Review of The Minefields by Steven C. Eisner‏

Welcome to stop #25 on The Minefields Blog Tour!!!  My stop involves an excerpt from the book and a review.

Excerpt from The Minefields: “I was working so hard to be his finest possible concertmaster, and I felt badly that I hadn’t as yet delivered his first violinist—the love of his life—to bid him farewell. The farewell business had always seemed like a lot of theatrics for the ‘big screen,’ the tearjerker ending with musical swells, sadness on steroids.”

Review: Sam Spiegel has it all – a great career, a beautiful wife and strong family connections. When his sick father, Harry, asks him to take over the family’s advertising business, Sam jumps at the chance.  However, despite being a loyal son and a man who appears to have it all, Sam is struggling to find his identity and there is a lot of tug of war involved in that struggle.

Harry is a Holocaust survivor who has remained entrenched in the old ways and for that reason, he and Sam don’t always see eye to eye on everything, including business.  Sam and his wife, Amy, leave New York and move to Philadelphia to run Harry’s advertising agency. The move and the running of the business cause problems between Amy and Sam.  Amy resents Sam’s decision to uproot their lives and move to Philadelphia.  Their marriage begins to take a back seat to the business leaving Sam wondering whether his marriage can be saved and whether it is even worth salvaging.  Sam flashes back to moments in this life that led him to make the decisions he made to be in the place he is now.

Sam’s is an intelligent character who is loyal to his family.  That loyalty makes him weak and defenseless when it comes to the people who he is loyal to. Sam’s loyalty goes back to the beginning of his career and something that happens to his brother, Mickey, whose role is vital factor in the storyline and Sam’s desire to understand his role in business and the complex relationships that he has.  It is evident that if not for what happens to Mickey, Sam would not have a desire to be successful nor would he struggle with his conscience.

My thoughts: The Minefields offers a complex look at a father and son relationship and the differences between two generations.  Sam and Harry are battling over the future of the family legacy.  Additionally, we see Sam taking a good look at his life and trying to figure what is next for him.  He has accomplished so much in his career but he is still doesn’t feel content.  He is also struggling with an unsatisfied marriage and trying to figure out where he should be and if what he has can be fixed.  If anything, Sam is struggling with the essence of humanity and what it is we all struggle with as we work to find ourselves and to build identities.

Steven C. Eisner did an amazing job looking that the reality of what many of us have experienced in our lives. The fact is that life drags all of us down.  We are always trying to good in our lives but things do not always go as we planned we see that in the character that Steven has created in Sam. Sam’s journey is personal and as he struggles to find himself, you can actually see realism in his character.  I think that is what makes this book so good – there is a part of Sam in all of us.

You can check out the next stop and even the previous stops in the blog tour by clicking HERE.

Purchase: You can purchase your copy of The Minefields at many fine retailers including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

About the Author: “Before writing his novel and after learning the ropes at Doyle Dane Bernbach, New York, Steven C. Eisner created and led Eisner Communications, a Baltimore-based advertising agency, for more than two decades, creating hundreds of effective ad and PR campaigns for leading corporations and associations including Black & Decker, Marriot, McCormick Spices, PhRMA, US Airways, Lenox China, the Maryland Lottery, the Nature Conservancy, and the United Way. Eisner Communications won numerous industry awards including CLIOs, ADDYs, and EFFIEs, and the O’Toole for creative excellence across its entire client roster. The Minefields is Steven C. Eisner’s first novel.” From his website.