Money, Blood and Conscience
Political Thriller
by David Steinman
An idealistic American TV producer starts a charity for famine victims amid Ethiopia’s civil war. “You’re not in California here,” Ethiopia’s rebel leader-turned-prime minister reminds him. “This is a different world.”
In 1993, a prince and princess from Ethiopia’s 2,500-year-old Solomonic Dynasty reached out to an international revolutionary who’d played a behind-the-scenes role in the overthrow of Haiti’s notorious “Baby Doc” Duvalier. Could he help free Ethiopia’s most famous political prisoner and liberate its people from a reign of terror?
Now, that revolutionary, David Steinman, has drawn on his extraordinary, real-life adventure to write a novel about Ethiopia’s present-day struggle for freedom. Part investigative journalism and part parable, it depicts the cover-up of a holocaust and raises questions about the ends and means of Western policy in shadowy places.
Money, Blood and Conscience superbly portrays the fight by the world’s poorest for food and justice, drawing the reader into a magnificent, heartbreaking crusade for human dignity.
REVIEW
4 out of 5
First, let me admit, I went in knowing almost nothing about the events this book revolves around. Although this is a fictional take on actual events, it feels like Steinman did a lot of research to bring it all to life. There are unforgettable people within the pages of this book, and they face daunting challenges, including corruption and violence. Although those outside Ethiopa mean well, they’re truly unprepared for what faces them and hinders their desire to provide aid within the country. I would’ve liked some of the characters to be more fleshed out, but the plot moves along smoothly, and makes you want to keep reading. If you enjoy historical fiction based on real events, then you’re going to want to grab this one.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Steinman was the senior foreign adviser to Ethiopia’s democracy movement for 27 years until its 2018 victory. He co-planned Ethiopia’s 2005 civil resistance and election campaign, voted that year’s “Most Important African Event” in a BBC poll, which inspired Money, Blood and Conscience.
In Dec. 2020, Mr. Steinman filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court against World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom for crimes against humanity committed as an Ethiopian official. News of the complaint was featured on the London Times’ front page and went viral, exposing Tedros’ criminality to the world.
This is the first novel from Mr. Steinman, whose non-fiction writing in the Washington Post, International Herald Tribune and on Forbes.com exposed the Ethiopian dictatorship’s human rights abuses, theft of thirty billion dollars from famine victims and hidden mass murder.
David Steinman was a consulting expert to the U.S. National Security Council regarding the overthrow of Haiti’s notorious “Baby Doc” Duvalier that began the cascade of falling right-wing dictatorships at the end of the twentieth century. He later coordinated private support for Southeast Asian anti-Communist resistance movements. Mr. Steinman is a Wharton-trained economist. He was nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.
