The same year saw the release of his first non-fiction book The Spiritual Path. In 2019, he established a multimedia company, Empathy Arts, and the following year released his debut album Love&Faith, which was recorded at Geejam Studios in Jamaica. Roberts went ‘off-grid’ in 2014 to look after his sick parents and pursue a spiritual path of devotion. In the years that followed he became an in-demand public speaker and philosopher and received thousands of messages from readers saying the book had been “life changing”. He returned to Mumbai where he set up a personal initiative to assist the city's poor with lifesaving healthcare. When released, Roberts completed writing Shantaram and it was published in 2003 to critical acclaim. The time in solitary was to become a turning point in his life. Recaptured and extradited to Australia, he served out his sentence, which included two years in solitary confinement as a punishment for his escape. Here he established a free medical clinic for slum-dwellers and worked as a counterfeiter and smuggler for a branch of the South Bombay mafia.

In 1978, Roberts was sentenced to 19 years in prison for armed robbery (with a plastic weapon), he escaped and spent eight years in Bombay as a fugitive. Gregory David Roberts (GDR) is an Australian artist, composer, songwriter, and author of Shantaram, its sequel, The Mountain Shadow, and The Spiritual Path.įollowing the breakdown of his marriage and the loss of custody of his daughter, he turned to heroin to numb the pain, and crime to feed his habit. Like Shantaram, The Mountain Shadow will be a compelling adventure story with a profound message at its heart. Gregory David Roberts is an extraordinarily gifted writer whose stories are richly rewarding on many levels. Some characters appeared in Shantaram, others are introduced for the first time, including Navida Der, a half-Irish, half-Indian detective, and Edras, a philosopher with fundamental beliefs.

One will become a friend, one an enemy, one will try to kill Lin, one will be killed by another.

When he arrives to fulfil his obligation, he enters a room with eight men: each will play a significant role in the story that follows. It is a novel about seeking identity, love, meaning, purpose, home, even the secret of life.As the story begins, Lin has found happiness and love, but when he gets a call that a friend is in danger, he has no choice but to go to his aid, even though he knows that leaving this paradise puts everything at risk, including himself and his lover. A sequel to SHANTARAM but equally a standalone novel, The Mountain Shadow follows Lin on further adventures in shadowy worlds and cultures.

Author gregory david roberts