Hollow Man

Dominic, the unreliable narrator of this devilishly clever and suspenseful standalone from Pryor (The Bookseller and four other Hugo Marston novels), is a Brit who moved to Austin, Tex., as a teenager. Now a successful prosecutor, he learns to his dismay that he has been reassigned to the Juvenile Justice Center—a demotion in both status and pay. A ladies’ man and singer-songwriter who performs in local clubs for the exposure, Dominic also has a gap in his soul (“It’s like I’m hollow”). When best friend Gus Cronstedt, an immigration lawyer, presents the idea for a payroll heist, Dominic—now strapped for cash—quickly hijacks the operation. Dominic drafts his odd-duck roommate with whom he barely speaks, Tristan Bell, and ex-cop Otto Bland as his cohorts, with a mysterious seductress in a green dress looped in as well. But the ostensibly foolproof robbery soon hits snag after snag, topped by a double homicide. As the mishaps escalate for the conspirators, so does the suspense, culminating in a denouement worthy of the neo-noir film classic The Usual Suspects. Agent: Ann Collette, Rees Literary Agency. (Sept.)