a hit man. And my godfather.

Not the godfather. Just mine.”

Throughout the narrative, Nick searches for an adult authority figure to ask for advice. The only person he believes he can rely on is Bricks, a gangster who on paper appears the polar opposite of a worthy, productive member of society. Ironically, throughout the narrative, Nick escapes from dangerous circumstances by using what Bricks taught him about how to survive.

“I remembered something else my godfather said, fully this time.

When it hits the fan, don’t trust anyone in a suit or uniform unless you’re payin’ them. If they’re grinnin’, trust them even less. They’re all the same.”

After the discovery of Eli’s body, Nick is surrounded by authority figures, most in uniform and suits. His natural inclination to Mistrusting Authority, an instinct heightened because of the gravity and potential danger to himself and his family. As Nick gets ready to both answer their questions satisfactorily and simultaneously prevent them from learning any information about WITSEC, his mother comes to his rescue by spiriting him away before the police can ask him anything—a dynamic that prevails in the first part of the novel, until Nick is forced to fend for himself and develop Self-Reliance.

“‘Don’t you see?’ she said, begging. ‘That’s Columbia. She snatched back her precious letter. ‘Columbia University has the best journalism school in the country. He’d been dreaming about going there since he was like eight. He just got that letter a week and a half ago. Why would someone who was so close to having his dream come true slit his wrists in a dirty closet?’”

Reya is desperate to convince Nick that Eli’s death was from not suicide but murder. Nick later remembers Eli’s comment that the violent death of anyone in the town would be ruled a suicide—the police downplay violent crime to make Stepton seem like peaceful and safe, the perfect place for the government’s Whispertown program. The passage demonstrates Reya’s insight and skill for recognizing the truth and discovering hidden facts.

“‘I need to tell someone what happened with me and him in that room where he puts the newspaper together. Where you found him.’

Dustin was there after I left to cover the game. I knew I was among the last to see Eli alive, but that club was getting bigger. Me, Dustin, and a killer.”

In their initial conversation, Nick decides that Dustin is not particularly bright but that he has some really important information. To heighten suspense, Giles interrupts the story just as Dustin is about to share what he knows. Dustin is a sympathetic character for much of the book—a pitiful, harmless, over-indulged kid who likes to entertain his friends lavishly and is possibly being abused by his father.

“Mom hadn’t thought this through. She wouldn’t last without funds and a plan. I knew because I’d run the same scenario in my head plenty of times. Saving her from a short, hard life on the road—from her pride—was part of my reasoning for doing what I did next.

The other part, the bigger part, was my pride if we left Dad to do whatever twisted game he was playing I’d never know the truth about this Whispertown stuff, or what it had to do with Eli’s death.”

This passage is about Nick’s nuanced decision to back up his lying father—perhaps alienating his mother, who is through with Robert’s lies—so he can persuade her not to leave Stepton and WITSEC. He also wants to buy the time to pursue the truth about his Eli’s death. However, Nick’s mother knows that he is lying to cover for his father and she plans to leave without either of them. Nick’s complicated calculus about whom to ally with in this moment shows how unstable his world is.

“He sneered. ‘You people make me sick.’

You people.

My parents […] sometimes spoke about the racial stuff they had gone through growing up. Mom was from the South and said she had been called the N-word more time than she cared to count. Dad, who’d always lived in the city, said it wasn’t as bad for him, but certain neighborhoods were off limits if you weren’t the right color.”

As Sheriff Hill interrogates him, Nick recognizes the man’s racist bigotry—one of the harsher facts about life in Stepton. As Giles points out on his website (see the Background section), he is interested in specifically describing the lives of Black teenagers; here, the author infuses real world issues into his genre-heavy novel.

“Burke faced me, gave me a smile that probably showed up on a lot of flyers and posters at election time. […] ‘I hope you’ll let him know that I’m looking out for him. I always look out for my friends.’

This didn’t feel like he was doing me a favor. Or Dad. This felt like a threat. A subtle one.

Screw subtlety. ‘Does this have anything to do with Whispertown?’”

