Hollow Spaces by Victor Suthammanont offers a thoughtful mix of family drama, legal intrigue, and questions of identity. The dual timeline structure—shifting between John Lo’s trial decades ago and his children’s present-day search for answers—creates a compelling narrative frame. I especially appreciated how the novel tackles themes of race, ambition, and loyalty, all while examining how a sensational trial ripples through generations.

That said, while the premise is strong, the execution sometimes felt uneven. The pacing slowed in sections heavy with legal or investigative detail, while some of the emotional beats between Brennan and Hunter didn’t land as powerfully as they could have. John’s storyline was the most engaging for me, but the siblings’ investigation occasionally felt predictable.

Overall, Hollow Spaces is an interesting and layered read with big themes and a unique perspective, but it didn’t always hold the intensity I was hoping for. Worth picking up if you enjoy family-centered legal dramas, but it fell a bit short of being unforgettable.

Hollow Spaces was a slow burn mystery about the detrimental affects marriage infidelity can have on one's children, a marriage and a prominent career. John-Lo an Asian-American attorney falls prey to a disasterous affair that leads to him being charged with murder. Although he was acquitted of all charges this story shows the spiraling consequences of his actions. It was shocking to believe that this is the author's first novel, but I enjoyed his writing style and how he vividly captured each characters attitude and emotions. I loved the fact that the siblings came together, despite their varying beliefs as to the guilt of their father, in order to solve the murder and really find out the truth about their father. Was he actually a murderer who got away with it or just another man who's life was ruined by getting involved in an illustrious affair?
Thanks again to Netgalley for the eArc of this book and to Counterpointpress for the gifted copy of the book for my honest review and opinion.

I always love a good thriller/murder mystery in the summer, and HOLLOW SPACES by Victor Suthammanont scratched that itch for me. John Lo is the only Asian American partner in his law firm when he’s accused and subsequently acquitted of the murder of the woman he was having an affair with, who also happens to be his colleague. Thirty years later, his children are still haunted by the lingering doubts around the case and the way it has driven them apart. Brennan, a lawyer, wants to defend John’s legacy and find the real killer, while Hunter, a war correspondent, thinks his father actually committed the murder. Thinking it might help salvage their faltering relationship, they decide to investigate the case together...but as they dive deeper into it, they start getting ominous messages from an unknown caller.

Suthammanont’s writing sucked me in right away and plot was perfectly paced to keep me riveted, though I’d say this book is less about twists and surprises and more about the story. Having read some non-fiction books about legal malfeasance and how jacked up the criminal justice system is, I appreciated the look at the same topic from a fictionalized angle. I liked the exploration of the siblings’ divergent views of their father and the discrimination he faced. Suthammanont doesn’t make anyone a hero, though; all the characters are flawed and going through their own soul-searching. The audiobook, narrated by Feodor Chin, is engaging and a great summer listen.

Hollow Spaces is one of those books where everyone is kind of awful, and yet I couldn't stop reading.

At its core, this is a messy family saga with a mystery wrapped around it — a whodunit that spans decades, complicated by prejudice, shame, betrayal, and generational fallout. John was accused of murdering his mistress. Thirty years later, his estranged kids reunite to care for their dying mother and, in the process unravel the truth about their father's past.

This definitely reads more like literary fiction than a fast paced thriller, but I loved the emotional weight of it all. The writing leans a bit soapy at times (and I could’ve done without a few of the overly dramatic metaphors), but it’s also really sharp and layered. There are lots of time jumps, and yes — the characters are morally gray (messy AF), but that’s also what makes it so compelling. No one is easy to like, but everyone feels real.

Hunter and Brennan made a surprisingly great team, and I was fully invested in their rocky sibling dynamic. The mystery unravels slowly but ultimately does deliver answers.

If you like stories where family trauma meets legal drama meets generational mess, and you don’t mind flawed characters making deeply questionable choices, Hollow Spaces might just be for you.

John Lo is a Chinese-American law partner at a prestigious (read white) law firm. When he is tried for the murder of an associate with whom he was having an affair, no one at the firm has his back. His wife and young son Hunter think he was guilty. His daughter Brennan thinks he was innocent. Now, 30 years later, the siblings reunite to care for their dying mother. And they agree to set aside their differences, at least temporarily, to find out the truth about their father.

