We featured author Réal Laplaine in an article in September, shortly after the release of his new book, Twilight Visitor, by UK publishing house, Netherworld Books.
Due to the book’s success and considerable media about it, we decided to revisit the author.
CLICK HERE to read our previous article.
The story, Twilight Visitor, is two-pronged in nature – depicting with startling reality, the launch of a major invasion by China into Iran to commandeer its oil fields in order to fuel their energy-desperate nation, and where, in the space of just 24 hours, Iran retaliates on Beijing by firing a nuclear warhead at it. The book presents two stories, converging into one, as the global meltdown rapidly reaches a boiling point and world leaders seem helpless to stop the inevitable nuclear debacle; and where, on the opposite side of the world, an almost idyllic juxtaposition, a single man, a bioengineer, sitting on a deserted beach in Portugal, trying to resolve his dysfunctional life, meets a mystery woman who reveals to him that he alone holds the answer to stopping the impending global crisis.
Not only does Twilight Visitor pose critical philosophical and contemporary questions about our future as humanity, it also takes us into the world of one very lonely and conflicted man who is desperately holding onto a shadow of himself, while this mystery woman, an off-worlder, is challenged to get him to do something about the looming crisis.
Novelist, David Luddington, who lives not far from Afife, Portugal said this about the book … “…a high concept thriller that is comparable with the best of Dan Brown or Jack Higgins.”
Book-Reviewer.com said this … “The story races along with pace of a Tom Clancy thriller …”
Grady Harp, Amazon's Hall of Fame Reviewers, had this to say…
“…Though there are many reasons why Réal Laplaine's writing is so captivating - his sense of bizarre stories, his ability to make the surreal seem more real than our known reality, the underlying philosophical issues about the future of mankind his stories raise, his seeming grasp of the unknown - but chief among the qualities of his success is the eloquence of his manipulation of language. In a few sentences he is able to paint a character with such seductive skill that we are unable to leave the storyline, and what is more, embrace it… Réal Laplaine entertains the reader but far more important he challenges us to consider the very plausible presence of off-worlders and draws our attention to significant issues we should be addressing - all in a language so eloquent that is mesmerizing.”
A few words with the author
Q: Why do you think Twilight Visitor is finding such appeal with readers?
A: It’s a matter of interpretation I suppose. But I think it is several factors. The book talks to the reader about very real, very contemporary issues of concern to any person living in our world. And while the story plays out on a global arena, it keeps the sense of reality there for the reader because of this one man, bouncing the reader back and forth between the mushrooming war and the sad state of this man’s dysfunctional life – a life which anyone could be experiencing at this very moment. And lastly of course, the book poses many questions for the reader to think about, and even some concepts which challenge us to step outside the box and take an honest look at our future as mankind, not as individual ethnicities – but as one aggregate – humanity.
Q:What did you intend as the message in the book?
A: That was a juggling act which challenged my skills as an author. I wanted a book that was entertaining, a techno-thriller, of course, but moreover I wanted to profile some of the very relevant and critical issues facing us today, and I wanted it to be compelling, to drive a wedge into the zeitgeist of our world, showing that war, hatred and ignorance were insignificant in the face of truly greater issues facing us - and to help deliver a message of needful change, and of course, ultimate hope. I also wanted to deliver that message on an epic-sized theatrical stage and with an eloquent language which, even though the reader might be horrified by the picture which is conjured in their minds, I wanted the language of the book to deliver that picture with dignity and beauty.
About the author
Réal Laplaine was born in Montreal, Canada. Later, he moved to America, where he worked for many years. He now lives in Sweden. His roots go back to the Iberian Peninsula, Spain, where his grandfather was born and raised – and who later emigrated to Canada where he married an indigenous Indian woman. So it is no wonder that much of the story happens on the coastal beaches of Afife, Portugal.
W:www.reallaplaine.com
Blog:Twilight Visitor