Alone in an isolated place with a man he fears because James also fears him, Nick is clearly in danger. Mayor Burke has just made a veiled threat toward Nick and his father, but Nick chooses to react with defiance in the face of authority. The motif of defiance builds on Nick’s earlier resistance to Sheriff Hill’s intimidation. Rather than be cowed by Burke’s insinuation, Nick mentions the name Whispertown to get the upper hand in the conversation, get information about his father’s involvement in the secret project, and learn more about Eli’s death.

“‘Then let’s go to his house.’

This was what I was afraid of. One sliver of daylight and she was ready to claw her way to Eli’s killer. I got it, but I couldn’t let her get out of hand. My family was tied up in this, too, and I needed to understand why first. ‘Reya, wait. I want to know what Dustin has to say as bad as you, but we have to play this right. Let me work that angle.’

‘Alone? I need to help. Don’t call me with stuff like this, then push me away.’”

Nick has great difficulty trusting others—a personality trait heightened by the requirements of the WITSEC program. Out of necessity, he conceals information about himself and his family from Reya, but this means that he himself also cannot be fully trusted. Reya demonstrates her unwillingness to be patronized by Nick, as she warns him not to give her some tidbits of information and then withhold others. Giles implies the two are much alike.

“Like the bookshelves, the cabinet was full and neat, a couple of rifles, a shotgun, and several handguns. The pistols weren’t like the guns I’d seen when I was younger, scratched and scarred with tape around the grips, and threaded barrels for illegal, screw in suppressors. These sat on red velvet, illuminated by special lights like props in the Smithsonian. […]

Mayor Burke was a former boxing champ? Proud enough for the accomplishments to keep this trophy around while not having a single picture of his kid anywhere insight? I remember Dustin’s bruised eye. Must be nice having a sturdy teen for a stand-in punching bag. Keep the skills up.”

Alone in the mayor’s study, Nick investigates the man’s personal life. His observations reveal several important things. The first is the stark difference between the mayor’s prestigious, pristine weapon collection and the utilitarian weapons Nick saw as the child of a mobster. Second, Nick sees that the mayor is a capable fighter and most likely physically abuses his son, Dustin. The absence of anything related to Dustin implies to Nick that the mayor discounts his own son’s significance.

“We slapped palms, and he said, ‘Watch your back. Zach’s gunning for you bad.’

‘I kind of got that impression.’

He laughed a humorless laugh. ‘Trust me, there are worse people to have after you in this town.’”

As Dustin warns Nick at the Dust Off, readers assume that Dustin is only pointing out that Zach is planning to attach Nick once more. However, Dustin’s words are ironic—the greater source of danger or “worse people” is Dustin himself. He has already killed Eli, and to cover that crime, Dustin is about to stage an accident resulting in the deaths of his two closest friends. Later, Nick and Reya will watch him kill his father before them and come close to being his fifth and sixth victims.

“I climbed in anyway, checking out the new stuff Dad had cleared space for. A shovel and a pickaxe clanked as I maneuvered a heavy bag of something called lye aside. A thick, blue tarp made a better cover than my blanket with the flowers on it. I slipped under the plastic sheet and waited. Not for long.”

In a flashback to when he was a tween boy, Nick decides to shadow his father on an assignment for his mob boss one night. Before this night, he bragged about his dad working for organized crime. The events of the evening so alter his perception that he becomes closed-mouthed about James’s/Robert’s work. Had he been older, Giles hints, Nick would have recognized the purpose of the materials his father stored in his vehicle, would have known what he was up to without having to watch the horrible scene.

“‘This is about your mom. […] She’s been reaching out to old players up here, trying to call in markers and get her hands on some cash. Damn, I didn’t think she’d be so stupid.’

Dad’s lies hadn’t fooled her, only delayed her. Got her to slow down before putting her plan in motion. What else had all her weirdness been about? The mysterious old car, the snooping on Dad, that weird conversation before Eli’s funeral. It couldn’t be coincidence.

We were going to run.”

Donna Bordeaux has grown desperate. Having figured out that her husband is once again involved in illegal activity, she fears that they will be kicked out of WITSEC. Her intention is to gather as many resources as possible and escape Stepton with Nick. The fact that Bricks knows what she is up to reveals the danger Donna is in—her plan is not completely secret from James’s former employer.

“‘Don’t keep me in suspense, Reya. What is Whispertown?’

