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The Grandmaster
Welcome to the Wagner Institute for Mental Treatment and Investigations. Since 1966, Dr. Johann Wagner has guided his team of paranormal investigators and psychologists in solving supernatural crimes and unlocking the secrets of the human mind. But now a horror from his past has come back to destroy not only Wagner, but everything he has built. Wagner once used his paranormal powers to escape the horrors of the Holocaust, but can his aging mind and body stop the terror that has returned to claim him?
100 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 12, 2017
THE GRANDMASTER is a gripping little page-turner about a Jewish prisoner in a concentration camp with mental superpowers, and his struggle against a Nazi commander who also has them.
It's written in the first-person point of view in the form of a diary written long after the war, and at first I thought it was going to go in one direction that it completely did not go into. The main character is in charge of an institute for research and development of psychic powers, and seemed a little bit deranged, so I thought the story would be about how Everything Goes Wrong there, but all the drama takes place in World War II.
Among the many subjects the tale touches are chess, dreams, fears, hopes, good and evil, right and wrong, spirituality and faith. It's also fascinating to watch the Nazi mindset in action, and how delusional it truly is, able to turn any fact or truth and warp it to suit an ideology of evil pride and lack of compassion.
This is a really good book and I got it for one dollar at a thrift store. Well worth the price, it took me less than a day to finish even though I read carefully, savoring each entry in the main character's struggles. I recommend this book to anybody and look forward to reading more by Peter A. Balaskas in the future if I get the opportunity.
It's written in the first-person point of view in the form of a diary written long after the war, and at first I thought it was going to go in one direction that it completely did not go into. The main character is in charge of an institute for research and development of psychic powers, and seemed a little bit deranged, so I thought the story would be about how Everything Goes Wrong there, but all the drama takes place in World War II.
Among the many subjects the tale touches are chess, dreams, fears, hopes, good and evil, right and wrong, spirituality and faith. It's also fascinating to watch the Nazi mindset in action, and how delusional it truly is, able to turn any fact or truth and warp it to suit an ideology of evil pride and lack of compassion.
This is a really good book and I got it for one dollar at a thrift store. Well worth the price, it took me less than a day to finish even though I read carefully, savoring each entry in the main character's struggles. I recommend this book to anybody and look forward to reading more by Peter A. Balaskas in the future if I get the opportunity.
June 1, 2011
I’m always in the mood for a good horror story, but I must say that now, with one or two exceptions (I love Drew Silver’s books), the proliferation of vampires and zombies in supernatural literature have had a draining and brain-deadening effect, if I may offer a couple of cheap metaphors. But genre author Peter A. Balaskas has come up with something entirely different: a novel with a supernatural connection to the horrors of the Holocaust that had me asking questions up to the end.
The Grandmaster is a tale told, ironically enough, in the reminiscing style of Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Dr. Johann Wagner is the founder of the Wagner Institute for Mental Treatment and Investigations, established in 1966. His team of psychologists and parapsychologists investigate and solve crimes that have supernatural connections. Each member has a special gift: ESP, telekinesis—the whole psychic pie. But this is Wagner’s story.
When the story opens, we immediately learn three things: Wagner is having night terrors apparently caused by a visitation from a demonic entity; Wagner is Jewish; Wagner likes the composer Richard Wagner, over whom a long-running debate over his attributed anti-Semitism has been raging in a number of circles.
The Wagner thing grabbed my attention more than did the demon, at first. How could the music of a debatably Nazi-influenced composer be soothing to a Jewish scholar? And was there some sort of coincidence that they bore the same surname? Both questions, as well as the demon’s identity, are answered when Dr. Wagner takes us back to his childhood and youth in pre-World War II Berlin and his eventual days of horror in concentration camps. There, his own special gift made him a soldier and a hero on both the physical and spiritual planes.
Balaskas has done his research well and has provided us with a thought-provoking tale not so much of good and evil but of the constant battle against the latter.
The Grandmaster is a tale told, ironically enough, in the reminiscing style of Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Dr. Johann Wagner is the founder of the Wagner Institute for Mental Treatment and Investigations, established in 1966. His team of psychologists and parapsychologists investigate and solve crimes that have supernatural connections. Each member has a special gift: ESP, telekinesis—the whole psychic pie. But this is Wagner’s story.
When the story opens, we immediately learn three things: Wagner is having night terrors apparently caused by a visitation from a demonic entity; Wagner is Jewish; Wagner likes the composer Richard Wagner, over whom a long-running debate over his attributed anti-Semitism has been raging in a number of circles.
The Wagner thing grabbed my attention more than did the demon, at first. How could the music of a debatably Nazi-influenced composer be soothing to a Jewish scholar? And was there some sort of coincidence that they bore the same surname? Both questions, as well as the demon’s identity, are answered when Dr. Wagner takes us back to his childhood and youth in pre-World War II Berlin and his eventual days of horror in concentration camps. There, his own special gift made him a soldier and a hero on both the physical and spiritual planes.
Balaskas has done his research well and has provided us with a thought-provoking tale not so much of good and evil but of the constant battle against the latter.
January 11, 2018
I first had the pleasure of reading Peter's work when he submitted his novella, The Chameleon's Addiction, to our online library. So I was happy when he entered our 2006 writing contest.
The Grandmaster is an amazing story that revisits the Holocaust with a supernatural twist. We see the world through the eyes of Dr. Johann Wagner, a aging paranormal researcher who has decided to keep a journal in his final years. Using the journal format, Wagner decided that the only way to prepare his successor for the duties of running the Wagner Institute is to tell the whole story of how the institute was founded. And that story begins when Wagner's family is finally dragged off to a concentration camp during WWII.
In many ways, The Grandmaster retells the classic hero's journey of self-discovery. We follow Wagner through the loss of his parents, and his subsequent fall from spiritual grace when he seeks revenge by using his powers to kill Nazi guards. We are with him when he is overcome with guilt upon learning of the terrible consequences of his actions. We are with him when he is tempted by evil, given a chance to save himself by turning his back on his own beliefs and his fellow prisoners. In the end, Wagner finds his spiritual redemption as he harnesses his faith and power.
Bards and Sages is pleased to have the opportunity to bring The Grandmaster to readers. To learn more about the book, read reviews and previews, or learn more about the author, please visit The Grandmaster Homepage.
The Grandmaster is an amazing story that revisits the Holocaust with a supernatural twist. We see the world through the eyes of Dr. Johann Wagner, a aging paranormal researcher who has decided to keep a journal in his final years. Using the journal format, Wagner decided that the only way to prepare his successor for the duties of running the Wagner Institute is to tell the whole story of how the institute was founded. And that story begins when Wagner's family is finally dragged off to a concentration camp during WWII.
In many ways, The Grandmaster retells the classic hero's journey of self-discovery. We follow Wagner through the loss of his parents, and his subsequent fall from spiritual grace when he seeks revenge by using his powers to kill Nazi guards. We are with him when he is overcome with guilt upon learning of the terrible consequences of his actions. We are with him when he is tempted by evil, given a chance to save himself by turning his back on his own beliefs and his fellow prisoners. In the end, Wagner finds his spiritual redemption as he harnesses his faith and power.
Bards and Sages is pleased to have the opportunity to bring The Grandmaster to readers. To learn more about the book, read reviews and previews, or learn more about the author, please visit The Grandmaster Homepage.
November 12, 2012
Well written even it's on the creepy side. After all, this is a horror story. Like the spin Peter took with the story. Great read if you like horror.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews