Fake ID

Eli’s older sister, Reya, is a beautiful, bilingual 16-year-old Puerto Rican cheerleader at Stepton High School. Reya’s father, a journalist, died four years earlier of cancer. Although Reya, Eli, and their mother, Mami, live in a lower-middle-class neighborhood, their house is immaculate and well-appointed. The Cruz family is part of a tight-knit Hispanic community that comes together whenever there is a crisis; however, Reya’s extended family is less respectable: Her uncle is the small-time mobster Miguel Rios; Miguel’s teenage daughter, Pilar, is pregnant.

Reya is an emotional person with a mercurial temper that she unleashes fearlessly on several occasions. Reya is also good at simulating whatever feelings will achieve her aims. For example, Reya pretends to be infuriated with Callie and attacks her so she can steal the vice principal’s key ring when he breaks up the fight. Reya holds grudges, has a number of conflicted relationships, and is not shy about criticizing people she dislikes.

As the narrative progresses, the depth of Reya’s intellect and her unyielding moral fiber become apparent. Despite the fact that Nick saves her life, Reya cannot accept the veil of deceit surrounding Nick as a WITSEC participant, and she ends their relationship.

Dustin is the spoiled son of a wealthy local politician. In school, the popular Dustin is always in the presence of his longtime friends, Carrey and Lorenz. Driving a flashy SUV, Dustin is known around Stepton for holding Dust Offs—the huge, lavish parties he frequently throws. There are three Dust Offs in the narrative, two at the Burkes’ home and one at Monitor Park.

The portrayal of Dustin shifts dramatically over the course of the narrative. Nick first perceives him as a privilege white boy who lives to party without rules, though when Dustin hears that Nick fought back against Zach’s attack on his first day at Stepton High, Dustin decides that Nick is worthy and bonds with him. Dustin in turn claims to have been close to Eli, which makes warm toward him as well. When Dustin receives a black eye from his father, Nick and Reya believe he is an abused child and fear for his safety. Nick eventually discovers that Dustin is the father of Pilar’s child and swiftly realizes that Dustin is a narcissist and a murderer intent on killing as many people as necessary to preserve his lifestyle.

Though Eli only lives for the first 12 chapters of the narrative, his work and personality are a dominate force throughout. The younger brother of Reya, Eli is a fearless reporter whose persistence and tech knowledge propel him to admirable investigative scoops. His drive to investigate the corrupt mayor eventually becomes his undoing, however, when he confronts Dustin with what he knows about Pilar’s baby and Dustin’s father’s illegal business dealings.

Eli is loyal and caring, but he is also a loner who intentionally holds himself apart, the better to observe the people around him. Eli is such a perfectionist about the school newspaper that, during their week of work on the school paper, he and Nick squabble continually. Eli has the same sort of relationship with his sister, Reya. They constantly snipe at each other but respond with protective love whenever there is a threat.

In the novel, Eli also functions as the locus of exposition—his earlier detective work uncovered all the secrets that Nick and Reya have to piece together, so their main goal throughout the narrative is to find the flash drive that holds Eli’s research.

Nick has a complicated relationship with his parents. He resents his father for the involvement in crime that led to the family being in WITSEC; he is angry at his mother for her inability to settle into WITSEC life and her constant threats to leave James and Nick behind.

A large, strong man who is accustomed to doing whatever his boss requires of him, James was an accountant for a mob boss in Philadelphia; the FBI needs his testimony to convict this gangster, so for four years, James and his family have been in hiding. While in witness protection, James cannot stop himself from falling back into illegal behavior; when found out, this forces the family to move repeatedly. James resents the fact that he cannot make as much money in WITSEC as he did with the mob. At the beginning of the novel, Nick finds it hard to trust his father, who lies constantly about what he’s doing. However, at the end of the novel, Nick and James have reached a tentative understanding and become a team: They will search for the missing Donna together and then use James’s embezzled funds to start a new life.

Donna Bordeaux is a less well-defined character than James. She is frustrated at being in the witness protection program, she is furious with James for his secrecy and criminality, and she sees James’s behavior as a threat to Nick’s safety. Throughout the narrative, she threatens to leave WITSEC—a threat she eventually follows through on. Donna’s disappearance works to unite father and son as they promise to do whatever it takes to find her and become a family again.