Stolen Faces

Stolen FacesA boy goes missing in Texas. Years later, he returns-only it isn't him.

In 1994, thirteen-year-old Nicholas Barclay vanished without a trace. When "Nicholas" resurfaced three years later, the story should have been one of hope. Instead, it became one of the most disturbing impostor cases in modern history. The man who claimed to be Nicholas was not a child at all, but Frédéric Bourdin-a master of deception who had spent years inhabiting stolen identities across Europe and America.

Stolen Faces takes readers inside the chilling psychology of Bourdin, unraveling how he fooled desperate families, evaded authorities, and turned grief into opportunity. Through trial transcripts, media accounts, psychological research, and haunting testimony, this book exposes how one man's lies consumed the truth-and how the world chose to believe him.

But beneath the headlines and spectacle lies a darker truth: Nicholas Barclay is still missing. His story was swallowed by the fraud who wore his name, and the search for the real boy was drowned out by the fascination with the imposter.

This is not just the story of a con. It is the story of grief, denial, and the fragility of truth in the face of hope.

Perfect for readers of true crime and investigative nonfiction, Stolen Faces blends narrative suspense with psychological insight, shining a light on both the impostor who lived many lives and the boy who never came home.