Action in the mind

Barrie Harmsworth's Hunter's Gold is an adventure story with one delightful difference — the action, for the most part, is set in Dubai of the Seventies and the Eighties. The emirate's rich cultural history and complex social networks provide sumptuous material for the plot.

The initial chapter beautifully paints trade life on the creek. The action begins as Harmsworth introduces Ali Essa, an Arab boy who attends a local school. Essa's potential is recognised by his old Indian teacher. He encourages the boy to take diploma exams at the British High Commission. Essa goes on to prove his courage and, eventually, becomes a policeman. It would have been interesting to read more about this character because some aspects of Emirati life are illustrated beautifully through him — Essa and his interaction with the majlis among them.

Harmsworth then introduces the protagonist Mike Hunter. At 17, Hunter is in his United Kingdom home, bristling with anger against his violent father. Unable to bear his mother being beaten night after night by his drunken father, Hunter leaves home and ends up in the army.

His unhappy home life casts a dark shadow over Hunter and he is never fully able to escape its reach. Hunter has shades of grey and the reader has to choose between loving or hating him. To the writer's credit, this is a difficult decision for the reader to make.

Harmsworth, an expatriate who grew up in Australia and lived in London before making Dubai his home, then takes the action to the Vietnam War. Hunter leaves for Australia as a specialist instructor and ends up on the warfront. The experiences there leave him a broken man. He then comes to Dubai to work on various development projects.

All along, Hunter's family — wife Carol and daughter Elizabeth who live in the UK — make appearances.

Hunter is a womaniser and his marriage ends in trouble. Prithi, a young Indian woman, and Clare, an expatriate, make an impact on Hunter's life. Prithi, the third important character in the book, eventually moves in with Hunter. Her traumatic past makes Prithi wary of men but she lets her guard down with Hunter.

Hunter navigates his way around the Dubai Dry Docks project. The heat, dust and chaos of the site overwhelm him but he is able to settle down. At the end of the project, he takes up a job on a rig.

Harmsworth continually drops little Dubai gems into his plot. Residents will enjoy the references to spicy chicken tikka at Ravi's restaurant in Al Satwa, the languid pace of a cruise on an abra and the quiet beauty of the desert. But throughout the book, some chapter titles tend to give away key elements of the plot. Eventually, Prithi meets Rajan, a conniving young man, at her workplace. She spends time with him when Hunter is away and embarks on an affair with him.

The atmosphere now turns sinister. One day, Hunter takes Prithi to the gold souq. Noting the lax security arrangements at the "tin pot shacks", he can think of little else but robbing the souq. He works out a plan with Prithi. Harmsworth gets in fine form, and the adventure, action and climax make for good reading. Rajan is closely involved as is Essa.

But one nagging question remains — why does an apparently successful expatriate embark on a quest where the stakes are so high? Boredom? Need for attention? Greed? The author leans on the latter but it appears to be more complicated than that.