The Dark Maestro

This is Brendan Slocumb's "impressive third thriller" (Publishers Weekly). Here is the plot summary from Library Journal:

"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 bring readers along on a journey that comic book fans will appreciate." 

Publishers Weekly concludes their favorable review by saying, "Slocumb effectively incorporates issues of class and race into the well-paced story, for example by prompting readers to wonder if Curtis would have to go so deep undercover if he were white instead of one of the few elite Black cellists. Though the narrative requires more than a little suspension of disbelief, it’s worth sticking around for the nerve-jangling climax. This is as stimulating as a well-played sonata."  Similarly, Kirkus offers thiese favorable closing comments: "This is an intricately plotted novel, paced perfectly by Slocumb, who keeps the book moving at a breakneck speed—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 Briar Club

This historical novel by Kate Quinn had me from the first chapter. I previously read her book The Alice Network, which was also based on some actual people as well as actual events-- the reason I love historical mysteries.  This one is set in Washington D.C. in the early to mid-50's, during the height of McCarthy's "red scare" terror campaign. Several women who live in a down-at-the-heels women's boarding house are converted from strangers passing in the night to a tightly knit group of friends by the actions of one woman, Grace March. We are provided chapters from each woman's point of view with information about their histories, their dreams and their insecurities. Nobody is fully who they appear to be and the characters are ones you will cheer for--for the most part. Also the two children in the house, Pete and Lina, mistreated by their mother and apparently abandoned by their father, are taken under Grace's and then everyone else's care. We know from the beginning that a murder or two has been committed--this current situation is being narrated by the house itself--and the rest of the book provides the backstory to the present events. Wonderful characters, rich settings, and a twisty surprise at the end. Highly recommended.

Here is Publishers Weekly's summary of plot and characters: "when widowed 30-something Grace March arrives at Briarwood. She meets Fliss, a harried new mother; Bea, a former pro baseball player; Claire, a file clerk for Sen. Margaret Chase Smith; Nora, an employee of the National Archives; and Arlene, a secretary for the House Un-American Activities Committee who’s fully embraced the hysterical rhetoric of her boss, Sen. Joseph McCarthy. As the women bond, clash, and pursue various romantic entanglements, they remain committed to holding weekly dinner parties in Grace’s room. As Quinn gradually steers the narrative back toward the violent opening scene, she elegantly explores issues of race, class, and gender, and brings the paranoid atmosphere of McCarthy-era Washington to vivid life."

 

Never Go Back

This novel in the "Jack Reacher" series by Lee Child is predictable, but also predictably satisfying as are the other Reacher books I have read. Reacher has been carrying on lengthy phone conversations with the current commander of the 110th MP, the unit he used to command. Her name is Susan Turner and, for no other reason than because he likes her voice, he has traveled back to DC to ask her to dinner. And because Reacher lives his life the way he does, with no more baggage than a folding toothbrush, he can do just that. But someone is expecting Reacher and has some surprises in store for him, including a paternity suit from a woman he claims not to know, and a wrongful death suit--validated only by affadavit--regarding a man Reacher says he never laid a hand on. To top it off, Major Turner has been incarcerated on bribery charges that very day. Reacher gets "called up" by the acting commander, essentially re-enlisted, and then arrested and imprisoned. Even before that, however, tough guys were sent to Reacher's motel room to try and scare him into leaving town. And we all know Reacher never walks away from a fight. And now he figures that all these trumped up charges have something to do with him coming back to see Turner. So he finds a way to break them both out of prison so they can figure out what the hell is going on that is so important, and who is pulling the strings at such a high level. For the pursuers seem to know their every move mere minutes after they make them in spite of their best efforts to cover their tracks. They head to California to find out if Reacher really has a daughter he didn't know about, with the DC metro police, the FBI and the secret enemies all in pursuit. Of course he will best the bad buys, solve the mystery, and walk away without the girl. That's what Reacher does, and you'll be rooting for him all the way.