This reads like a Greek tragedy, in which one stupid decision destroys a lot of lives. However, in this case, there are a lot of stupid decisions. No one is likable. This is also a really slutty group, with questionable ethics all around. If this were a drinking game, you would wind up in a coma if you had to take a drink each time there is a sex scene The siblings do not stop bickering until the last few pages of the book.

I liked the writing style. And Hunter (a war correspondent) and Brennan (a lawyer and former prosecutor) make a good investigative team. It is a little too neat that the solution literally falls into their laps. The blurb says that there are dual timelines, but there are many additional flashbacks to other periods, so the time jumps around a great deal. Feodor Chin did a very good job narrating the audiobook.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. Feodor Chin does a wonderful job reading this story!

John Lo is the only chinese attorney in his prestigious NYC law firm. Also, he was arrested and charged with the murder of a firm employee that he was having an affair with. Despite being acquitted, John loses his role in the firm and his family.

Thirty years later, John's wife is dying and his 2 kids are trying to care for her. When they find his documents after her passing, they begin to investigate on their own to discover the truth as to who really killed Jessica.

This is a slow burn story of greed, privilege and racism. I loved all of the characters, their flaws and the layers of the story as they were peeled back. I wish I could say I was surprised by the firm's greed, secrecy and coverup but its actually what I expected from this story. Overall a great read!!

3.6 rounded up. Hunter and his sister, Brennan, were young children when their father, attorney John Lo, had an affair with a colleague and was then tried for (and acquitted of) her murder. Yet the scandal destroyed him, his career, and his family. Now, 30 years later, their mother is dying and the siblings are back in the same city, opening old wounds and using their acquired legal and investigative journalism skills to see if they can find the real killer. It’s an amateur detective story that’s also about family dynamics, friendships, and lies. Everyone has a lot of baggage to unpack.
The writing style is straightforward, but the story is told in three interwoven timelines. There is quite a bit of jumping around which I found confusing and/or disorienting at times. Good narration of the audiobook.
My thanks to the author, publisher, @BrillianceAudio, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook of #HollowSpaces for review purposes. Publication date: 5 August 2025.

Let me reassure anyone who is thinking, like me, that this literary mystery won’t provide answers. It does! I worried it would take the approach that it doesn’t matter what happened, but thankfully it’s not that pretentious! And I think the ending fits.

This is about a whole cast of awful people. 🙃 No one’s very likable. Or rather, you feel sympathetic at times and at other times you’re disgusted. They are fleshed out and real. Mess galore!

At times this had one simile too many for me and got a little melodramatic/soapy. But it was very engaging and had some really intense emotional moments that had me like 😬😬 Suthammanont is talented!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

What a cracking debut! Opening with a taut courtroom scene, Suthammanont manages to both create rippling tension and establish his voice and style (precise, with moments of lyrical introspection), right from the first page.

Hollow Spaces follows the story of two estranged siblings who reluctantly team up to investigate the crime their father was accused of, not necessarily to prove his innocence. This original spin on a classic setup keeps the theme of family dynamics right the heart of the intrigue. It is one of the themes this book touches on that are always of interest to me, along with mixed-race and first-generation identities. These themes seamlessly integrate into the narrative, and the characterisation.

The pacing was precise, keeping the tension of a good legal thriller even as it switched back and forth between the “before” timeline and the “after” timeline. I usually find split timelines weigh down a story, but this wasn't the case here.

The siblings, who are often presented in parallel, had distinct personalities, yet shared many traits that often put them at odds rather than brought them closer, making this a fraught and surprisingly moving portrayal of how families shape us.

Indeed, I didn't expect such an astute emotional portrayal of complicated feelings in a legal thriller. This is clearly a strength of the author as he not only successfully portrayed various complex emotions, but did it with great attention to the subtle influences of gender expectations and cultural sensitivities on how one processes one's own feelings.

In that sense, this is a more character-driven thriller, where discovering the killer is a secondary goal - maybe a symbolic one, even - to the characters confronting their own pasts and feelings, and society's prejudices.

While the story does include some explicit scenes, I never found them gratuitous, instead bringing to light another facet of the characters’ humanity, and of the use of their bodies to convey emotions they keep bottled up.

