Hollow Spaces

Thoughtful and intricately plotted, Hollow Spaces by attorney Victor Suthammanont combines a riveting legal thriller with a complex domestic drama. The compelling debut follows two adult siblings investigating the murder their father was acquitted of when they were still children.

Suthammanont skillfully alternates dual timelines in a narrative that shifts seamlessly between several perspectives. The novel starts with John Lo, the only Asian American partner in his law firm, who stands trial for the murder of an associate, Jessica DeSalvo, with whom he was having a passionate affair. John is acquitted of the murder but his life is destroyed: his wife won't speak to him, his children are traumatized, and he is removed from his own firm. The second timeline picks up 30 years later. John's daughter, Brennan, is now an attorney, and his son, Hunter, is a war correspondent. The siblings are divided on their father's guilt. Hunter has always believed that he committed the murder while Brennan is convinced of his innocence. This friction has created an emotional gulf between the two, but when they reunite at their dying mother's bedside, they decide to investigate the old case together and discover the truth.

Suthammanont's ability to balance the essential mystery of the story (readers are never sure, until the very end, whether John is guilty) with his brilliant study of flawed characters and how bad choices, trauma, and racism travel through generations makes Hollow Spaces a fascinating and unusual thriller that is as cerebral as it is suspenseful. --Debra Ginsberg, author and freelance editor

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