Book Review: The Strange Death of Europe

The Strange Death of Europe

Author: Douglas Murray
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published: June 20th 2017 by Bloomsbury Continuum


Douglas Murray maintains remarkable poise as he treads through some of the most politically taboo territory of modern times. Europe has lost its sense of self, he posits. The hows and the whys of this are extremely well argued here. Guilt, conflict fatigue, political apathy, the rise of liberal fanaticism, and many other factors have weakened European identity to the point where we've become unable to stop or even slow the Biblical-scale influx of foreign cultures into our continent. The problems arising from this, many of them so stark and obvious (and worryingly unspeakable), are at the heart of today's Western political divide. They continue to go unaddressed, or worse, wilfully compounded by huge numbers of people in our society, for whom immigration and the championing of anyone NOT of white European origin has become a kind of masochistic mania.

Combustible stuff.

Murray is not an angry writer. Rather he coolly dismantles the oft-peddled official arguments for why large-scale immigration is good for us. Then he sets about the Merkel migration debacle, one of the key global events since World War II, with scholarly and journalistic gusto. He recalls his personal encounters with refugees and migrants at various stages of their journeys to "the Promised Land" of Western Europe. The picture he paints is a complicated one, but overriding themes do crystallise into, strangely enough, many of the concerns everyday people across Europe have but are told (by misguided elites) that they are wrong to have: fear of being overrun by foreign cultures and their often incongruous values and beliefs, fear that the authorities are covering up migrant crime figures and even the crimes themselves (most disturbingly, the widespread rapes) in order to hoodwink us into accepting their utopian delusion of large-scale integration.

I suspect many readers will be simultaneously impressed and depressed by Murray's conclusions. Impressed because here is someone who's finally written a lucid, probing account into a heretofore mostly taboo subject that has always been difficult to broach without sounding strident, and even more difficult to unpack from its layers of decade-long distortion, denial, and political correctness. Depressed because the fading of traditional Western European identity does seem bleak, perhaps even irreversible. Whatever we do now may be too late. That's a bitter pill to swallow, though, and while Murray is not, on the surface, an angry writer, that emotion may be the one that endures most lastingly in many of his readers. It has in this reader, and that alone qualifies The Strange Death of Europe as a must-read book. Indeed, an important book.
 

Star Binder Available for Pre-order

It's here at last, and I'm excited to announce that on July 11^th, you're invited to discover the secrets of the Star Binder...

Here are a few quotes from early reviews:

"Appleton pushes the boundaries of the imagination with emotional stakes and a heroic quest in this must-read novel!"

"Set on Mars, Star Binder by Robert Appleton is an exciting story that combines elements of sci-fi with adventure, and sends readers on a rollicking ride across the galaxy... Appleton establishes himself as a great storyteller, and readers will love his memorable characters."

  

"Star Binder by Robert Appleton is exactly the kind of science fiction novel I am into these days, and it is great... Lately I have searched for books concerned with how life in the near future will look as we branch out and settle our solar system... Star Binder is one of the best examples I have read of this particular type of science fiction."

  

"Star Binder by Robert Appleton is a book I'll most certainly be recommending."

And here's a bit more about the story:

Born on the streets. Made in the stars.

Under constant threat of invasion, the future of mankind's colonies is uncertain. Enter Jim Trillion and his best friend, Sergei, two young grifters scraping a living in the oases resorts of Mars. Their dreams might be big but their prospects are shrinking one petty crime at a time. Their luck is running out.

  

But after saving the life of a famous explorer, they receive the invitation of a lifetime--the chance to join a mysterious top secret academy and one day see the galaxy. If only it were that simple. The massing alien threat, Jim's unknown past, and the key to reaching the stars all propel them on a journey of self-discovery into the thrilling and terrifying unknown. There the ultimate prize awaits, a prize that could change everything: the Star Binder.

Available for pre-order now on AmazonKindle and in Paperback

And for UK readers: Amazon Kindle; Paperback

Click here to read the first chapter.

Hope you enjoy!

Robert

Star Binder is Live Now at Kindle Scout

Hi guys!

Today is Day 1 of my Kindle Scout campaign for STAR BINDER, my new YA sci-fi novel. It's up for a publishing contract with Kindle Press, but it needs your support. With your nominations, it could get picked up by the Amazon publishing team.

http://amzn.to/2nyrbX5

How it works is this: my book page is up now on the Kindle Scout site. It shows my new cover art and an excerpt from the book. Amazon readers check it out, and if they like what they see, they can nominate the book for publication. The more nominations a book receives, the more likely the Kindle Press team will consider it for a contract with them. It's something I haven't tried before, but it sounds like a great opportunity.

Its all about reader support. So if you've got a spare minute, head on over to my STAR BINDER book page, and if you like what you see there, please nominate it. With your help, this one could go all the way.

http://amzn.to/2nyrbX5

I'll share the book cover on here at the end of the campaign, whether it's successful or not. Thanks for your support!

