Clive Small

BLOOD MONEY, written by Clive Small and Tom Gilling, looks at the world of organised crime in current-day Australia - New South Wales in particular. Post the demise of the better known gangs, post the demise of the "gentleman" criminal, this book looks closely at a new wave of gangland bosses, and the ruthless way in which they will form alliances and break the old rules to gain or hold onto power.

The book starts off providing a cast of the major characters and the gangs that they belong to. It then moves into a series of chapters based around particular people and their alliances. This includes people that even we Victorians have heard of - Danny Karam, the Ibrahims and so on. It then looks at the connections between the various people, gangs and activities such as drug and gun running, theft of heavy ordinance, drug trafficking, Bikie Gangs and terrorism.

There is a note that BLOOD MONEY follows on from an earlier book - SMACK EXPRESS, but I don't think you need to have read that to get a clear idea of the impact of the subject matter of this book. Because this book is talking particularly about a range of individuals that many readers don't know, much of the impact actually comes from the activities of these people - rather than anything about who or what they are. There are quite a few characters in BLOOD MONEY that I personally have never heard of, but that does not for a moment take away any of the amazement at the length and breadth of their involvements. And at the way that crime is being used now to fund a range of activities - not just support the lifestyle of the actual perpetrators. Which is a particularly sobering thought.

Clive Small is a 38-year New South Wales police veteran where he spent much of his time in criminal investigation. He has also worked as an investigator with the Woodward Royal Commission into Drug Trafficking and with Strike Force Omega - charged with the reinvestigation of the 1984 shooting of Detective Michael Drury. He also led the backpacker murder investigation which resulted in the conviction of Ivan Milat. Tom Gilling is a journalist and writer who has written both fiction and non-fiction books before.

The background of both authors must mean that whilst the content is often sobering, and quite revealing - the book doesn't read like an essay on crime. It's a very readable book, albeit a rather sobering experience.… (más)

You know you're onto a good book that has this; Darwiche had brought two rocket launchers to use in the attack. His plan had been to use one but he changed his mind when he learned that not all the Razzaks were inside. The second rocket launcher was to be used against police in the event of a chase.

OK, no real biggie there for any blokey type of crime novel, but the fact is this is part of the true story of the Australian crime scene!! This book chronicles some of the bikies, terrorists and Middle Eastern Gangs in Australia, specifically the last 30 years. Clive Small should know what he's talking about, he is a retired detective and Assistant Commissioner of Police.

For those fans of Underbelly, this is a must read, and it shows that the series (about the Kings Cross) is about as true a depiction as you are going to get. This was a real hard book to put down, although sometimes got difficult due to following all the characters as they are so intertwined keeping track is a skill...not to mention the names of the Middle Eastern gangs, especially when most of them are related.

It starts off with the infamous Frank Hakim (The Lebanese Godfather)the Bayehs, and then into the Ibrahims - in these cases you will easily picture them from the series. There are some great tales of drugs, violence, corruption etc etc (not that I condone that sort of thing), but when it gets to Danny Karam and his "Boys" it really becomes something you think can only be make-believe! Karam is the nutter he was portrayed on TV, but Kanaan (his boy who killed him) was off the planet!

Moving on from this it moves to the Darwiches and Razzaks from the excerpt above - this is a gang war of almost biblical proportions, and it makes you think that South Auckland is a veritable pre-school in comparison (not taking the police work their lightly of course!).

After the Lebanese (as most were) gangs have been covered, it moves into the bikie gang culture, and again it must be said that those here are (or seem to be portrayed as) small fish in a big pond - who do you think supplied the rockets launchers from above!?

The last section is about the growing threat of terrorism - in fact growing doesn't seem the right term - there have been over 150 terrorism attacks in or on Australian interests since 1966...the difference nowadays seems to be where the funding is coming from - drugs. The slowest of all the sections, but somewhat disturbing to comprehend.

Well written with a great photo library (you should see some of the ugly mug shots they have) and highly recommended.… (más)