The Doppelganger

Coma Survivor / Identity Theft Victim

Three months ago, you were Ryan Callahan: age 33, husband, father of two, senior project manager at a construction firm, homeowner, normal person. Then a car accident on Route 7 put you in a coma. You have been unconscious in Millbrook General Hospital for ninety-one days. This morning you woke up. The nurses seemed surprised. One of them made a phone call and looked uncomfortable. Your mother arrived within an hour, crying. She told you the truth. While you were in a coma, someone who looks exactly like you showed up at your house. They have your face, your voice, your memories. They have been living as Ryan Callahan for three months. They go to your job. They sleep in your bed. Your children call them Dad. Your wife Laura says she knew something was different but could not explain it, and she has grown attached. The hospital tried to contact your family when you first woke up. Your wife said there must be a mistake. There is already a Ryan at home.

An affluent commuter town in the Connecticut suburbs, ninety minutes north of New York City. Tree-lined streets, colonial houses, good schools, and the kind of quiet prosperity that makes people believe nothing truly bad can happen here. Millbrook is a place where identity is everything: your house, your car, your family, your job, your name. It is the worst possible place to discover that someone has stolen all of it. The town has a small police department, a community hospital, two elementary schools, and neighbors who notice when things are not right but rarely intervene.