About the Author

Bruce Venables was born in Hobart and was a member of the Tasmanian Police Force. In 1976 he joined the Royal Hong Kong police as an Inspector. He served in the Hong Kong Marine Police as a launch commander and in the Tactical Unit as a platoon commander. In 1984 Bruce took up residence in Sydney and began his career as a writer of film and television scripts. He is also well known to Australian audiences as an actor. His first novel, A NECESSARY EVIL, was published in 1995; his collection of poetry , THE SPIRIT OF THE BUSH, was published in 2003; and his saga of Hong Kong, THE TIME OF THE DRAGONS, was published in 2004. Bruce lives at Bondi Beach and the Central Coast, NSW, and is married to best- selling novelist and actress, Judy Nunn. They have two dogs, Lucy and Baxter.