 Robert

TOO CLOSE TO THE FIRE with Author Jaydyn Chelcee

Dear Readers,

"I would have liked to have seen Montana." -- Who said that and in which film? (hint: the actor is from Down Under)

And that leads me nicely into today's guest interview. American author Jaydyn Chelcee writes the Montana Men series, a brilliant blend of romance, spectacular landscapes and pulse-quickening danger! The first two in the series were In the Arms of Danger and No Holds Barred, both bestsellers at Eternal Press. Book Three, Too Close to the Fire, is set for release on December 7th. Stay tuned for a contest below, where you can win an ebook copy before anyone else. But first, here's the blurb:

Feel the heat—taste the passion—expect to get burned when you’re too close to the fire….

Out of luck—When Dianna’s plane crashes in the Australian rainforest, her life is in the hands of her passenger, Taylor Spencer, a bitter, venom-filled man who so far has only made her life miserable.

Out of hope—The last person Taylor Spencer wants to be stranded with is the spoiled sweetheart of the wealthy Remington family of Rimrock, Montana. Hell, he didn’t even want to be in the plane with her in the first place.

Out of time—Dianna and Taylor, two people at odds, with nothing in common, except a strong will to survive and a desire for each other that neither is willing to acknowledge.

Sound fun? You betcha!! Jaydyn's legion of loyal fans will tell you she NEVER disappoints. As well as westerns, she writes a paranormal romance series, the Winslow Witches of Salem, under her pen name, Tabitha Shay.

It's with great pleasure that I welcome Ms. Chelcee for this exclusive interview. Let's see how close to that fire we can get...

Nice of you to visit, Jaydyn.

Jaydyn--Hi Rob. Thanks for having me here today and I'm looking forward to what I know will be some fun questions...

1. I love the set-up of TCTTF--a bitter man and a spoiled woman crash-landing together in an Australian rainforest. Is it a scenario you've had in mind for a while?

Jaydyn--Actually it is. I wrote all five books to the Montana Men series years ago and tossed them on my closet shelf. Once I was published, I dragged them down, blew off the dust and done some rewriting, but I always saw Dianna and Taylor in a plane crash in Australia, just not a rainforest. That was new. (Laughs)

Rob--Wow, you just dusted off FIVE books! You're my new hero. Makes me wonder what *else* is waiting on that closet shelf!

2. As a couple, who would you liken Dianna and Taylor to?

Jaydyn--Oh goddness, I have no clue...How about Rock Hudson and Doris Day. (Giggles) Dianna and Taylor definitely have their fights and the same personality types.

3. What kind of dangers do they have to contend with?

Jaydyn--Well, I tried to keep it as real as possible, but the possibilities were endless, from starvation, to lack of water, to snake bites, broken bones, severe injuries, you name it. And some of these things do happen, but I also wanted the reader to get the feel of the vastness of the country, of how difficult locating them would be. A friend of mine who now lives in Oz once said to me that everything in Australia is bigger and louder. I worked those words into one of my scenes to create the feeling of just how overwhelming it would be for someone who was unfamiliar with the noises of the birds and animals around them. I hope I managed to get that across. And to answer your question a little better, they do battle with a couple of nasty critters among other dangers.

Rob--Sounds great. And I'd pay good money to see Doris Day and Rock Hudson go through all that. ::evil laugh::

4. Your characters are always a lot of fun to read. How big a part does humour play in TCTTF?

Jaydyn--I try to balance the dark with the light so the reader isn't bogged down with just gray scenes. TCTTF is really two stories in one. On one hand, you have Dianna and Taylor, they're in trouble, but the things they get into, do and say are funny. On the other hand, you still have Lacey and Danger's story moving along beside Dianna and Taylor's and believe me, there's nothing funny going on in that part of the book. It's all deadly serious and the characters from that part of the book are tottering on the edge of disaster.

5. Who are your biggest influences in the western romance genre?

Jaydyn--Oh wow, I'd have to go all the way back to my days as a Harlequin reader and pick Janet Daily and Margaret Way. Margaret Way almost always wrote romances set in Australia with a western flavor, loved her books. Janet Daily set a lot of books in the western states and I followed her to each one....(Laughs)

6. Your books are consistently among the biggest-selling at Eternal Press. What's your secret?

Jaydyn--Loyal fans...I'm very lucky to have the wonderful following I do, and I talk to them every chance I get. I hold a lot of contests and probably give more books away than I earn pay, but I don't care. Every time a fan emails me and tells me how much they love my books, I feel very humbled and honored.

Rob--Absolutely. And everybody wins.

7. What have you got planned for the next installments in the Montana Men series?

Jaydyn--Playing For Keeps, book four will be out sometime in 2010, I hope at least by late spring. It's Duel Remington's story and it's quite a tale. Nothing like the other books. The readers won't see much of the serial killer in this book, but look out in book five, The Wilder Side, because Smitt Davis returns with a vengeance. I also have plans for a spin-off series which will be set in Australia and tell the stories of the Remington cousins from that side of the world.

