Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this upcoming book! I absolutely love everything I've read from this author. I love how well he writes musical elements intertwined with a fascinating storylines. This one, though still very enjoyable wasn't my favorite of his. I loved the beginning and the ending of the book but the middle dragged for me. I don't want to say too much about it due to spoilers but the plot was a little bit stagnate in the middle third. Though the author used the comic book storyline to amp things up a little bit I found the comic book plots to be a little dull. I feel like the book either needed full on comic book depictions during this part or to do less about writing out the comic book plots in general. I really enjoyed the action at the end third of the book. All things considered it was still an enjoyable read with lots of memorable moments and characters.

I loved this book! The characters were well-written, and I could really picture the action and settings as they were happening. I loved the way the story followed the plot line of a superhero comic. It was so suspenseful and fun to read!

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Doubleday for the DRC of #TheDarkMaestro. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

With his debut novel "The Violin Conspiracy", Brenda Slocumb created the genre mash-up of musical arts/thriller/mystery. The Dark Maestro stretches it into new territory.

Curtis is a cello prodigy, being raised by his drug-dealing dad in the projects of DC. When Curtis is on the brink of stardom, his family is taken into protective custody so his dad can help the FBI break up a blackmarket organ harvesting operation. When the FBI fails to capture the kingpin behind the whole operation, the Dark Maestro emerges as Curtis and his family take matters into their own hands.

The back half of this story felt was a little far-fetched, but I was already in love with the characters so I went along for the ride. Not my favorite of Slocumb's novels, but still an enjoyable read.

I am a huge fan of Brendan Slocumb and his new novel lives up to the hype! This has everything I come to look for in a Slocumb work - a main character we love to root for, a mystery I can't solve, and a way of teaching empathy that I rarely come across with other authors.

The Dark Maestro follows Curtis through a tumultuous childhood and into an even less stable adulthood as he navigates his passion and talent for music. Though we love Curtis as soon as we meet him, I also greatly enjoyed experiencing the book through Larissa's POV - we get to learn a lot from her, and I had a great time moving through the story with her quick wit.

My only wish for this book would be to experience a tiny bit more of the music from Curtis himself. In his previous two novels, I feel like we really got to experience the main character actually creating and performing a lot of music, and the entire story felt music-centric. When Curtis is ripped away from his life, the reader is also a bit separated from a musical plot line. The rest of the story really lacks any connection to music and Curtis's cello, especially in comparison to The Violin Conspiracy and Symphony of Secrets. This was only slightly resolved by the sub-plot of the Dark Maestro comic.

Big thanks to Brendan Slocumb, Doubleday, and NetGalley for a copy of this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was a big fan of Brendan Slocumb's first two books. This one, not so much. Dark Maestro starts strong. Curtis is making his debut solo appearance with the New York Philharmonic. A young black man, raised in the DC projects, with a criminal father, he defied all expectations. But at the end of the performance, the FBI whisks him away into hiding. His father has been involved with a major criminal organization and when caught, provided evidence requiring the family to enter WITSEC as the major kingpins were never caught. Slocum does a great job painting the whole WITSEC process and the way it destroys Curtis’s planned life. Larissa, his dad’s girlfriend, enlists Curtis’s help to start creating YouTube comics and that takes off but puts them at risk. It started going off the rails for me when the three of them decided they could find the kingpins the FBI had failed to find. One’s enjoyment of this book will depend on your desire to have the plot be at all believable. I’m one who wants my stories somewhat mired in the possible. Fans of thrillers, willing to totally suspend belief, will probably enjoy this more.
I did find the three main characters all well done and believable. They were easy to envision.
The Author’s Note is an intricate part of the story and should not be missed.
My thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday Books for an advance copy of this book.

Curtis Wilson is growing up in Washington, D.C. His father, Zippy, deals drugs, and his mother is absent from his life. He has been raised primarily by Larissa, his father's on-and-off girlfriend. Curtis loves reading comic books and playing the cello. Despite everything working against him, he is a true musical prodigy. Just as things start looking promising for Curtis, his father's illegal activities put his future in jeopardy. After deciding to cooperate with the FBI, the family has to go on the run from a group of merciless criminals. Can a Black cello virtuoso remain unnoticed? And how can Curtis integrate his passion for comic books during his time in hiding? It's time to create The Dark Maestro. 

Author Brendan Slocumb is also a violinist and educator. In The Dark Maestro, he combines his musical expertise and interest in comic books into a fast-paced thriller that follows a family's quest to reclaim their lives. Curtis is a great character. While some parts of the plot require a suspension of disbelief, it doesn't detract from the enjoyment of this creative story.

I was a big fan of Slocumb's first two novels and was very excited to read this one.

I was so excited to read this because I absolutely loved both The Violin Conspiracy and Symphony of Secrets! This was quite a departure from Brendan Slocumb's first two books though, and the shift didn't quite work for me.

The book is split into five parts, and the first was my favorite. I loved following Curtis's journey to becoming a young comic book-loving cello prodigy with the backdrop of his father Zippy and his father's girlfriend Larissa's hustle and grind lifestyles. The subsequent parts built up the tension as Zippy's work caught up to him and the family had to enter witness protection. Unfortunately, the last two parts took the story in a hard-right turn which verged on unbelievable and absurd at times.

