Hollow Man

By Mark Pryor

“As sharp and slick as a switchblade—both excellent entertainment and an acute psychological portrait. Add Mark Pryor to your must-read list—I have.”

—LEE CHILD, #1 New York Times–bestselling author

Dominic is a prosecutor, a musician, and an Englishman living in Texas. He's also a psychopath.

His main goal is to hide his condition and lead a seemingly normal life in hopes to pay off his debts and become a full-time musician in Austin's  club scene. But on one lousy day his carefully-controlled world starts to shatter: he's demoted at work and accused of stealing a fellow musician's song. 

He also meets a beautiful woman in a lime green dress--perhaps the biggest threat to his safety of all. At her urging, Dominic hatches a plan to steal a van he knows will be filled with cash. He picks two friends as accomplices, insisting on no guns and no violence. But a security guard catches them in the act and simple theft turns into capital murder. 

Cracks start to show in the conspiracy and, with no allegiance to anyone but himself, Dominic has to decide whether to stick by his partners in crime, or let his true nature come out to play.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Sep 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781633880870

Reviews for Hollow Man

[bookappeal · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Dominic is a British prosecutor living and playing music in Austin, Texas, when he gets the news that his parents have died. Dom isn't sad. He doesn't "do" emotions like love, compassion, or fear. But he does feel anger and disappointment when, on the same day, he gets demoted at work and banned from playing his favorite gig. And he feels lust when he makes eye contact with the pale girl in the lime-green dress who proposes a crazy scheme that could solve his financial problems. Author Mark Pryor creates a narrator who is unreliable partly because he's a psychopath who doesn't think and feel the way we expect. But he has a brilliant mind for planning and manipulation and uses it to entertaining effect as he plans the perfect crime. As often happens, the plan goes sideways, sending Dom and his companions into an avalanche of unexpected consequences. Some readers will have a difficult time connecting with Dom. Other readers will guess at parts of the ending from clues left along the way but will still likely enjoy the plot's twists and turns.

[zmagic69 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I loved this author's book, The Bookseller, but this book was just too dry. Dominic, the main character is a very dark man, a sociopath, but instead of writing this character as sinister, or slightly humorous, the author just walks you through the story and the crime. The writing is fine but the book was boring.

[jfe16 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Review of Advance Reading CopyIn Austin, Texas, British émigré Dominic works for the district attorney’s office. His outlet, if you will, is playing his guitar in the local clubs.On this day, Fate has conspired against Dominic: first, an unexpected and unwanted transfer to a position that will earn him a lower salary; then, an accusation of stealing someone else’s music bars him from playing in any of the local clubs. He meets an enigmatic woman, and becomes involved in a robbery plot with the possibility of a very large payday. But, as always, Dominic is constantly keeping his true nature under wraps. Dominic is a sociopath.Even though readers will find it particularly difficult to empathize with Dominic, the characters peopling this tale are well-developed and interesting; Dominic will dare readers to commiserate with him. The plot, centered on what Dominic will choose to do when things go awry, offers some unexpected twists and turns, keeping readers off-balance and setting the stage for the final Machiavellian dénouement. Although some readers will find the coarse language off-putting, this is, nonetheless, a dark, gritty, and cunning tale that many will find difficult to set aside before turning the final page.Recommended.

[souleswanderer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I picked up the debut novel by Mark Pryor a year ago, based on the title The Bookseller, and was instantly hooked with his protagonist Hugo Marston. Obviously, I’m not the only person enjoying his series as there is already a fifth book in publication. So I was a little hesitant when I was handed a standalone book titled Hollow Man, even with the Lee Child blurb on the front cover, I was worried it wouldn’t live up to my expectations. Rather it pushed the bar higher on the talent-o-meter of this author. From the start we are immersed in Dominic’s world; a British native practicing law in Texas with a passion for songwriting. It doesn’t take long for the author to pull at one little thread, and slowly Dominic’s world begins to unravel. He experiences a demotion at work, cut in pay, accusations of stealing someone’s song, all of which leads to disillusionment with doing what is right. Hearing from his closest friend about a ‘fool-proof’ heist, who can blame him for reflecting on it as a solution to his current troubles?Involving his roommate, an unhappy security officer at the end of his tarnished career, and a mysterious woman that has recently entered his life, a meticulously planned operation is devised. As in life, the unexpected occurs and suddenly Dominic is immersed in a cat and mouse chase as the carefully planned heist turns into a deadly shootout with plenty of unexpected consequences. With solid characters, and a slight hint of Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter reflecting off of Dominic, this isn’t for anyone expecting a cozy or Disney ending. Rather I found the subject and main character just flawed enough to grab hold of my interest and never let it go. The author stepped outside of the box on this novel and it is well worth investing a few hours of your time into. Now I’m off to purchase the rest of his series.

[arubabookwoman · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Dom is a DA in Austin He is excellent at his job. He is also a psychopath (or as he prefers to describe himself, a sociopath). He does his best to hide his condition--trying to fit in with others, who he calls "empaths." Of course, there was that incident when he was a teenager when he killed someone in a hunting "accident." But mostly he has taught himself to fit in, that is until one day circumstances lead him to fall in with a group planning to commit the perfect crime.I (mostly) enjoyed this book, but I have one big problem with it. It is narrated in the first person by Dom, which could have been fine, and I found his voice authentic. But as the plot evolves, there are events that are presented as mysterious (and unexplained to Dom our narrator), but as the novel advances we come to learn that Dom really knew about these things all along, perhaps even did these things. I like novels with unreliable narrators, but this goes beyond that. Dom is telling the story, and it doesn't make sense and isn't realistic for him to describe events he knows all about as if he is just discovering them for the first time.2 1/2 stars.