Rob--Well I think several of your fans just booked the first plane out to Oz after hearing that. Or it might be because I told them summer has already begun there. TCTTF, just as things are literally hotting up.

A huge thank you to Jaydyn for stopping by. Her new book can be bought here (electronic format) on December 7th: http://www.eternalpress.ca/tooclosetothefire.html

And a couple of weeks later, it will be available in paperback from Amazon.

EBOOK CONTEST:

If you'd like to win an ebook copy of Too Close to the Fire, simply comment on this blog and Jaydyn will enter your name into her prize draw. I'll announce the winner here on December 8th. Easy!

In the meantime, you should definitely visit Jaydyn's website: http://www.tabithashay.com/
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/tabithashay

And her publisher, Eternal Press: http://www.eternalpress.ca/

Until next time...

Happy reading!

New Book Cover & Trailer for Sunset on Ramree!

Now available for purchase at Eternal Press, priced $3.95!!!

www.eternalpress.biz (eBook)

AND as a paperback novelette on Amazon.com!

July 7th is the official release date for Sunset on Ramree, my WW2 action novelette with Eternal Press. It is the deadliest crocodile attack ever recorded. On February 19th, 1945, a thousand Japanese soldiers retreated into the fetid mangrove swamps of Ramree Island. Days later, only twenty were found alive. History has come to know it as the massacre of Ramree, when twelve kilometers of marshland delivered the battalion from their British enemy…straight into a nest of giant saltwater crocodiles.

Inspired by true events during WW2, Sunset on Ramree follows young musician-turned-soldier Shigeatsu Nakadai and his best friend, Kodi, as they head ever deeper into danger. Will friendship be enough to keep them alive in the deadliest place on Earth?

Learn about saltwater crocodiles here!

Check out the great book cover by Dawne Dominique, and the new trailer I put together...

I'm Proud to Present...The Eleven-Hour Fall

Well, the time has finally arrived. After much planning, writing, rewriting, climbing and general parachuting into unknown territory, my first novella, The Eleven-Hour Fall, is out today.

The folks at Eternal Press have been a pleasure to work with. My editor Heather Williams really understands the sci-fi genre, and you can see from the book cover how talented the artists are at EP. This one was designed by Shirley Burnett, and it's a corker.

So, on to the story itself...

It’s an exciting blend of science-fiction, romance and survival adventure.

What if you fell from a great height...toward a ground you couldn’t see…and hours later, you were still falling?

For love, for survival, on a mysterious planet light years from home. With the man of her dreams unconscious in her arms, astronaut Kate Borrowdale must escape the treacherous peaks of Kratos and traverse a strange, hidden world beneath the clouds…

And now for a short excerpt:

A quick glance here, a fleeting glimpse during a barrel roll there: Kate's knowledge of the world below was snatched from a dizzying descent. The violet sky streamed as colors in a fresco, running while still damp. Tremendous jets of gas washed up from below, pluming to giant mushrooms from tornado slivers.

But who are you trying to blame, Katie girl - no one ordered you on this frozen rock. You've got what you came for; he's just in a coma, that's all. Next time, next time, next time...

Her clock read 15:34. The fall had lasted how long? An hour and five minutes? That couldn’t be right. They seemed no nearer to the swirling cloud below. Another updraft caught them and Kate felt like they were floating again.

Kratos was a large planet in terms of circumference, yet physicists knew very little of its topography. The range of mountains in the northern hemisphere, the peaks of which Kate's party had partially surveyed, suggested mind-boggling geography. Scans, however, had failed to penetrate successive cloud layers. Experts cited an electromagnetic anomaly in the atmosphere as the reason for this. As a result, estimates of the height of those peaks varied by many miles. The surface of Kratos was, as yet, an unexplored world.

After all their bullshit, I'm the one left praying to a parachute.

Kate tried to relax through a fairly deep breath. Her shoulders ached. The fall now seemed smooth, consistent, almost gentle as they stopped spinning. Her throat was dry and ready for cracking. A terrible hunger began to swell inside as she tasted inviting flavors in her saliva, or at least thought she did. Remington never so much as twitched in her clutches.

To read the rest of Kate's adventure, buy The Eleven-Hour Fall in brand new e-book form at Eternal Press. You won't be disappointed!

NEW Paranormal horror e-book published!

My new paranormal horror novella The Stag Antler is out now to buy at:

http://www.clublighthousepublishing.com/


Part Conan-Doyle, part Dennis Wheatley, it's a retro-style mystery set in 1913, in which a somewhat naive small-town Police Inspector is thrust headlong into a murderous supernatural pursuit. Who, or what, is The Stag Antler, the apparition responsible for a nationwide, and later international investigation into the occult? And can it be stopped? The ghoul's quarry, millionaire Edward Barnham, isn't telling all he knows. From the misty moors of Leighton, England to the dry desert of Cordoba, Spain, get ready for a chase into darkness and mounting fear.

Check out the book trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKuex6NXmp4