The Blows of Fate

Alexander Twellman, formerly of the progressive metal band Torchbearer, was one of the most lauded experimental composers of his generation, crafting epic pieces that pushed the limits of concert music. Then, without any warning, he dropped out of the public eye and shut himself off from the world for the next ten years. Present day: Twellman waits on the eve of the premier of his 3rd symphony, remembering his past, wrestling his demons and struggling to ignore the fear which is rooted deep in the fabric of his art. He has an unhealthy obession with the finale of Mahler's sixth symphony which has become the soundtrack to his dreams. As time ticks down, with the concert beckoning, Alex's world slowly begins to unravel until, doubting his own sanity, he finds himself on the podium, baton in hand, beating the count of 3, ushering in the apocolypse. But there is something else lurking between the lines of the story. Who is William Twellman, and what does he have to do with the life of Alexander? How is the novel actually the notes to staging a play? Who is the Editor? What does the journal of William Twellman's last days reveal about a consipracy involving a murder framed to look like a suicide? The Blows of Fate is novel about the ends of art, about creating a magnum opus in a modern world where the profundity of shit is forever slipping through the cracks. It is about sadness, madness, regret and the unbridled joy of making music. In 333 pages, in the tradition of the great ambitious first novels, it announces a fearless young talent primed to take on the literary world.