Still, I appreciate the idea and loved that the author tried to marry his two lifelong passions, music and comic books, into one story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Fans of Brendan Slocumb will not be disappointed with The Dark Maestro. While it has a slightly different feel than his other books, I think he wrote the book he really wanted to write, and his author’s note helps that all make sense! We still get plenty of music and I loved that the focus was on the main character’s relationship with his father. It releases next month so be on the look out for The Dark Maestro!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my review.

Curtis Wilson, his father Zippy, and surrogate mother Larissa live in the Washington DC projects. Curtis receives a cello through a charitable organization when he is 5 years old, and it changes his life. He immerses himself into practicing his cello, attends Julliard, and his goal is to become a cello soloist with major orchestras. He is so close to achieving his goal when his family's life comes crashing down due to his father's drug dealing. His life is forever changed and his family is on the run.

I have read both of Brendan Slocumb's other books and love how they are infused with classical music and musicians, a theme which is continued in this book. In addition, this novel brings in superheros, comics and animated videos, juxtaposing them with both classical music and rap. The chapters alternate between the three main characters - Curtis, Zippy and Larissa - each bringing their own point of view and enhancing the development of each character. The themes of class struggle, the importance of family, commitment, haves and have-nots, goals and success are all addressed. Overall, quite a page-turner!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for an advanced reader copy to review in exchange for an honest opinion. This book will be published May 13, 2025.

Read more of my reviews at https://thegoodreader13.blogspot.com/.

I was very excited to read Brendan Slocumb’s third book, thank you NetGalley! Although it is very different in tone and in plot from his first two books, it was a great book that explored some new themes. Truly a family drama, it's about a Cellist prodigy coming from the gritty, drug ridden part of DC, and you get a tight knit family that has each other’s backs. The father, Zippy, a drug dealer who has set his sights on better things, and a step mom, Larissa, who works with battered women. Of course there is also Curtis, the child prodigy who loves his cello so much and I wish my child loved to practice as much as he does! As the plot progresses, you can tell the author is using some fantastical and wish fulfillment storylines for his own healing, and I truly love this about the story. I also enjoyed the family dynamics and that even though they came from some tough backgrounds, they always loved each other and tried to do their best in the world. It also begs the question - if you are working for someone that seems to be too good to be true, is just doing your job enough? Or should you be asking where the underlying money comes from?

Wow. The Dark Maestro will keep you on the edge of your seat as you read to see what will happen next. The author Brendan Slocumb has combined the worlds of Classical music, rap, comic books, black market organ donation, forensic accounting, crime syndicates, and the local, state, federal, and international policing agencies into this extraordinary novel that follows music prodigy Curtis Wilson and his family as they navigate life. The story will keep you guessing until the very end. I highly recommend this book.

This was such a wild ride. Having read Brendan Slocumb’s first novel, The Violin Conspiracy, I was really excited about this. It tackled many real life issues but also eventually asks the reader to suspend disbelief. Overall I really enjoyed it so much but a star comes off because I was pretty disappointed with the ending and some of the questionable choices made by the main characters. The ending didn’t make sense to me and felt all for nothing, and some of the violent actions just did not fit the character’s at all. But beyond that it was a really great story. I will definitely get to Symphony of Secrets soon since I never got to it! Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for the ARC!

This book is vastly different from his previous novels which I loved. Curtis is a child prodigy on the cello. He lives in the poor part of town and dreams of making it on stage to play with symphony. His father Zippy, is a drug dealer and at first believes him always practicing is a waste of time. His boss sees Curtis on the television and now invites the family to barbecues and to perform as he is impressed with Curtis.

Curtis has trouble fitting in at school and often gets picked on. He leans into comic books as his way to escape reality. When his life gets turned upside by his father landing them in witness protection he invents his own comic hero Dark Maestro. He sets out to get his life back to performing.

His father claimed to always have his back but was rarely there for him and was hard to read about the neglect he lived with. Larissa had a heart of gold and truly loved Curtis and nurtured him.

Doubleday Books provided an early galley for review.

I have been a fan for Slocumb's novels for the past several years, so I was very excited to see the listing for his latest one. I correctly concluded that I was in for another good reading experience.

The narration bounces between the three lead characters (Curtis, Zippy and Larissa) as the story unfolds across the years. From the set-up chapters, we get a good sense of who they are, the world they are coming from, and what they do to survive in it. The story momentum builds to a fevered pitch over the last third of the novel.

As a comic book fan, I enjoyed the added touch of Curtis' reference to comics. For those in that loop, they serve as nice Easter eggs. They are more than just character-quirks as comics do tie into the plot of the story. Per his notes in the back, the author is also a big fan.

Slocumb also ties in the musical elements as this is something he knows personally from his own life. This is a signature component across all of his novels to date. There is also a bit of worldbuilding going on as a few things in this novel tie into earlier works as well, thus setting the books in a shared world.

This novel is quite different from the first two which I would call historical mysteries. We learned backstories of the main characters and then well plotted mysteries were woven into the stories.

