Master novelist Dr. Arnie P. Zimbelman crafts an eerily perplexing but menacingly captivating RECOMPENSE: RETURN TO OBERAMMERGAU, a historical novel that takes one back to an old—but revered—festival.

Based on actual events that took place in 17th century Europe, RECOMPENSE: RETURN TO OBERAMMERGAU is a compelling fictional reconstruction of how the devastating bubonic plague, or the "Black Death," disrupted the daily lives of the inhabitants of the obscure mountain village of Oberammergau, Germany. The response of the villagers was to institute their renowned Passion Play, still faithfully re-enacted every ten years as an expression of gratitude for the cessation of the deadly malady.

The story revolves around main protagonist Brandon St. Clair, a young San Francisco attorney who has joined a tour group traveling to attend a present-day performance of the Passion Play in Oberammergau. What Brandon cannot foresee or explain is the mystical “connection” he feels with several members of his tour group. Even more mystifying is his mental “return” to 17th century Oberammergau, where he surreally observes himself as a young boy caught up in the cataclysmic events brought about by the spread of the bubonic plague, the dreaded “Black Death.”

Equally inexplicable is the fact that other members of his tour group likewise appear to have “counter-parts” among residents of the old village. Still reeling from the series of puzzling events, the catastrophe of the plague is echoed in near disaster for the tour group on their return flight home. Will Flight Captain Kaspar Schisler’s response to this crisis serve as “recompense” for the calamity brought about by his ancestor in the past?

Wrapped in mystery, uncertainty, and unexplained phenomena, RECOMPENSE: Return to Oberammergau is an über-entertaining tale of suspense throughout, rendered to pulse-pounding proportions, and intellectually multi-dimensional as well, as it functions on a variety of levels, including both religious and philosophical concepts of faith, mysticism, spirituality, and disaster survival.

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