Published by Liveright on May 13, 2025
Genres: Non-Fiction, Social Justice
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“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
Amazon Editors' Pick: A Best History Book of May
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 book tells the fascinating true story of Christian social activists who became involved in trying to change the criminal justice system in Honduras. The story begins with two friends deciding to take action against the constant gang violence in the dangerous neighborhood where they had chosen to live and minister. Gang members operated without fear of the law, due to justice system corruption and the unwillingness of witnesses to testify in court, due to the guarantee of violent retaliation.
These middle-aged dads and their nonprofit organization used many different strategies to change the tide of gang violence. They eventually saw marked success, and then their mission expanded to a crusade against a corrupt business tycoon, the depths of corruption within the police force and court system, and the national government.
Bear Witness is an excellent piece of reporting. Journalist Ross Halperin wrote this book with a crisp, engaging writing style, and he covered this sweeping, complicated story with critical details and an eye for the big picture. He also writes in an even-handed way, reflecting different viewpoints and opinions without making his own summary judgments about the people involved or the choices they made.
This story seems almost unbelievable at times, especially as Halperin emphasizes the very normal, down-to-earth nature of the people involved. Halperin highlights how the guiding ethics and beliefs of these Christian activists drove their work, even as they made dangerous choices with occasionally tragic results. The book explores the moral complexities in a very thoughtful way, allowing readers to come to their own conclusions.
However, Halperin’s reporting covers so many years, situations, stories, and people that it can be difficult to follow at times. For example, bit players will disappear for long stretches of time and then come back into the narrative, and it can be hard to keep all of the names straight. The timeline jumps can also be confusing, as the author goes back and forth between the past, the more distant past, and the present. There were times where I appreciated the author slowing down to provide cultural background or historical context for things, but some of these explanations turned into excessive deep-dives. And yet, at other moments, I needed more context and couldn’t figure out what was going on.
Sensitive readers should also be aware that this book includes many, repeated descriptions of graphic violence. These descriptions are a truthful part of telling this story, and the author does not sensationalize any of these gruesome events. However, some readers will find the disturbing details in this book difficult to stomach.
Bear Witness: The Pursuit of Justice in a Violent Land is a fascinating piece of reporting about a little-known, dramatic story of sincere Christians trying to make a difference in a developing nation with corrupt systems. This book will appeal to readers who appreciate well-reported, thought-provoking journalism about topics like social activism, true crime, government corruption, and how people of faith navigate ethical dilemmas. This book is a heavy and challenging read because of its dark content and the overwhelming array of details involved, but I am glad that I read this, and I would recommend it to readers who think this would be a good fit for them.