I would call this novel a family drama with suspenseful elements!

This novel grabbed me from the beginning! We are introduced to one of our main protagonists, Curtis Wilson. At age 5 Curtis is introduced to music and then to the cello after his school music teacher quickly learns how naturally talented he is.

Curtis lives with his father Zippy. They live in the very worst areas of inner city DC and he makes a living dealing drugs.

Larissa is Zippy’s live-in girlfriend and loves Curtis and does everything she can to help him advance his musical talents.

The novel has a great blurb explaining how many things go wrong in this trio’s life and how they attempt to get their lives back after having to enter the Witness Protection Program. Curtis’s blooming career playing with esteemed orchestras is over - seemingly forever!

Where this novel started to lose me was about half way through. It was a struggle for me to keep interest in the workings of gang and cartel related activities!

When the novel took a sharp twist into comic-book heroes and podcasts - I admit to starting to skim portions of the book to finish it.

This book was a disappointment for me. After reading the Author’s Notes I learned a bit about why Mr. Slocum wrote this novel - but I will leave that for the next reader to discover.

This is a well written family drama but the mystery elements were missing which I had enjoyed so much in the first two novels.

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.

Slocumb has written a dynamic third novel set in the world of music. 5 year old Curtis is given the opportunity to play the cello and it quickly becomes his world. Recognized as a virtuoso, supported by his dad and his long time girlfriend, this is Curtis’s ticket out of poverty. He’s thriving until his accountant father is criminally charged and turns in evidence against his bosses. The family’s only hope is to enter witness protection, meaning the end of all music, hopes and dreams for Curtis. Filled with compelling characters, a loving family, this is a novel about music, human relations, starting over and loyalty toward each other. A tour de force.

Brendan Slocumb can do no wrong in my literary opinion. As a former violinist turned librarian, his novels really hit my sweet spot. This one is full of Slocumb's edgy intrigue and tantalizing plot twists. The music, while a key part of the story is not central to the plot of hiding from comic book level bad guys wanting to do a family harm in horrific ways. Because of that, I didn't have as deep a connection to the story as I did with Symphony of Secrets where I spent several minutes weeping at the conclusion. Nevertheless, the music is there and the story is well-paced and grabs. Thanks Brendan for another great read!

There is something powerful about playing an instrument. Is it how the instrument draws you in with its sound that captures your soul? Is it how the musician focuses intently on understanding it, let alone mastering it? Is it how the people around you are affected by it and how it can change your lives forever? Or is it that the music lives within us far beyond after we put our instruments down?
"The Dark Maestro" by Brendan Slocumb examines these questions and more in this (in my humble opinion), summer blockbuster of the season! The mystery and suspense in this thriller is intense (in a very good way). There were times when I could not put the book down. I loved how the main character connected so strongly with the cello-thus resonated with me (no pun intended) as a kid who also learned through their after-school program. However, the author's note at the end is what really ties this book together into something more. In a time when we are looking for superheroes, can we answer the call and put on the cape ourselves?

@brendanslocumb I have no words-you have outperformed yourself again. Bravo and 🌟 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Huge thanks to @doubledaybooks and @netgalley for the eARC. This book, fittingly enough, comes out May 13 (before the Memorial Day blockbuster weekend). If you love mystery/thriller, cellos, and justice, do yourself a favor and get this book! #netgalley #thedarkmaesto #bookstagram #read #music #violin

The author of The Violin Conspiracy and Symphony of Secrets, Mr. Brendan Slocumb’s third musical masterpiece, The Dark Maestro delivers another gripping but yet thrilling mystery, blending it with music and suspense.
The story follows Curtis a talented musician whose world is upended when his family is jeopardized by a series of forces of hidden in the dark. As they navigate the world of classical music, secrets unravel, putting everything at risk. Mr. Slocumb’s ability build to add tension into his story is beautifully written and woven into the story as if it is just a part of the melodic part of the character’s journey.

4.25 ⭐️

THE DARK MAESTRO by Brendan Slocumb

This novel had a really intriguing, and taken-from-real-life, premise. Curtis is a young, accomplished cellist with a father named Zippy who is earning a living working for a Bad Guy. After a prison stint, Zippy gets involved in an *interesting* business proposition that has the whole family fearing for their lives.

➕ This had a really engaging plot with some unique aspects. Was it a little *too* much in terms of being a little far-fetched? Maybe, but it was still really interesting and I kept wanting to read it.
➕ It was easy to empathize with Curtis.
➕ I really liked how the family collaborated on its project.

➖ There was a lot in this novel in terms of subjects brought up and themes. When I thought about what I wanted more of and less of, I thought the author gave a balanced lens to each item. Maybe it’s more than I can’t wholeheartedly give this novel more than 4.25 stars because of the suspension of disbelief and the sheer quantity of areas brought up.

If you’re a fan of Brendan Slocumb, this one definitely has more plot than THE VIOLIN CONSPIRACY. Actually, at many points when I was reading this, I thought I was reading an S.A. Cosby action-packed novel. (That’s quite a compliment!) I thought it was a strong novel, yet more unique.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

It publishes May 13, 2025.