THE DARK MAESTRO
Preorder From:
AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOKS A MILLION | BOOKSHOP | HUDSON BOOKSELLERS | WALMART | POWELL’S | TARGET | BOOKMARKS
PREORDER TODAY
From the author of The Violin Conspiracy and Symphony of Secrets comes a mesmerizing page-turner about a young Black musical virtuoso who’s forced into hiding when his family runs afoul of a ruthless criminal organization - and how he uses fights back, using music to bring his enemies to justice.
Curtis Wilson is a cello prodigy, growing up in the Southeast D.C. projects with a drug dealer for a father. But through determination and talent, and the loving support of his father’s girlfriend Larissa, Curtis claws his way out of his challenging circumstances and rises to unimagined heights in the classical music world—even soloing with the New York Philharmonic.
And then, suddenly, his life disintegrates. His father, Zippy, turns state evidence, implicating his old bosses to the FBI. Now the family—Curtis included—must enter the witness protection program if they want to survive. This means Curtis must give up the very thing he loves most: sharing his extraordinary musical talents with the world. When Zippy’s bosses prove too elusive for law enforcement to convict them, Curtis, Zippy, and Larissa realize that their only chance of survival is to take on the cartel themselves.
A propulsive and moving story about sacrifice, loyalty, and the indomitable human spirit, The Dark Maestro is Slocumb at the height of his powers.
PRAISE
“Slocumb’s (Symphony of Secrets) new novel, a musical literary thriller, illustrates the shady side of a life of crime but also the beauty of the strings in the symphony. Curtis Wilson is a child prodigy on the cello who received his instrument through a free school program. His father, Zippy, is a low-level drug dealer in Washington, DC, who doesn’t have much time for his son. But Zippy’s girlfriend Larissa sees and encourages Curtis’s musical potential while gifting him the comic books he devours. While, Zippy’s boss moves Zippy into a higher but sketchier business position, Curtis earns a spot at Julliard and is becoming known nationwide as a star cellist. Then his father turns state’s evidence and the family is moved into witness protection, putting a hold on Curtis’s skyrocketing musical career. The family comes together, however, while in hiding to create an online comic book called The Dark Maestro and to pick up where the FBI has left off on a quest for justice.
VERDICT The twists of the story keep coming, and the thread of superhero comics and the Dark Maestro brings readers along on a journey that comic book fans will appreciate.”
“A cello prodigy takes on merciless criminals.
The latest classical music–themed thriller from Slocumb follows Curtis Wilson, who grows up in Washington, D.C., with Zippy, his drug-dealer father, and Larissa, Zippy’s on-again, off-again girlfriend. Curtis loves two things: comic books and the cello, which he plays at a startlingly advanced level. Zippy gets busted for selling drugs and goes to prison while Curtis continues his ascent as a musical prodigy, earning a scholarship to Juilliard; when Zippy is released, he leaves behind his drug-dealing life—for an even sketchier, and more illegal, black-market scheme. Zippy gets busted again, this time by the FBI, and agrees to cooperate with the feds to bring down his bosses, but things go south, and the family enters the witness protection program, hoping to stay safe from Zippy’s vengeful employers. Curtis chafes against his forced anonymity: “Music had been his way of connecting….How could he talk to people, how could he explain how he felt and make them like him, without music? It just didn’t seem possible.” Eventually, he realizes he’ll need to take down the criminals himself, with the help of Zippy, Larissa, and a comic book character he originally created as a child. This is an intricately plotted novel, paced perfectly by Slocumb, who keeps the book moving at a breakneck pace—but not at the expense of his beautifully drawn characters. Curtis, shy and sweet, is especially memorable; Slocumb paints a beautiful picture of the young man’s internal life. The final act of the book strains credulity, but who cares when you’re having so much fun? This novel should catapult Slocumb into the upper echelon of thriller authors.
A virtuosic thriller.”
“The Dark Maestro is my favorite kind of book—one that keeps you riveted in the moment, turning pages feverishly. But then, long after you’re done, the book creeps into your mind and lingers. Packed with a love of music, injected with the elements of the best kind of thrillers, and told through the prism of an unforgettable protagonist, The Dark Maestro is a tour de force and a book unlike any other. I loved it.
— Alex Segura, bestselling author of Alter Ego and Secret Identity
“Move over Daredevil, step aside Dark Knight. Cellist by day, bringer of justice by night, the domino-mask wearing Curtis Wilson, his shady pops and the old man’s fearless girlfriend constitute a kind of Terrific Three for these tough times. That is if they manage to not get their heads blown off trying to get out from under. Great reading.”
—Gary Phillips, author of Ash Dark as Night