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Book Summary and Reviews of The Dark Maestro by Brendan Slocumb

The Dark Maestro by Brendan Slocumb

The Dark Maestro

A Novel

by Brendan Slocumb

  • Publishes:
  • May 13, 2025, 416 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

From the author of The Violin Conspiracy and Symphony of Secrets comes a mesmerizing page-turner about a musical virtuoso who's forced into hiding when his family runs afoul of a ruthless criminal organization—and how he uses 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. They must create new identities and draw on their unique talents, including Curtis's musical ability, to go after the people who want them dead. But will it be enough to keep Curtis and his family alive?

A propulsive and moving story about sacrifice, loyalty, and the indomitable human spirit, The Dark Maestro is Slocumb at the height of his powers.

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This information about The Dark Maestro was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Brendan Slocumb

Brendan Slocumb was raised in Fayetteville, NC, and holds a degree in music education (with concentrations in violin and viola) from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. For more than twenty years he has been a public and private school music educator and has performed with orchestras throughout northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC.

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