I am a life-long consummate idealist and optimist. I have always wanted to change the world for the better. As a young boy, witnessing starvation in the world, I wanted to fix it. In the early years, before global warming became a critical issue, I was fighting against pollution. Growing up in the 60s and 70s, the counter-establishment mindset set me on fire, as the racial divide in our world became more evident, that wars being waged were no longer about idealism but about profit, that human rights were being violated and leaders were failing us left, right and center. Not to mention the fact that the global escalation of nuclear arsenals was, and remains, simply pure insanity for the human race. While there have been changes and massive improvements in various aspects of our humanity, racism continues, war - now an industry of profit, has skyrocketed, global warming is reaching critical mass, and dictatorial regimes are in vogue again, moreover, the egregious imbalance of wealth and power in the hands of a minority who leverage that to suit their agendas remains a dominant issue in our world - so much the case that less than 1% of the world's population controls and/or owns well over 50% of its resources/wealth.
I am true believer that we can fix these issues if we act and that every voice and every shoulder to that wall can eventually crumble any socially dysfunctional aspect of our society. And I hope that when people read my books they feel that same spark - a desire to do something to make a better world for the future.
Rutger Bregman, in his book Moral Ambition says:
“There are two forms of ‘knowing.’ You can know something and then do something about it. Or you can know something and look away, afraid to face the consequences of what you know to be true.”
“Moral ambition is the drive to drastically improve the world — to devote your career to addressing the biggest problems of our time.”
I write geopolitical and high-concept thrillers, as well as literary fiction, and in every book there exists a dominant thread where my characters tackle one or more of these very contemporary issues facing us today. I try to keep the adrenaline pumping and the thrill ride going, while tackling these sore spots in our world, whether it is a nuclear threat, a viral attack, human trafficking - whatever - the object of ALL my stories is first and foremost, to bring these issues into the spotlight, and secondly, to show that WE CAN DO something about them - and that social complacency and apathy are our greatest enemies when it comes to confronting them.
I hope you find them both entertaining and revealing.
Réal Laplaine
Author and human rights activist
Raised in the crucible of a violent family, Keeno McCole, part Canadian Indigenous Indian, part French, part Irish, grew up with a passion to stop criminals. His weapon of choice - a throwing knife - a gift from the uncle who taught him at the age of seven, how to protect himself against the monsters in the world – and criminals would come to feel its sting.
Keeno loves just one woman, and he dances with death and he bleeds like any man - but he makes damn sure that the criminals bleed more!
