Western Australiaâlate 1975. Malcolm Kincaid, a single-minded and unscrupulous entrepreneur, embarks on a career in the gold mining industry in partnership with his older brother, Jamie. After Jamie's untimely death Malcolm takes charge of the mine together with Rachel, Jamie's widow.
They share a secret, however: Rachel's son, Lachlan, is the result of a rape by Malcolm. Lachlan is unaware of his true parentage.
Over the ensuing 30 years, Malcolm uses and abuses friends and family alike, resorting to various corrupt tactics in his pursuit of wealth and power, all the while trying to pass on his own corrupt attitude to his ânephewâ.
When he allows the pollution of an Aboriginal settlementâs water supply, however, he faces justice of a kind he never imagined.
GOLD! is a tale of greed, betrayal, family conflict, murder, and injustice. It is also, however, a story of love and loyalty, and of how one man's pride and prejudice can bring about his eventual downfall.
Western Australiaâlate 1975. Malcolm Kincaid, a single-minded and unscrupulous entrepreneur, embarks on a career in the gold mining industry in partnership with his older brother, Jamie. After Jamie's untimely death Malcolm takes charge of the mine together with Rachel, Jamie's widow.
They share a secret, however: Rachel's son, Lachlan, is the result of a rape by Malcolm. Lachlan is unaware of his true parentage.
Over the ensuing 30 years, Malcolm uses and abuses friends and family alike, resorting to various corrupt tactics in his pursuit of wealth and power, all the while trying to pass on his own corrupt attitude to his ânephewâ.
When he allows the pollution of an Aboriginal settlementâs water supply, however, he faces justice of a kind he never imagined.
GOLD! is a tale of greed, betrayal, family conflict, murder, and injustice. It is also, however, a story of love and loyalty, and of how one man's pride and prejudice can bring about his eventual downfall.
Malcolm Kincaid stepped from the comparative cool of the West Australian School of Mines building in Egan Street, squinting against the shimmering haze. A small crowd was emerging from within, and he took Rachel's arm firmly, drawing her sideways to the edge of the throng.
It was hot that dayâeven for Kalgoorlie. In a place where the heat didnât really start to bite until mid-January, Nature seemed to be forewarning of summerâs impending advance. The searing east wind, straight from the heart of the Great Victoria Desert, gave Malcolm the impression of standing before a blast furnace. Dust swirled in eddies, stinging his eyes and leaving a gritty taste in his mouth.
Heavy clouds loomed on the western horizon, their elephant-grey forms wracked by occasional thunderclaps. There would be no rain today, however; anyone familiar with the local weather patterns would know that. All that the approaching front would deliver would be a change of wind direction and more humidityâalong with the ever-present possibility of lightning-induced bushfires.
Not that any of this bothered Malcolm all that much. Nothing would spoil this day. Today was the start of a whole new life, one that he knew would be exceptional. Malcolm was on the way up. Under the ever-watchful eye of their father, Colm Kincaid, he and older brother Jamie had applied themselves diligently to their studies, right up to graduating with honours from one of Australiaâs premier mining academies.
Malcolm recalled, with little fondness, their fatherâs relentless bullying. He had to admit, though, the old Scot had done himself proud. Jamie had graduated with an Associate Diploma in Mining Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy just three years earlier. Malcolm, having completed his studies through correspondence from his home in Perth, now clutched his own graduation papers in his hands.
Colm Kincaidâs one driving ambition for both his sons was financial success; success heâd always felt was his birthright, but that the Fates had conspired to deny him. Malcolm wasnât sure about how much fate had to do with it, but he already had plans for his own immediate future.
A familiar voice boomed from behind, jerking him from his reverie. âI suppose you feel pretty pleased with yourself. Top marks, hey?â
âJamie!â exclaimed Malcolm, turning quickly. âI thought you hadnât turned up!â
âThatâd be the day,â grinned Jamie. âAs if Iâd miss my new business partnerâs graduation. Well done, little brother.â He grasped Malcolmâs right hand in both fists, pumping enthusiastically. âI knew youâd ace it, Bro.â
At a shade over six feet, Jamie was taller than Malcolmâslim and wiry. Dressed in faded denims and a check sports shirt, and with a bushy black beard that Ned Kelly himself would have envied, he cast an imposing figure. He might have looked out of place in the well-dressed crowd, but he obviously didnât feel so. His tanned face and armsâa legacy of many hours under the Australian sunâand his callused hands, bore evidence of the years already spent working on the mines.