I received an audio ARC of this book through NetGalley. The narrator had a pleasant voice well-suited to the story, switching between poised gravitas and sharp, action narration.

Thank you to the author, narrator, publisher and Net Galley for providing an ALC of this title.

Racism is gross. Just had to start with that.

At first this book seems like a mystery, but in its core, it's a book about complicated relationships and family. Relationships between siblings, between parents and children. Centering around a man's family after he is acquitted for murder of his girlfriend, illustrating the fallout to his wife and kids. The reader feels the pain, broken trust, unconditional love of a family unit, and how the pain-trust-love cycle repeats itself.

4 stars

This book was a little long but still really good. I did not guess the ending so that is a plus. The narrator was also good. Overall I enjoyed it.

This is a quietly intense and emotionally layered novel exploring identity, family expectations and the sacrifices made in pursuit of the American dream. John, an Asian American lawyer, is trying to find his place in a less-than-inclusive workplace while also balancing the pressures of cultural tradition and ambition.

I often found myself torn between empathising with John and feeling frustrated by the damage he caused, particularly to his wife through his emotional distance and his affair with his coworker, Jessica. The narrative weaves tension into every thread of John’s life, from his personal regrets to the conflicts that build within his family.

The narrator brought real nuance to the characters, especially in the more emotionally charged moments. This is a complex and thoughtful debut that examines how easily hollow spaces form within relationships — and how hard they are to fill. A rich, layered read that lingers long after the final chapter.

This isn't the type of book I normally choose, but something drew me to the synopsis. Perhaps memories of Suits and The Good Wife.

This is a crime mystery, but also a tale of family and the immigrant experience. Racism wrapped up in all the normal exercises of power you'd expect in a legal thriller. And it works. The tale moves between timelines, centring on the Lo family and the legacy of the father, acquitted but not relieved of murder. Children Brennan and Hunter have very different beliefs about what happened, driving their different paths in life, and eventually bringing them back together to find out the truth, using the savvy of their net experiences and skills and the steadfast love of their mother.

The narration by Feodor Chin was compelling and on point.

4.5 stars.

This book hurt me. The Asian racism was gross, the misogyny, the infidelity, the loneliness, the desperation, the betrayal -- it was all so painful. But it was believable and realistic in ways I wasn't prepared for. The sibling relationship between Brennan and Hunter was touching and annoying, as most are. They are both brutal to one another and fiercely loyal, in ways that rang so true and familiar that my heart hurt. The completely different relationship each had with their father was also real and uncomfortable. Their mom was fascinating in the way she both reviled their father, but enabled Brennan's love for him and his innocence despite disagreeing. It was also compelling to witness how alike the siblings were to their father, how his situation had left them both emotionally traumatized and unable to have committed relationships. The whole thing was a heartbreaking mess of emotions.

I'm still recovering.

If you like your mysteries fraught with hard topics, hard situations, and have the empathy to feel the tragedy of this family and an outcome where everyone still suffers, definitely read.

Hollow Spaces is one of those books that quietly pulls you in and keeps you thinking, long after it’s over. The mix of past and present timelines worked so well, especially seeing how John’s choices thirty years ago still mess with Brennan and Hunter’s lives today. I liked the messy family dynamics and how it tackled loyalty, ambition, and what we choose to believe about the people we love. It did feel a little drawn out in spots—some pages could’ve been tighter—but I was still all in. The emotional tension, the mystery, the siblings trying to make sense of their shared past—it hit just right.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars — R for language and tough family stuff.

When Brennan and Hunter's father was acquitted of murder in their childhood, everything fell apart. Not only with the outside world, but within their family. Brennan has always believed in John's innocence. Hunter has always thought he got away with it. John has not been a part of their lives in many years. Now that their mother is dying, Brennan and Hunter are forced to spend time together. They decide to investigate and come up with the truth once and for all.

This is a mystery, but it is also a family saga encompassing 30 years. It shows how one's actions impact everyone around them. Not just immediately, but indefinitely. It also dips into the prejudices non-white Americans have to deal with.

Hollow Spaces is a well rounded novel that had my undivided attention the entire time.

Feodor Chin narrates the audiobook.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.