Reviewers describes this book as an addictive legal thriller. Liberty Hardy describes it this way: "This stunning debut is a family drama, courtroom thriller, and a mystery, all of which add up to one of the most incredible novels... The Miracle Submarine is an experimental medical treatment device, essentially a pressurized oxygen chamber, run by Korean immigrants Young and Pak Yoo in rural Virginia. Though it's first considered revolutionary, public opinion turns against the device when it explodes, killing two people and tearing a community apart. Who is at fault? As the trial at the heart of the book unfolds, we gradually learn about the town, its secrets, and how the Yoos' hopes and dreams became a nightmare. I was absolutely floored by this book! It had so many important, heartbreaking messages about immigration, parenting, and responsibility. And knowing that Kim herself is a Korean immigrant, a former trial lawyer, and mother to a 'submarine' patient, lends a whole additional level of credibility to the book."

This compulsively readable literary mystery begins when a father vanishes in a D.C. area park—and the only witness to his disappearance is his 14-year-old autistic son, who doesn’t speak and thus lacks the means to verbally communicate with his family about what happened. What begins as a missing persons case quickly develops into an even more ominous investigation. First-person narrator Mia, a college student at home in 2020 due to the pandemic, takes us deep inside the workings of her Korean-American family as she relays all that unfolds during the bewildering three days following her father’s disappearance. Kim incorporates elements of music, numerology, language therapy, and more into this riveting blend of family saga and ticking-clock procedural thriller. You’ll see this on my Best of the Year list.