Imagine a dystopian scenario in which all the systems and services of contemporary life, the comforts and conveniences we currently take for granted, no longer exist. Good people are forced to be resilient and cooperate using what they have to survive, while evil people seek advantage through greed, violence, and criminality.
First-time author Bruce Cole, a former professional soldier in the Australian Army, decided to write a novel based on the premise that a pulse of electromagnetic energy caused by nuclear explosions caused irreparable damage to power lines, telecommunications, and electronic equipment, knocking out all supply systems and suddenly plunging the world into the pre-industrial era.
Cole, the proud owner of a holiday home in the remote rural town of Little Wanganui Sub-Division at the top of the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, spent the last couple of years penning his debut tome at his table in the Little Wanganui Hotel with the support and encouragement of the locals. His lovely wife Gillian also supported Cole’s dream of becoming an author, contributed one of her stunning abstract artworks for the book’s cover and helped him through some mental and physical health challenges he faced as a result of his military service
A ripping read that horrifies, thrills and amuses, Cole’s book “The Battle for the Bluff” draws on his military experience and local knowledge and experiences. The main protagonist is Brad, a retired SASR soldier who assembles a militia of local people to defend their community against “The Scavengers,” a lawless rabble of murderous thieves, rapists and criminals led by degenerate psychopath “Ragnar,” who considers himself a reincarnation of a Viking warrior king and lives that delusion with violent malevolence.
Brad uses his military experience and knowledge to train his civilian conscripts in the art of war with the help of Shek, an ex-Ghurka soldier, who fortuitously arrives in the settlement to help lead the vigilantes. Together, they prepare to defend themselves and their loved ones from the ensuing threat of the Scavengers as they work their murderous way up the Coast plundering, pilliging all in their path to steal land for their overlords in their Queenstown base at the south of the country.
The blokeish narrative has romance, humour, horror, compassion, innovation, magic and a myriad of other themes, all of which are woven into a compelling page-turner that thoroughly entertains and has the reader staying up much later than usual. Think the Swiss Family Robinson, Gilligan’s Island and Magyver and meet Mad Max, The Book of Eli and Clockwork Orange….Something for everyone!
The battles are fierce, and the home team is determined and motivated to defend their homeland. Lives are lost, heroes are made, and ordinary people do extraordinary things to combat an overdog with superior numbers and weapons. The story ends hanging on a cliff, but the good news is that Cole has already written a second book and is working on the third to complete the trilogy. I’ve ordered an advance copy of Book II, which will be published later this year or early 2025, as I need to know what happens next!
Throughout “Battle for the Bluff,” Cole’s observations of nature and animals, ambivalent to human conflict and traits of avarice and barbarity, demonstrate his love of the environment and his West Coast home. I have no doubt that should the unpleasant scenario he portrays in his excellent book become a reality, he would step into Brad’s boots and lead the way to defend his people and his paradise.
Copyright Bruce Cole 2024
Published by BC Publications 2024
ISBN: 978-0-473-71299-0
Printed by CopyPress, Nelson, New Zealand
“Battle for the Bluff” is available online at Copy Press and Wheelers Books, or you can pick up a copy at Page and Blackmore bookshop in Nelson and Dennis’s Bookshop & Stationery at 178 Palmerston Street, Westport. It is also available on Kindle at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW1HRHHR There is also a copy available at the Karamea Community Library, but you may need to put your name on the long list and wait a while before you can read it!
Paul Murray is the founder of the LivinginPeace Project.
www.livinginpeace.com
Paul originally from Australia, but have been living in New Zealand for 14 years. Before that he was in Japan for a decade working as a journalist. He met his wife Sanae in Japan and they married in 2008.
The Rongolian Star 
The Settlement: Battle for the Bluff by Bruce Cole
Off the Top of My Head
Book Review
By Paul Murray
Imagine a dystopian scenario in which all the systems and services of contemporary life, the comforts and conveniences we currently take for granted, no longer exist. Good people are forced to be resilient and cooperate using what they have to survive, while evil people seek advantage through greed, violence, and criminality.
First-time author Bruce Cole, a former professional soldier in the Australian Army, decided to write a novel based on the premise that a pulse of electromagnetic energy caused by nuclear explosions caused irreparable damage to power lines, telecommunications, and electronic equipment, knocking out all supply systems and suddenly plunging the world into the pre-industrial era.
Cole, the proud owner of a holiday home in the remote rural town of Little Wanganui Sub-Division at the top of the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, spent the last couple of years penning his debut tome at his table in the Little Wanganui Hotel with the support and encouragement of the locals. His lovely wife Gillian also supported Cole’s dream of becoming an author, contributed one of her stunning abstract artworks for the book’s cover and helped him through some mental and physical health challenges he faced as a result of his military service
A ripping read that horrifies, thrills and amuses, Cole’s book “The Battle for the Bluff” draws on his military experience and local knowledge and experiences. The main protagonist is Brad, a retired SASR soldier who assembles a militia of local people to defend their community against “The Scavengers,” a lawless rabble of murderous thieves, rapists and criminals led by degenerate psychopath “Ragnar,” who considers himself a reincarnation of a Viking warrior king and lives that delusion with violent malevolence.
Brad uses his military experience and knowledge to train his civilian conscripts in the art of war with the help of Shek, an ex-Ghurka soldier, who fortuitously arrives in the settlement to help lead the vigilantes. Together, they prepare to defend themselves and their loved ones from the ensuing threat of the Scavengers as they work their murderous way up the Coast plundering, pilliging all in their path to steal land for their overlords in their Queenstown base at the south of the country.
The blokeish narrative has romance, humour, horror, compassion, innovation, magic and a myriad of other themes, all of which are woven into a compelling page-turner that thoroughly entertains and has the reader staying up much later than usual. Think the Swiss Family Robinson, Gilligan’s Island and Magyver and meet Mad Max, The Book of Eli and Clockwork Orange….Something for everyone!
The battles are fierce, and the home team is determined and motivated to defend their homeland. Lives are lost, heroes are made, and ordinary people do extraordinary things to combat an overdog with superior numbers and weapons. The story ends hanging on a cliff, but the good news is that Cole has already written a second book and is working on the third to complete the trilogy. I’ve ordered an advance copy of Book II, which will be published later this year or early 2025, as I need to know what happens next!
Throughout “Battle for the Bluff,” Cole’s observations of nature and animals, ambivalent to human conflict and traits of avarice and barbarity, demonstrate his love of the environment and his West Coast home. I have no doubt that should the unpleasant scenario he portrays in his excellent book become a reality, he would step into Brad’s boots and lead the way to defend his people and his paradise.
Copyright Bruce Cole 2024
Published by BC Publications 2024
ISBN: 978-0-473-71299-0
Printed by CopyPress, Nelson, New Zealand
“Battle for the Bluff” is available online at Copy Press and Wheelers Books, or you can pick up a copy at Page and Blackmore bookshop in Nelson and Dennis’s Bookshop & Stationery at 178 Palmerston Street, Westport. It is also available on Kindle at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW1HRHHR There is also a copy available at the Karamea Community Library, but you may need to put your name on the long list and wait a while before you can read it!
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About LivinginPeaceProject
Paul Murray is the founder of the LivinginPeace Project. www.livinginpeace.com Paul originally from Australia, but have been living in New Zealand for 14 years. Before that he was in Japan for a decade working as a journalist. He met his wife Sanae in Japan and they married in 2008.