Spotlight of The Music Stalker by Bruce J. Berger

PHOTO SOURCE:
TYPORAMA
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THE MUSIC STALKER

BRUCE J. BERGER

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COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF:

 DAVID KING, DESIGN DIRECTOR, BLACK ROSE WRITING

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ALL INFORMATION IN THIS POST IS COURTESY OF CAMYLLE FLEMING - LEAD PUBLICIST, MINDBUCK MEDIA BOOK PUBLICITY.

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The Music Stalker closely examines how genius and love might survive in a close-knit family torn by trauma, insanity, and jealousy. 

 

A trailer of The Music Stalker can be enjoyed here.

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The second novel by award-winning author Bruce Berger, The Music Stalker comes out Oct. 28, 2021 from Black Rose Press.

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PRAISE FOR THE MUSIC STALKER:

 

“A captivating family portrait with an enigmatic piano prodigy at its center, Bruce Berger’s THE MUSIC STALKER sings. In arresting prose, Berger offers searing meditations on music and mental health, spirituality and Jewish identity, passion and anguish and fear—leaving the reader gasping for breath.”—Patricia Park, author of Re Jane

“Descriptions of Kayla’s responses to her music, as well as her audiences’, were right on track,especially the sense of transport, the departure from her physical surroundings, that she experienced when she played, not just performing in front of an audience, but even in solitary practicE by herself.”—Don Greenfield, Ph.D., Musicology, Princeton University

“What drives the characters of The Music Stalker to their highs and lows, their togetherness and their times apart, is also what artfully holds them locked in patterns of an intricate harmony. The heliotropic center of this novel is desire: desire for the Other; desire for talent; desire to be seen; desire to be held; desire for safety and peace of mind; even the desire to be left alone. Bruce Berger exhibits a sensational knack for imagining lives, real lives lived with triumph and weakness, mental illness and ordered reason, as well as daily flubs and foibles. His skills make for a page turner, with short chapters like etudes that grow increasingly more complicated and frightening, studies in the annals of a family for whom specialness can be a curse; for whom an ordinary day can be
a refuge and a gift.”—David Keplinger, author of The World to Come 

 

ABOUT THE MUSIC STALKER:

Two decades after his family suffers trauma, Max, the loving but remorsefully jealous older brother of a musical genius, chronicles the story of his dysfunctional family. 

 

In mid-1970’s New York City, Max’s sister, Kayla, vaulted to fame as a piano prodigy, holding both audiences and her family in awe with her uncanny
musical ability and warm smile. 

 

But deep within her lie the seeds of destruction: the paranoid fear of being stalked by a murderous fan. This mystery explores themes of family dysfunction, mental illness, and the long-term effects of family secrets going untold.  

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR

 

Following a 40-year career as a trial attorney in Washington, DC., Bruce J. Berger turned full time to writing, earned a M.F.A. in Creative Writing from
American University, and now teaches there. 

 

His first novel, The Flight of the Veil, is a sequel to The Music Stalker and achieved critical success, winning a Bronze Award in General Fiction from Illumination Christian Book Awards.

 
Kirkus Reviews called The Flight of the Veil “A well-crafted tale about trauma and miracles. Get it.” 

 

He has also published more than 50 stories and poems in a wide variety of literary journals.

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