Susan Choi previously has put herself on the literary radar screen with The Foreign Student and American Woman, both books which approach the concept of people who are social outsiders, through their own perception and behavior and the viewpoint of others. However, she also makes the point that her characters are uniquely and perhaps even prototypically American, although in ways that we might prefer not to be reminded. Her new novel A Person of Interest follows this same theme, striking closer to current present realities by addressing violence on a university campus and the repercussions in one alienated professor's life.

At the beginning of the book, a bomb goes off, and sets in motion not only the destruction and death, grief counseling and memorial services one might expect, but more explicitly to the point of the book a cycle of introspection and investigation into the life of the principal character, a mathematics professor named Lee.

It is should be clearly stated from the outset that Lee is not an endearing individual. In the course of his life, he, somewhat unwittingly yet rather systematically, has alienated himself from fellow faculty members, withdrawn from students, and emotionally cut off family and friends. Why he did this is never entirely clear, perhaps as that would give too much insight into a complex and, as a result, compelling personality, but in the course of the book, one does develop some sympathy for him as misunderstood and misjudged. In spite of his awkward and abrupt social practices, he becomes increasingly intriguing to the reader - and in due course, as a possible suspect, or at least "a person of interest", to the FBI .

Lee's origin is always cloaked in mystery. He is described as coming from a Southeast Asian country, but it is never identified, partly, I'm sure, to maintain the distance that his students and and colleagues must feel, and partly because his behavior implies that there is some trauma, war-induced or otherwise, in his past that he himself would prefer forgotten. In this regard, Ms. Choi's style is supremely effective.

I think Ms. Choi has deliberately created a reading experience that replicates what Lee's students and colleagues might experience by interacting with him. From the start, his actions are accompanied by half-realized motivations and half-articulated or entirely suppressed explanations. He carries his briefcase in front of him like a shield; he dresses in rumpled clothes assuming that because he doesn't pay attention to his appearance, others won't either. By trying to pass silently through the corridors of the university focusing on scholarship and speaking seldom, he ends up creating more extreme reactions than he intends.

When the portion of flashbacks begins to focus on Lee's ex-wife - Aileen, it is a liberating relief to be permitted some variety to the emotional content, and more clarity to his emotional composition. It is here that one begins to understand him and sympathize with him a bit more, although he continues to be insulated from truly understanding how best to connect with those around him. And Ms. Choi has tautly stretched that important line of keeping the reader wanting more with slowly-developing characterization and suspense, but offering just enough to allow continuing engagement.