A Person of Interest: A Novel
by By Choi, Susan
Category: Fiction , Literary

In her gripping new novel, Susan Choi mines the psychology and life of an innocent man suspected of a terrorist's crimes. A thrilling and emotionally profound tour de force from a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a person of interest grapples with the undermining power of suspicion and the toll of regret.Professor Lee, an Asian-born mathematician nearing retirement age, would seem the last person likely to attract the attention of FBI agents. Yet after a popular young colleague becomes the latest victim of a technology-hating psychopath nicknamed the Brain Bomber, Lee's detached response and persistent socially maladroit behavior lead the FBI, the national news media, and even his own neighbors to regard him with damning suspicion.Amid campus-wide grief over the murder, Lee receives a cryptic letter from a figure out of his past and becomes certain an old nemesis is now seeking revenge. The letter unearths a lifetime of Lee's shortcomings - toward his dead wife, his estranged only daughter, and a long-denied son. Caught between his guilty recollections and the merciless scrutiny of the murder investigation, determined to face his tormentor and exonerate himself, Lee sets off on a journey that will bring him face-to-face with his past, and that might even provide him a slender but real chance for redemption.