Point of View

For the most part, the author uses a close first person perspective focusing on Jacob Portman. He tells his story using the pronouns "we" and "I". Through this tightly focused narration, the reader only sees actions through Jacob's eyes. As with most first person perspectives, sometimes Jacob is unreliable. When events take place while he is not present, the reader does not get access to that action. Accordingly, this tight perspective forces Riggs to maintain the pacing of his novel by bombarding Jacob with tragedies and troubles. Since the perspective does not shift between Jacob and another character, Riggs must push Jacob forward in order to keep the sense of suspense that he desperately seeks to cultivate in his novel. A side effect of Jacob's narration is his unreliability.

Since all characters in Hollow City are fallible and can misunderstand both each other and the...