Bear Witness : A Crusade for Justice in a Violent Land by Ross Halperin (2025, Hardcover)

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About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherLiveright Publishing Corporation

ISBN-101324090782

ISBN-139781324090786

eBay Product ID (ePID)22071316311

Product Key Features

Book TitleBear Witness : a Crusade for Justice in a Violent Land

Number of Pages336 Pages

LanguageEnglish

TopicChristianity / General, Organized Crime, Latin America / Central America

Publication Year2025

GenreReligion, True Crime, History

AuthorRoss Halperin

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1.1 in

Item Weight19.1 Oz

Item Length9.6 in

Item Width6.4 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

ReviewsThe beautifully written Bear Witness is essential reading for those concerned about the far too many communities--be they in Tegucigalpa or in Chicago--where people live in fear both of each other and of their government., In magnetic prose, journalist Ross Halperin chronicles how these two do-gooders became quasi-vigilantes and charged into a series of life-and-death battles, not just with this one gang, but also with forces far more dangerous... A remarkable and dangerous feat of reportage, Bear Witness shows what happens when altruism, faith, and an obsession with justice are pushed to the extreme., In this gripping work of investigative journalism, Halperin examines the risks, sacrifices, and criticisms these unlikely saviors endured in making their neighborhood a safer place to raise a family . . . Halperin's skillful reporting and insight and his own risk-taking make Ver Beek and Hernández's story unforgettable., ...a breathtaking account of one of the most ambitious civil society projects in recent memory: the Association for a More Just Society., Ross Halperin's deep dive into one of the worst narco states in Latin America is poignant and chilling. . . . Halperin's understated prose is mesmerizing, and Bear Witness is a cautionary tale about where politics, corruption, and religion collide., Fascinating. Halperin captures the other side of the immigrant crisis -- a world that few outsiders see.... This is an unexpected thriller starring a mild-mannered Christian from the midwest who teaches study-abroad students and runs an NGO.... Halperin tells the story with an immersive narrative voice reminiscent of Tracy Kidder, allowing the reader to peer over the shoulder of people trying to fight the good fight in near-impossible conditions. What's more, he pulls no punches in describing the compromises, ethical transgressions and shadow activity in which one must engage to make change in a basically lawless country., Superbly reported, rife with vivid human and physical detail, Bear Witness brings us novelistically close to the unlikely pair of heroic justice fighters at its heart. . . . I so admire Ross Halperin, the young journalist who has written this important, unforgettable book., A compelling tale and the perfect doorway into the complex inner workings of the poorest country in Latin America, where people struggle for power and the rule of law is weak. Halperin's reporting is prodigious; Nueva Suyapa and its residents appear on the book's pages not as some faceless mass but mothers and fathers and sons and assassins and students and extortionists and sometimes several of those things all at the same time, always just trying to get by., [A] gripping, gut-wrenching story of the courageous struggle of a small organization against the powers of darkness. . . . It's a story of undaunted patience, bravery, faith, and hope in the face of threats, violence, and stonewalling. Take this and be moved and inspired., Kurt Ver Beek and Carlos Hernández are possibly the bravest people in the world and among the few who truly understand how homicide works. . . . Ross Halperin, a reporter who listens with his whole mind, is the one to tell [their story]. He's gone deep and found the insights that matter. Bear Witness will be required reading., This riveting book reads like a thriller--two friends trying to prevent murders in one of the most dangerous places on earth. But it's a true story, about not only the extreme danger they put themselves in, but also the nauseating moral quandaries they faced. . . . In Ross Halperin's nuanced, sharp-eyed, empathetic story, there are no clean hands., Fascinating. Halperin captures the other side of the immigrant crisis -- a world that few outsiders see -- through the story of Kurt Ver Beek, an American academic and missionary of sorts who several decades ago moved to Honduras with his wife, Jo Ann Van Engen, to minister to the poor.... This is an unexpected thriller starring a mild-mannered Christian from the midwest who teaches study-abroad students and runs an NGO.... Halperin tells the story with an immersive narrative voice reminiscent of Tracy Kidder, allowing the reader to peer over the shoulder of people trying to fight the good fight in near-impossible conditions. What's more, he pulls no punches in describing the compromises, ethical transgressions and shadow activity in which one must engage to make change in a basically lawless country.

Synopsis"The reporting is really remarkable -- it's detailed, it's in depth, it's cinematic....This book is a triumph. You should all get it." --David Grann, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Wager A high-octane true-crime story, Bear Witness follows two Christians who refuse to let fear or conventional wisdom stand in the way of their altruistic mission., A high-octane true-crime story, Bear Witness follows two Christians who refuse to let fear or conventional wisdom stand in the way of their altruistic mission., The vast majority of Hondurans would have never dared to set foot in Nueva Suyapa, a mountainside barrio that was under the thumb of a gang whose bravado and cruelty were the stuff of legend. But that is precisely where Kurt Ver Beek, an American sociologist, and Carlos Hernández, a Honduran schoolteacher, chose to raise their families. Kurt and Carlos were best friends who had committed their lives to helping the poor, and when they accepted that nobody else--not the police, not the prosecutors, not the NGOs--was ever going to protect their neighbors from the incessant violence they suffered, they decided to take matters into their own hands. In magnetic prose, journalist Ross Halperin chronicles how these two do-gooders became quasi-vigilantes and charged into a series of life-and-death battles, not just with this one gang, but also with forces far more dangerous, including a notorious tycoon who commanded about a thousand armed men and a police force whose wickedness defied credulity. Kurt and Carlos would eventually get catapulted from obscurity to being famous power players who had access to the backrooms where legislators, ambassadors, and presidents pulled strings. Their efforts made some of the most violent neighborhoods on earth safer and arguably improved a profoundly corrupt government. But they were forced to compromise their principles in order to make all that happen, and furthermore, they acquired a large number of outraged critics and precipitated some heartbreaking collateral damage. A remarkable and dangerous feat of reportage, Bear Witness shows what happens when altruism, faith, and an obsession with justice are pushed to the extreme. "This gripping account--unbelievable, were it not true--of the transformative work of a small, unassuming nonprofit tells the story of what happened in one of the most violent communities in the world when it asked a question that had escaped everybody from the Honduran government to the US Department of State to the United Nations: What if we make the institutions of justice actually work for the people?" --David M. Kennedy