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?

Praise for The Grandmaster

"...an enthralling and clever tale that you will be talking about for days after reading the book." Rebeccareads.com

"Peter A. Balaskas is an amazing writer...This book pulls you in completely..."

Horrorwatch.com

"Peter A. Balaskas has proven himself a master of the genre..." Midwest Book Review

"The Grandmaster is a cleverly concocted novella combining tragedy and hope from the bleakest sadness and intolerable cruelty to an unconditional kindness." Bookpleasures.com

"The Grandmaster is a remarkable story that illustrates both the depths of depravity humanity is capable of, as well as the boundless strength of the human spirit." 

Clubreading.com

"This book is a fascinating read!" 

Ghostwriter Literary Reviews

"This is a nuanced and well-written story, with a bittersweet and satisfying end." 

 Monster Librarian

"Like Patricia Highsmith or even early Stephen King, Balaskas is shaping himself into a modern master of magic and terror. Not just the magic of the supernatural, but the simple magic between people; not just the terror of the monstrous, but the scare of ordinary people pushed to extraordinary extremes and desperate measures with catastrophic consequences."

Marlon James, NY Times Editor's Choice and LA Book Prize Finalist of John Crow's Devil and The Book of Night Women

"In his short story collection In Our House, Peter Balaskas delights in presenting to us terrible men and then further delights in delivering to them their well-earned comeuppance.  A wicked read."

David Fuller, Edgar Award Nominee for Sweetsmoke

"In Our House is a mosaic of prosaic poetry at its twisted finest; intense, plot-driven stories bent on creativity and warped with mischief.  Step aside King, Bradbury, and Poe, for a new master to the genre has arrived."

Michael Mehas, author of Stolen Boy

"Set in what Hawthorne called that 'neutral territory...where the Actual and Imaginary may meet,' these stories plumb the night side of our collective unconsciousness with the wit and skill of a seasoned storyteller.  At his best, in stories like Crossing the Styx and Wash Cycle, Peter Balaskas makes the distinction between speculative fiction and literary fiction all but irrelevant:  simply put, he keeps us reading."

Pete Duval, author of Rear View

Peter A. Balaskas’s fiction and poetry have been published internationally. “Chamber Music” was awarded 2012 Best Short Story by the Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition (EPIC). His novel, The Grandmaster, has been awarded 2007 Best Science Fiction Novel by the Hollywood and New England Book Festivals. The title piece of his story collection, In Our House: Tantalizing Tales of Terror,” was nominated for the Pushcart Prize for fiction, and three stories from that collection were performed at The New Short Fiction Series in Hollywood. And his science fiction short story, “Oranna’s Song,” was awarded Honorable Mention (ranked second in the nation) in the Romance Category by the Fourth Annual Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards. Peter has also segued into play writing. His plays, "Call These Delicate Creatures Ours, and Not Their Appetites" and "Confessions at the Ave. P Barber Shop," were finalists at the Theatre Odyssey and Weathervane Playhouse Ten-minute Play Festivals respectively.  His journalism can be found in LA Splash, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Montage and Bespoke Concierge magazines. His website is www.peterabalaskas.com 

Triptych includes The Grandmaster, In Our House: Tantalizing Tales of Terror, and a bonus novella, The Chameleon's Addiction.