Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Devoted: A Novel by Catherine Cho

 

Catherine Cho is a literary agent and the founder of her own literary agency. She wrote a critically acclaimed memoir that was shortlisted for the Sunday Times' Young Writer of the Year Award, the Jhalak Prize, and a New York Times' Editor's Choice.  Her debut novel, The Devoted (Washington Square Press, July 14, 2026) is a compelling tale of a young woman who is born into the shadow of transnational crime syndicates and has to decide what she will do about it. I found her character to be similar to a young Michael Corleone who also was determined to move outside his family’s lawlessness.

Told in flashbacks between childhood and maturity, the story describes Eunha growing up with her older brother in Hong Kong in the care of her grandmother, her mother’s mother, in an isolated cottage. Her mother is institutionalized for some vague illness. A caretaker whom Eunha eventually realizes is a personal security officer assigned by her father is omnipresent. His nephew appears periodically and joins the family. Eunha’s father visits occasionally, focusing his attention on his son.

By the time Eunha reaches her late teens, she understands that her father is a Dragon, the head of a Triad, and that her brother will follow her father into the world of organized crime. She marries into what she believes is an ordinary family but she learns when her son is kidnapped that the shadow of her family and its activities is far-reaching.

Cho’s writing is lavish with imagery and opulent turns of phrase. It’s often at odds with the gritty world it describes. The cultural melting pot of Hong Kong simmers in the background, contrasting mainland Chinese, British colonialists, and immigrants from elsewhere in the East, all of whom settled on the island that serves as a bridge between East and West. Hong Kong’s status as a financial nucleus in the East is a magnet for many, including the Triads.

The Devoted is a compulsive piece of crime fiction and I expect to see it on many of the nominations lists for 2026 awards. Starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist.

 

·         Publisher: ‎Washington Square Press

·         Publication date: ‎July 14, 2026

·         Language: ‎English

·         Print length: ‎256 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎1668099462

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-1668099469

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4aNsCXA

 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.