Better the devil / Erik J. Brown.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A harrowing, edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller about a queer homeless teen who, in a bid for safety, assumes the identity of a boy who went missing ten years ago...only to find that his new home is anything but a safe haven--from All That's Left in the World author Erik J. Brown!

Perfect for fans of Karen McManus, Holly Jackson, and Ryan La Sala.

When a runaway teen is arrested for shoplifting, he's desperate not to be sent back to the hyper-religious parents he knows will never accept him. While at the police station, he notices a resemblance to the aged-up photos of Nate Beaumont, a child who went missing ten years ago--and, in a moment of desperation, he takes Nate's identity in hopes that it will help him make a quick getaway.

Before he can run again, Nate's family arrives and welcomes him home to a life he never had. As "Nate" watches and waits for his chance to escape, he finds that the Beaumonts are nurturing and loving, very different from his own parents.

But soon unsettling things start to happen--vandalism, alarms going off in the middle of the night--and it becomes clear that someone knows "Nate" isn't who he says he is...and that the real Nate wasn't kidnapped, but murdered.

As he starts to unravel the mystery, he gets ever closer to the devil he may know--and learns he might be their next victim.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Brown (The Only Light Left Burning) fuses survival thriller and suspenseful mystery to deliver a resonant psychological roller coaster. Having spent eight months living unhoused after running away from his religious parents, who intended to send him to conversion therapy, a queer unnamed 16-year-old, driven by hunger, is apprehended by police for stealing food from a store. At the station, he claims that he's Nathaniel Beaumont, a boy on a missing persons poster to whom he bears an uncanny resemblance­. Now going by Nate, the teen is united with the Beaumont family, whose warmth is undermined by an unsettling current of suspicion. As unexplained incidents such as break-ins and gas leaks escalate the tension, the protagonist begins to feel the strain of his new role and plots an escape. Upon accidentally confessing his secret to a neighbor, true crime aficionado Miles, he is coerced into investigating Nathaniel's mysterious disappearance a decade prior. Organic first-person narration persuasively captures the narrator's adolescent immaturity, self-awareness, and desire to belong. His conviction that love is always conditional--informed by his parents' rejection and his neglectful upbringing--lends emotional weight to the suspense. Main characters read as white. Ages 13--up. (Jan.)

Booklist Review

Nathaniel Beaumont is reunited with his family after disappearing 10 years ago--at least, that's the story a homeless, queer runaway teen clings to, desperate to avoid arrest after shoplifting. And it kind of works too: he looks shockingly similar to the aged-up rendering of Nate, and no one makes him do a DNA test to confirm. Everything is cushy and full of love with the wealthy Beaumonts, so fake Nate decides to roll with his out-of-control lie until things quiet down, and then make a break for it. But soon he notices the oddities about the original Nate's disappearance, and on top of it, weird accidents are happening in the home, meaning someone is trying to scare him out. Teaming up with his true-crime aficionado neighbor, Miles (who immediately sees through the sham), the duo tries to unearth the truth behind Nate's original disappearance. A tad campy at times, the story necessitates some suspension of disbelief at how accepting folks are when the teen shares his lie with more people around him. Ultimately, though, this is an engrossing mystery with a surprisingly violent climax.

Horn Book Review

What begins as a queer identity-focused young adult novel quickly turns into a dark mystery. The teen protagonist has fled his West Virginia home because his parents intend to send him to conversion therapy. After living on the streets for eight months, he is caught shoplifting and arrested. In order to escape charges, the boy assumes the identity of Nate Beaumont, a child who went missing years earlier, and becomes part of a loving Maryland family. While the faux Nate contends with his growing mountain of lies and attempts to establish relationships with his new family, he experiences moments of unconditional love but also begins to question strange, sinister occurrences. He finds acceptance with a childhood friend of Nate's who runs a true crime podcast, and the two secretly team up to piece together what happened to the actual Nate, but they quickly become involved in a situation full of dangerous twists and gruesome violence. While an action-filled narrative drives the plot, readers get to know characters whose likability duels with the suspicions against them. The story questions how far beyond reason a person might go to feel accepted -- or to exert diabolical control. A compelling thriller that is not for the faint of heart. Nicholas A. Brown-CaceresJanuary/February 2026 p.68 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

Hoping for sanctuary, a teen assumes another's identity. When a 16-year-old queer runaway is brought in for shoplifting, he spots a missing-person flyer for a child named Nathaniel Beaumont, and something clicks. Buoyed by his uncanny resemblance to the image that's been age-progressed to show what the boy would look like today, he decides to borrow "Nathaniel's name, just for a bit." He's conflicted about the lie, but he doesn't want to go to jail--or worse, be returned to the parents who were about to send him to conversion therapy. After their blood types prove to be a match, the Beaumont family brings home to Chesapeake Bay the son who's been missing for nearly a decade. Nate's mother is overcome with joy, but his father and brother are skeptical. Miles, the cute neighbor who has a true crime podcast, knows right away that the new arrival isn't the actual Nate, and the boys make a deal to work together to find out what really happened. As their bond deepens and they fall for each other, increasingly disturbing events occur. This thriller calculates the costs of denial, propelling the story to its dangerous, page-turning edge--and readers won't be able to look away. At the novel's heart is unconditional love, which even in the face of questionable morality offers a salve that heals broken people. Major characters read white. A grisly, unflinching, and twisty page-turner that takes an honest look at human nature.(Thriller. 15-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.