Hollow Spaces
A Novel
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4.0 • 43 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
The only Asian American partner at a prestigious law firm sees his professional and personal life demolished when he is put on trial for murder. Three decades later, his children reunite to uncover the truth and try to salvage what remains of their family.
Thirty years ago, John Lo was acquitted of the murder of an employee he was having an affair with. The repercussions of that long-ago event still haunt his adult children. Brennan, a lawyer following in her father’s footsteps in more ways than one, has always maintained that the trial got it right. Hunter, a disgruntled war correspondent whose similarities to his father run more than skin-deep, believes their father got away with murder. Their opposing convictions have pushed them apart. Now, spurred by their mother’s failing health, the estranged siblings decide to reconcile their differences by reinvestigating the murder to come to a definitive conclusion.
Told in a dual timeline that moves between John’s perspective thirty years prior and Brennan and Hunter’s present-day investigation, Hollow Spaces is a moving portrait of a flawed man’s shocking fall from grace and a gripping exploration of race in corporate America, filial loyalty, ambition, and the fallout of a sensational trial for those caught in its wake.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Siblings take a fresh look at a crime that tore their family apart in this smart, offbeat thriller. John Lo was the only Asian American partner at a prestigious law firm when he was accused of murdering his mistress. Though he was acquitted, it shattered his marriage, leaving his son, Hunter, convinced of his guilt and his daughter, Brennan, sure of his innocence. Decades later, as journalist Hunter and lawyer Brennan care for their ailing mother, they decide to reinvestigate the case, opening a Pandora’s box of shocking twists and long-held secrets. Hollow Spaces starts like a work of first-rate crime fiction, but as Hunter and Brennan dig deeper, it becomes a bigger, more powerful story about the hard realities that we often have to live with in family relationships. And somehow, Victor Suthammanont does all this without compromising the suspense. If you’re looking for an emotionally intelligent thriller, this should be on your reading list.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Attorney Suthammanont blends elements of Presumed Innocent and Serial for his intricate debut, about two siblings who investigate whether their father committed the murder he was acquitted of 30 years earlier. The dual timeline narrative begins with young father John Lo, the only Asian American partner at his New York City law firm, on trial for the murder of Jessica DeSalvo, a coworker with whom he was having an affair. Three decades later, his daughter Brennan is following in his footsteps, working as a lawyer and entangled in an affair with a partner at her firm, and she's convinced John did not kill Jessica. Her brother, Hunter, a war correspondent, is equally certain of John's guilt, and their long-held disagreement has made them estranged. After they reunite upon learning that their mother has cancer, they conduct interviews with people involved in the case and discover that the police and prosecutor withheld evidence of another potential suspect. Their digging prompts threatening anonymous phone calls, and Suthammanont keeps the reader guessing as to whether John really did it and who's trying to intimidate the siblings. Flashbacks to John's affair with Jessica and his struggles with holding down a job after the trial add to the intrigue and build a complex portrait of a broken man. It adds up to a well-plotted human drama.
