Historical Fiction Review

The i Tetralogy
by Mathias B. Freese
ISBN-10: 1587364042
Review by Heather Froeschl

Lest we forget...an "inmate" barely exists in a concentration camp, a "soldier" lives out his "duties," and the reader witnesses it all. "The i Tetralogy" is a powerful work. It is unforgettable, as it should be when existing as the reminder of those horrible, terrible, inhumane days of the Holocaust. We are reminded so that we will never forget, so that we can see exactly how far humans will go, so that, hopefully, we will never go there again.

Through the mind of i, readers are exposed to the barely living horror of the camp from the view of an "inmate." Here you will witness the zombie-like existence, the wish for the will to die, the endless misery. Read about the madness that crept around, waiting to take its next victim. Come to understand the death of the soul while the body hangs on.

Through the voice of Gunther, readers are forced to see the mind of the guard, the master, the giver of death if he feels generous. Read of his years in the camps, torturing the Jews whom he loathed. Try to understand, if you will, his inhumanity, his heartlessness, his cold and controlling power. And then witness his years living free in America, doing his best to torture the family he built around him as protection.

Through the life of the son of Gunther, examine what the holocaust did to the world, to all of humanity. Try to understand what humanity did to have allowed such an atrocious evil to occur. Read how the truth about a father splits the world of a family wide open only to lay festering in its juices.

This powerful book will likely turn your stomach, give you nightmares, and make you frown through its entirety. And this is good. What better reminder of this evil than to be stark naked about the details? For young adults, who have possibly only read cursory descriptions of the Holocaust, this book will be a slap in the face introduction. This book is not for those under 18. For those who have read moderately, or even extensively on the subject, it compares as one of the best examples. This is a work of fiction, but it is as if Mathias B. Freese channeled the text from those souls who lived it. An intense and powerful book.