‘It’s us. Stepton. […] It’s a code name. For Stepton. A government code name. They’re running an experiment in our town. A trial. Eli found out about it from the files he stole off the mayor’s computer. It involves the Witness Protection Program, Nick.’”

As Nick and Reya open Eli’s secret flash drive, Nick has the surreal experience of realizing that he is a guinea pig in a federal government program to relocate troublesome WITSEC families to one small community in hopes that they learn to get along. Suddenly, Nick becomes the subject of his own investigation.

“‘The information on that drive is, most likely, the only reason we’re still walking on this earth, son. Hand it over and I’ll explain.’

A large part of me screamed, Don’t do it, don’t trust him. I listened. ‘No. You explain, then I’ll hand it over.’

The way his eyes blazed and his chest heaved, I thought he might try to snatch the drive from me. I was ready to run if he made a move.”

Here, Nick confronts his father with the term “Whispertown” and the plan to seed the community with hard-to-control witness-protection participants. Nick knows his father can fill in the blanks. For the first time, Nick stands up to his father as an equal, afraid but defiant. In all his decisions that follow, Nick places his own welfare first—a key feature of his newfound Self-Reliance.

“‘You don’t talk to me like that. I don’t care what it is you’re going through.’

‘Even if it’s almost getting killed? Because that’s what happened. Your pals, who are none of your concern, put a bomb in my girl’s car. I could have been in it, Dad. And it would have been your fault because the whole reason we’re in this crap town […] is you.’”

For the first time, Nick—whom his father refers to now as Tony, his birth name—confronts his dad about James’s failures. Because James refused to have a steady, normal job and lead a regular life, his family has been forced to survive constant danger and upheaval. Ironically, while Nick blames his father for the car bomb that blew up Reya’s car, everything Nick had lived through in Stepton is not James’s work but Dustin‘s.

“Of course, we’re only talking about the kidnapping charge. There’s still the aggravated assault, the reckless driving, and attempted murder […] Throw in any anti bullying laws this state has on the books and […] —wow, all you guys are white. […] Four white guys jump a black guy, drag him off in the truck. In the South. That’s a hate crime, fellas. A federal offense. By the time this is over you might be looking at thirty, forty years each.”

This is the denouement of the ongoing conflict between Nick and Zach that runs throughout the narrative. As he faces his tormentor, a strange confidence emerges in Nick. He becomes a streetwise amalgam of all the different versions of himself—more than a match for the lumbering football player. Nick outsmarts, overpowers, and terrorizes his bullies, ending the feud permanently.

“An embedded picture filled the rest of the window. A picture of a newborn boy in a snug blue knit cap and a mummy-tight blanket. There was no signature identifying FuegoGirl or a name for the child. Neither was necessary. I recognized Ricardo Elijah Rios instantly.

Dustin would, too.

They had the same eyes.”

This clue marks the start of the novel’s climax: A photo of Pilar’s baby reveals that Dustin is the baby’s father. As Nick rushes after Reya to the mayor’s study, where Dustin has just killed his father with his boxing trophy, Nick realizes that Dustin is a murderer and must figure out how to leave the room alive.

“I let Hill walk me to the front, expecting my mother to be there. It was my other parent.

The sheriff released me. ‘We’ll be in touch, James.’

Dad shook the sheriff’s hand. It was like seeing an owl shake hands with a bat, natural enemies being cordial.”

One of the things Nick learns is that untrustworthy people still have their uses and that Mistrusting Authority can be limiting. As James thanks the bigoted Sheriff Hill for taking care of Nick, the moment marks two figures at the opposite end of the legal system relying upon one another. When Nick sees that his mother has deserted them, he will use the day’s lesson to form a new bond with his father.

“‘Is he right, Nick? Is Nick even your name?’

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘he’s right. Nick’s not my real name. It’s Tony Bordeaux. Or it was until four years ago....’

I told her as much as I could muster in a sitting, only stopping when she interrupted with questions. Everything she asked, I answered.”

Confronted with the truth that he is in WITSEC, Nick breaks protocol by confessing everything to Reya. To his dismay, she responds by pushing him out of her life while promising to expose the Whispertown program, as a way of continuing Eli’s work. Nick ends the novel on an ambivalent note. Abandoned by his mother and dumped by his girlfriend, Nick is nevertheless a more confident, self-reliant person. He knows he can handle whatever confronts him.