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T.L. Merrill
The Song Sparrow
A searing, poetic novel set in Camden, New Jersey, where faith, resistance, and personal reckoning collide beneath the watchful eye of a state surveillance regime. At its heart is Jabari, a gifted musician and reluctant believer, who returns to the city of his childhood as a bass player for an emerging mega-church, only to be pulled into a whirlwind of memory, protest, and family secrets.
As Camden becomes the testing ground for MARDUK, a dystopian surveillance system that tracks citizens through drones, facial recognition, and DNA-sensing technology, a new generation of activists rise up, masked, defiant, and inspired by the ghost of something greater.
Told through a lyrical, multi-perspective lens, the novel explores the sacred and the profane, from the pulpit of Rev. L.B. Haskins, whose public fall and private redemption shape the soul of the community, to the street corners of 6th & Ferry, where survival is often mistaken for choice. The Song Sparrow is a story about finding faith in the ruins, reclaiming one’s name, and the cost of truth in a world wired for control.
The Music of the Song Sparrow
The Song Sparrow is, at its core, an exploration of the soul of Sacred Black Space, a realm where spirit, struggle, and sound intertwine. Its accompanying playlist serves as both compass and celebration, drawing listeners through the many sanctuaries of Black experience. From the delta blues gospel cries of the Mississippi Blind Boys to Dizzy’s trumpet lifting toward heaven, from the righteous fire of Gil Scott-Heron’s poetry to the soaring harmonies of gospel choirs, this music carries the same pulse that beats through the novel’s pages. Each song opens a door into worship, resistance, and remembrance—into the layered soundscape that forms the heart of The Song Sparrow. Every track is lovingly tied to moments within the printed edition, guiding the reader deeper into the spirit of the work. Listen, feel, and enter in.