Winner, 2nd Place, Fiction, 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Winner, 1st Place, Regional Fiction, 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Shaken Allegiances spans 48 hours in a world askew-almost absurd-just after a devastating earthquake has struck and isolated Montréal Island in the dead of an icy winter, one week before a referendum on Québec's secession from Canada. No power, no communications, no access, and -40°F, but no heroes to the rescue; no Schwarzenegger, no Stallone, no Charlton Heston. Provincial and federal politicians are busy waging an ideological war, while coordination of emergency response is in the hands of a lunatic; a structural engineer and a disc jockey form an odd couple in their pursuit of fame, while the frustrated media seek ways of leapfrogging the collapsed bridges to undertake some disaster tourism of their own. Their fortuitous encounters, and problems with quirky opportunists, converge to help make things worse. Kafka would feel at home. Shaken Allegiances jolts with a disturbing and witty projection of today's unbridled narcissistic society, a disaster in full bloom that has sprung from the seeds of individualism planted in the 1980s. Its colorful characters, quixotic, ambitious, rapacious, self-righteous, naïve, conceited, moronic, lost, or otherwise flawed, provide a fresh, entertaining and cynical view of the inescapable human folly. About Michel Bruneau Michel Bruneau's blend of deadpan humor and keen eye for the nonsensical side of human nature underlie his original perspective on contemporary existence. His previous book of fiction, "Inhumanité - Onze nouvelles qui insultent l'intelligence" (in French) has received excellent reviews, particularly from Radio Canada. In the technical realm, he has been an earthquake engineer for over 20 years, doing his share to reduce the risks of infrastructure collapse. As a professor and researcher, he has extensively published and has received many awards for his work. Born in Québec City, expatriated by the demands of work, he lives in Buffalo, enjoying its comparatively balmy winters. www.MichelBruneau.com Reviews “Seeing how the civil and political authorities behave, we are forced to conclude that the earthquake, after all, is a lesser evil. (…) They all work toward their own personal agenda. (…) Nobody is spared.” “The characters sometimes resemble, to a fault, those we find in our own different parliaments.” “A warning to your readers (…) to let them know from the outset that they will encounter things that may slightly unsettle them.” ― Line Boily, Radio Canada "An earthquake cuts off Montreal Island from the world, and a whole circus of Canadian politics, media, and so much more erupt around it. A cynical and humorous look at the Quebec issue and modern Canada, "Shaken Allegiances" is uniquely Canadian and deserves a place in world fiction collections." ― Midwest Book Review Michel Bruneau has set the standard for combining excitement with factual content in the earthquake fiction genre. (...) This is not a novel in which to find role models. (...) Recommended to earthquake engineering experts as well as to the general public. ― Robert Reitherman, Executive Director, Consortium of Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering, EERI Spectra

Shaken Allegiances

Literature & Fiction

Bruneau, Michel

Literary

CePages Press

Winner, Best Second Novel, 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Awards  Finalist, Literary Fiction, 2012 Book of the Year Award, Foreword Reviews  "My casket shall be filled to the rim with 2005 Saint-Émilion." So read the first line of the specific instructions for Keene's funeral-a funeral that nobody would attend, since he had no friends or family. This had to be a mistake. Carmina's ex-husband had never been one inclined towards such exuberance-"he was a boring engineer for Christ's sake." Besides, she didn't want to have anything to do with this sordid story-they hadn't spoken to each other for more than a decade. A story that would have her treasure hunt for junk, with a suicidal, pyromaniac kid in tow, while being courted by the shyest lawyer on earth. Keene didn't have friends, but he sure had quirky acquaintances; each of the eight Carmina has to visit holds a piece of the puzzle. With its palette of quirky characters, imaginative developments, and unusual perspective on life and death, The Emancipating Death of a Boring Engineer is an inspirational journey that captivates, entertains, and provides food for thought to those of us who happen to know someone who might die someday (rare as it may be). About the author: Michel Bruneau is a boring engineer of the not so boring kind-whether he is emancipated or dead remains to be seen. His previous novel (Shaken Allegiances), which won the 2010 Grand Prize Next Generation Indie Book Awards and received much acclaim, depicted a Kafkaesque post-disaster world at the hands of self-serving actors. On a different tack, The Emancipating Death of a Boring Engineer is an uplifting story with an upbeat ending, because it was written with a pen of a different color. www.michelbruneau.com  Reviews  "This is certainly one way to go out. A love triangle of the strangest kind. You might find yourself charmed by a so-called boring engineer."  ― ForeWord Reviews  "The Emancipating Death of a Boring Engineer tells a compelling, and, at times, funny story. An entertaining read."  ― San Francisco Book Review  "Plenty of humor with its own take on the romance, very much recommended reading."  ― Midwest Book Review  Truly delightful. A sweet and poignant testimonial to love. Well worth reading. ― Readers Favorite  "Zany with occasional moments of seriousness."  ― IndieReader Review

The Emancipating Death of a Boring Engineer

Contemporary

For sure, Adam is weird-although "weird" is all relative. Weird is problematic, but tolerable. What's forbidden though is talking to Kafkaists, who are nothing but dangerous worms guilty of "moral turpitude"-cockroaches that the Author most probably forgot to erase. So helping Kafkaists wasn't the brightest thing to do. Unfortunately, he didn't have a choice. For one, June was a Kafkaist-cockroaches can't possibly have such dazzling blue eyes. Second, well... he had to make things right. All he needed was a plan. An infallible plan. In normal circumstances-although "normal" is all relative-it's that simple. If only Adam was good at making plans.

My Author is Dead

Michel Bruneau

Humor & Satire

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the CePages Press publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by CePages Press