The Dark Maestro by Brendan Slocumb

Ages 18+

Classical music prodigy Curtis Wilson has it all figured out after making it out of inner city DC. He’s worked his way through Juilliard and is now performing a solo with the New York Philharmonic on his beloved cello.

However, his father, Zippy, and Zippy’s long time girlfriend Larissa, who has been a mother figure to Curtis since he was small, have other ideas. Zippy is a midlevel drug dealer and gets into it with the drug kingpin, leaving the whole family no choice but to enter witness protection and to upend their entire lives. Curtis is determined to get them out of this mess, but can he do it before it’s too late? I finished Slocumb’s 600 page novel in 3 days because it was so propulsive and I couldn’t put it down. I’ll read anything he writes!

Thanks to Netgalley for a review copy of this book.