Malcolm, by comparison, appeared plump and urbane. The younger Kincaid was clean-shaven except for a neat ginger moustache and sideburns. He was a good five kilograms heavier than his sibling, and almost as far removed from Jamie in appearance as a brother could be.
âLittle brother?â Malcolm chuckled, patting his paunch. âNot unless I lose this, mate.â
âA month in the bush and youâll be a new man,â Jamie replied. âToo much soft city living, thatâs your problem.
âAnd whatâs with the suit?â he eyed Malcolm up and down. âDid someone miss the memo about the weather up here?â
They both laughed heartily. One thing these brothers had in common, which nobody could fail to notice, was their roaring exultant laugh. When they laughed together, which they often did, they never failed to attract attention.
âA pity the old man couldnât be here,â Malcolm said after a moment. âHe was the one who wanted us both to graduate from the School of Mines. I reckon heâd be pretty pleased his browbeating has paid off.â
âThatâs for sure,â said Jamie. Then, turning his gaze to the petite, demure woman at Malcolmâs side, he said, âAnd I suppose youâre the gorgeous young thing whoâs stolen my brotherâs heart?â
âOh, sorry,â said Malcolm. âJamie, meet Rachel. Rachel, this, as youâve probably guessed, is my big brother Jamie.â
âGood to meet you, Jamie,â Rachel beamed. âIâve heard a lot about you. Nice to put a face to the name at last.â
She offered her hand, which Jamie squeezed eagerly. âLikewise, Rachel. So what do you think of beautiful downtown Kalgoorlie?â He spread his arms wide to encompass the surroundings.
A smile flickered across Rachelâs lips. âHot.â
âBetter get used to it. Itâll really start to warm up after Christmas.â
Jamie turned to face his younger sibling. âSo, the notorious Kincaid brothers are together again.â He nudged Mal with his elbow and added, âI never thought Iâd ever get you out of the big smoke, by the way. And starting Monday, weâll be working our own mining lease.â
âI still canât believe you tossed in your cushy, well-paid, supervisor job with Hillfire Mines.â Malcolm shook his head, ignoring Jamieâs reference to the lease. âYou worked hard for that promotion. You were set for the long haul there, I thought.â
âMal, just wait âtil you see these latest assay reports.â Jamie brandished a sheaf of papers. âWe are going to be set for the long haul.â He put special emphasis on We. âIn fact, we are going to be rich, very rich.â He fixed Malcolm with his beaming grin, waiting for a response.
âYou sure you really want to go down that track? Dad wasted most of his life scratching around his old claim, barely making enough to cover costs most of the time.â Jamieâs grin still didnât waver as Malcolm continued. âI still say the best plan is to target management positions and let someone else take all the risks.â
âAnd all the profits!â Jamie countered. âAnd forget about that old school grubbing around like Dad did. Open cut! Thatâs the way to go. We bring in dozers, scrape away a foot or two at a time, before sweeping it with detectors. Then we repeat the process.â
âDozers?â Malcolm took a small backward step. âDozers, plural? And where is all the money coming from?â
âOK, OK, dozer. For now, at least. I have a D8 in mind for starters.â Malcolm was shaking his head again, but Jamie continued. âBelongs to a pal of mine. Heâs prepared to do us a special deal on a short-term lease. Mateâs rates, you could say.â Jamie was clearly excited and obviously not ready to let it go. Malcolm grew silentâa resigned look taking up residence where doubt and incredulity had been a moment earlier.
âCome on, Iâll buy us a beer or three and fill you in on the details,â Jamie said. âLittle brother, you are not going to believe these reports!â He waved the papers in Malcolmâs face as they walked away toward the nearest pub.
