Reading: THE VIOLIN CONSPIRACY - Brendan Slocumb

1st Line: "On the morning of the worst, most earth-shattering day of Ray McMillian's life, he ordered room service: scrambled eggs for two, one side of regular bacon (for Nicole), one side of vegan sausage (for him), one coffee (for Nicole), one orange juice (for him)."

Review: Having been fascinated by the violin since childhood - never learned, as I didn't have one to practice with - the title alone suckered me into this incredibly skillful debut; a mystery that begins when the life of a Black violinist, whose career is just beginning to bloom, is shattered when his violin is stolen ... and held for a five-million dollar ransom.

Ray McMillian has spent his life loving - living for - classical music. Taking to the violin at an early age, playing seems to be the one thing that gives him genuine peace and happiness, even over the harsh criticism of his mother to just find a job at the local Popeye's, or the realiation that finding Black musicians in the leading orchestras of the world is more rare than a lottery win. Thankfully, Ray's always had Nana, and the opening of the book takes readers back and forth between the early stages of the investigation of the violin's theft, to how Ray grew up loving music and getting inspired by his grandmother ... and how a young Black man in rural North Carolina came to own a violin worth a five-million dollar ransom in the first place. Writer Brendan Slocumb, a natural storyteller, masterfully weaves Ray's backstory as a kid, who often only had his own dream to keep him going, in with the intense jealousy and bigotry he was forced to face in high school for his talent, to his getting out in the "real world" of college and adulthood, only to find that no matter how much fame or experience or talent he had, so much of life - so much of the struggle - still always boiled down to the color of his skin. Aside from a riveting mystery, what this first novel has to say about racial inequality and hate in this country toward its Black population, particularly Black men, is both powerful and enraging ... and a sickening commentary on how little progress we've made in America by 2022, even for those of us who understood that already. Slocumb's talent and TLC with his tale, however, means that the mystery of the missing violin and Ray's personal story (bat-shit greedy family, devoted grandma who became his rock, the teacher who changed his life, the injustices waged against him just because of his skin color) never ever over-shadow each other - and by the time I caught up with how Ray ended up with a Stradivarius everyone wants a piece of, how it was taken, and Ray's one-man hunt to find out who took it ... I was hooked, roaring through the last hundred pages or so hanging onto the coattails of one of the most believable, sympathetic fictional leading characters I've come across in a very, very long time. 

I still can't believe it's a debut. Also the first title already seto to appear on my Top 10 Reads of 2022 list, come December. A terrific page-turner of a read I still can't stop thinking about.  5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.