The Dark Maestro by Brendan Slocumb

 genre: contemporary fiction

Curtis Wilson has made it to the top of his game as a cellist with his single-minded focus and insane discipline.  So when he's dragged out of a concert hall by the FBI as a result of his dad Zippy's poor decision making, it does not go down well for him.  As with most of his life with his father, Curtis has had to deal with the consequences of an existence dependent on the availability of drugs to sell and staying on the good side of bad people.  When things fall apart - they fall apart really ugly.

This book has some mystery, some suspense and three primary narrators.  As we switch between narrators, we see the story from the eyes of Curtis and Zippy as well as Zippy's girlfriend Larissa.  We follow the three of them from the streets of Southeast DC to Lincoln Center to the backwoods and safe houses as they try to escape from what's coming for them.  I found the plot to be believable up until the very end and then I had to stretch my imagination a bit, even though it surprised me and I didn't NOT like it.  It just went way out there.  The superhero side plot was an interesting twist and I appreciated the trajectory of Curtis's life just as a study in how sometimes, the kids who deserve to go big actually GET to.  I read this for Adult Battle of the Books and I'm excited to discuss it more with my friends.