BOUNTY


Fiction - Thriller - General
429 Pages
Reviewed on 07/12/2019
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Darryl was educated on Queensland’s Gold Coast but cut short his education and at the age of 15 he left school to work on a milk run. He later worked as a window cleaner, cocktail barman, wine waiter, clerk, car salesman and a guitarist/backing singer in a rather hopeless rock band. Eventually, he got his act together, studied Law and at 28 owned his own law firm in Queensland’s far north. After nine years in the tropics, he sold up and moved with his family to London. He practised there for twenty years specialising in commercial litigation, mostly at partner level in the City. In 2004 he returned to Queensland and now lives with his daughter in the Gold Coast hinterland.

Darryl has been a writer for as long as he can remember. He has had a respectable number of paid articles published in British and international magazines. In 2009 he self-published his novel The Election, a political thriller. In 2012 he secured a publishing contract with Morris Publishing Australia for his second novel, Calvus, an historical thriller. With the demise of that publisher, Darryl signed with Custom Book Publications for the publication of three of his novels. Agnus Dei, a legal thriller published in February 2014, Sleeping With Angels, another legal thriller, in November 2014 and A Dragon In The Snow in October 2015. In July 2019, Darryl self-published Bounty, a political thriller.

Apart from writing, Darryl enjoys walking, travel, cinema and, of course, reading thrillers.

    Book Review

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

Bounty is a work of dramatic thriller fiction penned by author Darryl Greer. Spanning the globe in this political terrorist thriller, our central hero begins life as a little boy, Jabir Sarkis. At twelve years old, Jabir witnesses the horrors of the Middle East conflict of 2007, when his mother is killed in Lebanon. Vowing to fight against the terrorists who ended her life, Jabir grows in power and passion to do good deeds. But as his deeds begin to get noticed, Jabir’s new life in Australia is threatened by the very terrorists he’s trying to destroy. When they kidnap his girlfriend, Jabir begins a terrifying trial to get her back and have the life he’s worked so hard for restored to him.

There should be more thriller books like Bounty. I think it’s wonderful, culturally speaking, to see an anti-terrorism novel with a non-white, non-American hero, adding a huge deal of authenticity and personal motivation to the tale. Author Darryl Greer creates an empathetic and powerful hero in Jabir Sarkis, spurred by the past he’s had to endure but always determined for the future. The different locations of Australia and the Middle East bring life to the tale as genuinely terrifying events occur. The political aspects of the story are well handled, without overshadowing the personal drama that Jabir is going through. I also really enjoyed the dialogue, which was direct and not overly-technical. Overall, Bounty is a thriller novel that any reader can access and enjoy, portraying a true hero at work.

Geza Tatrallyay

“Bounty” is a thriller set in the context of the turmoil in Lebanon and shows how this intractable conflict and the ensuing instability can impact even far-away peaceful places like Australia. After losing his mother in a terrorist attack in a remote corner of Lebanon, young Jabir Sarkis resolves to join the army and try to bring peace to his land. With the help of rich relatives, he starts university in Beirut, even as in far-away Australia an Israeli politician giving a lecture is poisoned with radioactive material and the pro-Israeli Prime Minister is assassinated. An outraged Aussie government offers an AUD20 million bounty for anyone who assists in bringing the assassin to justice. Borak al-Balawi, the assassin, a Hezbollah-linked professor in Sydney disguises his appearance and escapes back to Lebanon where he is secured a position at the University. Jabir, who dreams of a better life with his love, the beautiful fellow-student Rihana, recognizes the culprit from the bounty notice and identifies him to the Australian authorities. As well as a large portion of the offered bounty, they grant Jabir and his father visas to get them away from the revenge-seeking hands of Hezbollah. Borak is ordered to follow and take care of the problem that Jabir will expose the Hezbollah link by executing him too. The forces of terrorism, justice and peace come together in an exciting climax and conclusion in Australia.

Darryl Greer has written a masterfully plotted novel against the background of one of today’s most intractable problems: the continued instability in the Middle East. His characters are well-crafted and suited for their roles. The writing is strong. This is a book that is hard to put down and deserves to be read both for the suspenseful plot and the light it throws on the poignant issues of the Middle East. Well-done!

Ian Shaw

Bounty brings the political and turmoil of Lebanon to Australia. It is a well-crafted thriller, which draws on the full toolbox of the genre. Suspenseful, well researched and replete with villains you can really hate, the novel will appeal to thriller aficionados. While I didn't agree with the depiction of the politics of the region, as a piece of fiction, Bounty offers good entertainment value and the potential for adaptation as a good action-packed film.