As they crossed to the shady side of the street, Rachel felt Malcolm grip her hand in his. She glanced across to the two brothers. It wasnât just physical appearances that set them apart. How could this manâtall, rugged, good-looking, and so open and friendlyâpossibly be Malcolmâs brother? Under different circumstances, the smile Jamie had given her might have melted her heart on the spot!
Malcolm had provided scant details, so she hadnât known what to expect. In the back of her mind, though, sheâd had an image of simply a more senior version of Malcolm Kincaid. What she sawâand yes, felt, when she sized up the older Kincaidâmade her just a little uncomfortable. Especially when she probed those penetrating hazel eyesâŠ
As they walked, her mind drifted back over the events of the past three months; the events that had led her to accompany Malcolm Kincaid to Kalgoorlie. They had met at a friendâs dinner party and he had captivated her right away with his wit and charm. So much so, that sheâd gone against her usually cautious nature and moved in with him after only a few weeks. Once their situation seemed permanent, however, he had changed subtly, becoming more demanding and less attentive. Sheâd considered ending the relationship more than once, yet, here she was, agreeing to relocate more than 400 kilometres with him! Rachel shook her head, wondering at the wisdom of her own actions.
What was it, she thought, this hold that Malcolm had over her? And what about Jamie? How could two brothers be so different? Malcolm was a calculated, ambitious optimist; it didnât take a genius to work that out. Jamie, on the other hand, seemed to turn optimism into an art form. He chatted away, oblivious to the fact that his brother wasnât paying the slightest attention to what he said, while Malcolm walked in stony silence.
The younger Kincaid was digesting the situation. When Jamie focused on an idea, there could be no reasoning with him. Thatâs the way it always had been, and, he supposed, always would be. Heâd just have to let Jamie rave on for a whileânodding in the appropriate placesâthen say that he needed time to think on it. Tomorrow, heâd tell Jamie about the position heâd already decided to accept with Newmont Mining, a US corporation, who were considering expansion into Western Australia. They had head-hunted him based on his recent performance at the School of Mines.
The brothers were on their second pint, reminiscing about old times and Rachel was at the bar ordering lunch for the three of them, when Jamie turned to Malcolm:
âRachel seems like a great catch Mal,â he said with a grin. âHow did an ugly prick like you snare a looker like that? Was it witty Malcolmisms, or âDoes this smell like chloroformâ?â
âVery funny,â Malcolm answered. âJust keep your hands off this one, hey? I still remember Bernice.â
Jamie furrowed his brow before answering, âBernice?â After a brief pause, he said, âYou mean Bernie Wainwright? Hell Malcolm, that was way back in high school.â
âMaybe so,â Malcolm replied. âBut I still say keep your hands off.â
Jamie sat back, raising his arms in mock surrender. âSure thing, little brother. Consider me put in my place.â
In fact, Malcolm had long held a grudge against his older sibling over the Bernice Wainwright incident. Bernice, around a year older than Malcolm, was the most beautiful thing heâd ever seen. Malcolm had been smitten, and Bernice, despite the age difference, was fond of Malcolm and had done nothing to discourage his advances. Until she met Jamie, that was.
Malcolm had walked in on the two of them making out on the family sofa. The younger Kincaid completely lost control and attacked his brother with the first thing that came to hand; a brass statuette of Elvis Presley. Jamie received a cut to his forehead, and Malcolm a black eye and fat lip. Elvis was left with a permanently twisted right arm. Bernice had stormed out and refused to speak to Malcolm again from that moment onwards.
This was the first time Malcolm had broached the subject in several years, and he actually found himself a little surprised that heâd mentioned it now. The two had long since agreed on a truce where Bernice Wainwright was concerned.
In the back of his mind, though, Malcolm knew the reason for his reaction. He and Rachel were having problems of their own. Nothing too serious, of course, but the relationship was on shaky ground.
Rachel had overheard him flirting with one of her work colleagues and created the usual female fuss. For fucksake, he was just being friendly, wasnât he? Why did some women have to make such a big deal of things? Sheâd confronted him, and threatened to leave him, but Malcolm put her straight. She hadnât mentioned the incident in over a week, and the bruises on her arms and back were clearing up nicely, thank you.
