A Person Of Interest

A Person of Interest by Susan Choi is a quietly gripping literary fiction novel that follows a shy, near‑retirement mathematician whose life is upended when violence touches his university. Professor Lee expects to spend his days absorbed in numbers and routines, but after a celebrated colleague is attacked with a mail bomb, the FBI’s interest — and his neighbours’ suspicion — shifts alarmingly close to home.

As scrutiny tightens, Lee is pushed into a kind of reluctant self-audit. Moving between present-day unease and the memories he’d rather keep sealed, he revisits the decisions that shaped him as a scholar, husband and father, and the private costs of a life built on careful distance.

Perfect for readers who love campus novels, psychological realism and character-driven stories about identity, loyalty and regret — especially if you enjoy morally complex narrators and slow-burning tension.

Add this one to your stack and let its questions linger well after the final page.