Kayla Covo grows up in dysfunctional household with a mentally ill mother and a psychiatrist father who has a mistress on the side and is more interested in the welfare of his patients than his own family. She and her brother Max take piano lessons at an early age, and by the time Kayla is twelve, she becomes a piano prodigy, performing in front of large audiences and getting publicly recognized for her incredible command of the instrument. She loves playing in public and craves the attention it provides. At thirteen, Kayla signs with an agency which assumes all responsibility for her career. They orchestrate a hectic schedule of domestic and international tours, arrange participation in interviews, decide with whom she is allowed to associate, and determine how she spends her free time. When Kayla’s calls home become less frequent, her family has to rely on the press to learn where she is performing and how she is doing. Kayla’s brother Max plays a pivotal role in her story—he is constantly concerned about her well-being, more so than their parents appear to be. He doesn’t trust her agents and takes on the position of her protector. Kayla appreciates her brother’s concerns, but at times gets annoyed with his being involved in her business.
The characters portrayed in Bruce J. Berger’s THE MUSIC STALKER are unique and deftly painted, with enough layers of history and personality embedded in each one to make them believable and relatable. Berger brilliantly intertwines the attributes and flaws of each character to enliven the plot of the story. The protagonist, Kayla, becomes the product of her actions, dialogue, dreams, and internal conflicts and is developed in such a way that it is easy to imagine how she would behave in any situation—a strong indication of skillful storytelling.
Berger’s writing style is engaging, descriptive, and well-structured. However, frequent changes in point of view (POV ) often disrupt the narrative flow. THE MUSIC STALKER begins with Max reflecting on Kayla’s story as he tells it to his children. In Chapter 2, the POV changes to an all-seeing, all-knowing narrator, then goes back to Max’s POV in the next chapter, then back to the narrator for the next several chapters, and so on. This, coupled with Berger’s recurrent use of pronouns instead of the characters’ names has the potential for leaving readers confused. The book would also benefit from a thorough proofreading to catch punctuation, grammar, and spelling errors, and a few instances of erroneous wording.
Author Bruce J. Berger demonstrates his exceptional storytelling skills in THE MUSIC STALKER where a young classical pianist must confront real and perceived villainous influences to determine her fate. Memorable characters and strong dramatic content make this a novel worth reading.
~Florence Osmund for IndieReader