Brendan Slocumb's gripping third novel, The Dark Maestro, takes readers on a breathless ride through the worlds of classical music, illegal drugs, and witness protection, as a young Black superstar cellist fights the drug lords who sent him into hiding.
Growing up in the projects of southeastern Washington, D.C., cello prodigy Curtis Wilson's music gains him access to a new life: glittering concert halls, a Juilliard degree, widespread acclaim. But when his dad, Zippy, gives evidence to the FBI that implicates his former bosses, Curtis and Zippy (and Zippy's longtime partner, Larissa) must go into hiding to survive. Bereft without his music, Curtis eventually hatches a plan to get his life back by tapping into the "Dark Maestro" superhero persona he imagined as a kid.
Slocumb (Symphony of Secrets; The Violin Conspiracy) highlights the contrasts between the rarefied classical music realm Curtis enters and the desperately poor one of his childhood: opulent receptions versus cockroach-infested slums, privilege and power instead of addiction and hopelessness. Larissa, a former drug runner herself, has found her life's purpose in helping young women obtain a way out, aiding them with job training, child care, and emotional support. Her ability to straddle the underworld and the legitimate workforce proves valuable in Curtis's quest, as does Zippy's talent for numbers and spreadsheets, plus their collective determination to succeed where the FBI failed.
Propulsive and gritty, yet suffused with the fierce love of family, The Dark Maestro weaves together themes of ambition, justice, and stubborn hope--with a side of fiendishly clever musical revenge. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams