The Price for Glory
By: M.N. Snitz
Published by: Peanut Butter Publishing
Publication Date:
ISBN: 978-1533341648
Reviewed By: Amy Lignor
Review Date: February 12, 2022
There are short stories, mysteries, romance – you name it, there was a genre created in order to pigeon-hole every book into a specific category. However, when it comes to The Price of Glory, the best way I can describe it is “an epic tome” that is filled with all the other genres.
I have to begin by focusing on the protagonist, Abraham William Steinnermann. I have to do this for one reason and one reason only: I both loved and hated the guy. His ego was astronomically ridiculous at times; there were moments I actually wished for something bad to befall him because he placed himself on a pedestal. However, as the pages moved forward, I found myself cheering for him, loathing the pain he experienced, and wanting to jump into WWII and somehow bring him compassion. It is difficult to create a character that engages the reader’s full spectrum of emotions, but this is one author who did it very, very well.
As we begin this story, history is laid at our door when the legend of the Germanic warrior Arminius is briefly told. We learn of his youth and courage and how he was taken from the Black Forest by the Romans and brought to the city as a slave. We learn how he became a superior intellect while studying the works of Homer, Aristotle, and Caesar. We see him escape and head back to his tribe where he becomes the leader and stands against Rome. And, even though the Roman legions were far stronger and more numerous than Arminius and his followers, we see him win the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest and change history.
Born in the 20th century, was Abraham. He, too, came into the world in the Black Forest region in a scene that could only remind one of Jesus’ birth—as a star shone above and the world changed for the better simply by this young boy being born. Abraham’s father pronounced him a prodigy of Arminius, with the strength of Thor and an intellect on par with the greatest of scholars. Abraham, by the way, grew up obsessed with the legend of Arminius and truly believed he was cut from the same cloth as the mighty warrior.
Abraham graduated college in three years, and moved into the world of banking where he made a significant name for himself. And even though his religion was placing him in a perilous situation—since Adolf Hitler was crushing Jewish people and their culture under his SS officers’ boots—there was something in Abraham that believed he was untouchable. He believed his strength and place in society would be seen by Hitler and his regime as being nothing but profitable for the Nazis. In fact, Herr Abraham thought Hitler was a miracle worker, resurrecting Germany from the depression and loss brought about by WWI.
Therefore, it was almost a shock when Auschwitz was where Abraham ended up after being taken from his desk inside the bank by two men in leather coats. But he rode that boxcar filled with people screaming and crying; he saw bodies burned and left behind. Abraham witnessed the horrors that broke down his mental and physical strength. Don’t worry, though, his overconfidence was just hibernating.
The author introduces into the story the Allies, taking over while snuffing Hitler out. Among these men and women bringing good will to the camp prisoners is a Red Cross volunteer named Merriam Szabo. When first meeting Merriam, her time with Abraham is short and sweet before he follows Destiny, heads out of the camp, and into the arms of America. But their brief encounter is one that encourages Abraham, making him feel that spark of energy after living in darkness for so long.
Add in an incredible cast that includes everything from a German officer who discovers in Abraham an innate talent to sing; a vibrant, equally arrogant Frenchman named Jean Patrice who Abraham meets up with on the boat to America; and the continuing backstory of Merriam and her re-entrance into the post-war world, and you have a saga that follows Abraham along a path lined with honor, bravery, duty, and evil—a mixture readers will not soon forget.
Even if at first you despise Steinnermann and his brash arrogance, as well as his conceit and hideous behavior towards beautiful women, this skilled author brings the locations to life and teaches his own protagonist numerous lessons that cause him to mature and transform before readers’ eyes. A difficult task, as stated above, but one that was most definitely successful.
Quill says: There are no absolutes in this one. Each page brings a new emotion, surprise, character, or locale that will hold your complete attention until the very end.
For more information on The Price for Glory, please visit the book's website at: www.thepriceforglory.com
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