He also hadnât failed to notice how Rachel had looked at Jamie when they metâŠ
âWell?â Jamie broke his train of thought. âAre you going to look at these figures, or not?â
âOK,â sighed Malcolm, âshow me what youâve got.â He took the report from his brother and began to scan the pages with little enthusiasm. Malcolm was reading ore sample reports, but not really absorbing the information, at least not at first. He stopped, reread a section, turned back two pages, ran his hand across his moustache, then looked up at Jamie, who was watching intently with that same broad smile.
âThis⊠this canât be right. Are you sure thereâs not been a mistake?â
âDouble checked and triple checked little bro.â Jamie was beaming now. âI said youâd be blown away.â
âBut⊠Where is this lease, anyway?â
Jamie leaned toward his younger brother conspiratorially, âIf I tell you, Iâll have to kill you.â He laughed before continuingâignoring Malcolmâs raised eyebrows at the clichĂ©d attempt at a joke. âItâs actually just east of Dadâs old mine. I reckon itâs the mother lode Dad was looking for all those years. I went out there on one of my days off and walked around with a metal detector.â He held out a bronzed hand, with three nuggets, each bigger than a thimble, âAnd look what I foundâin under twenty minutes!â
Malcolm was staring, open-mouthed, as Jamie continued. âI raced in to register a claim, and it turned out it was part of Dadâs lease all along! Next day I dug some rock samples and took them to be assayed. You have the results there in your hands.â He waited for Malcolmâs response, which wasnât forthcoming. âSo what do you say now, Mal, old pal?â
Gold by Thomas Greenbank has all the ingredients of a page turner. It has a straight forward plot, characters that are tied to the main plot and help further it rather than creating their own sub plots, a well defined villain whose villainy runs like a spine through the whole story, setting the tone for other characters and events. The plot has almost all the top current affair issues - misogyny, drug abuse and exploitation of aboriginals by a mining company.
If you have started feeling I am accusing the novel of being trite, you may be right. But Gold hardly pretends to be anything else.
Gold is an unpretentious genre novel narrating the story of two generations of the Kincaid family. Malcolm and Jamie, two brothers, start a mining company. They have hardly anything in common. Malcolm is an aggressive go-getter who doesnât hesitate to resort to unethical practices to meet his ends, whereas Jamie is a sensitive and considerate human being.
Racheal is Malcolmâs girlfriend. Jarred by Malcolmâs psychotically aggressive personality, Racheal eventually gravitates towards the sensitive Jamie. However, in a twist of events, one day, Malcolm and Racheal find themselves alone. Malcolm and violates her. Racheal gives birth to Lachie and Jamie dies in a road accident.
Lachie is more like Jamie, sensitive and idealistic, than his biological father Malcolm. They coexist despite their differences - their paths crossing and diverging again - until an incident related to mining brings them into conflict.
The novel is lengthy â at 590 plus pages â but Thomas has managed to maintain the tautness of its narrative.
It picks up at the beginning, then it slows down a bit, only to pick up again at the end to deliver a conclusive and a bit unexpected denouement. However, there are subplots Thomas doesnât conclude. Lachie never comes to know that Malcolm was his biological father. A promising subplot concerning Rachealâs mother receives a short shrift. I am not sure if they were deliberately overlooked as they were not part of the main storyline or were oversights. Â
Gold took me back to Sidney Sheldon and Jeffery Archer warts and all. The characters are a bit one-dimensional, but you identify with them. The chapters are short - you can race through several of them in one sitting. Itâs an easy read - the hours spent reading it will not leave you stressed. Itâs absorbing â and you will crave to return to it, to know what happens next.
The novel has a strange aspect to it: a made-for-the-youth feel. Its world is mostly occupied by young characters (college goers or fresh graduates just starting their lives). The first half of the novel is mostly inhabited by Malcolm, Jamie and Racheal when they are young and the second Lachie, his wife and friends when they are young.
The old get very little of the plot space. So the dialogues exchanged between the characters, their concerns, challenges and worldview, everything has a very youthful feeling to it. I am not sure whether it was deliberate, or it just happened. But I enjoyed reading Gold and if you like fast-paced narrative and a book you can live with for a while without feeling tired, you will like it too.