Fascinating ... 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.
It’s a compelling tale and the perfect doorway into the complex inner workings of the poorest country in Latin America ... While the best works of nonfiction bring their characters fully alive, the two men and their associates remain curiously distant and unknown ... The most important voices — those of the barrio itself, which are the ones we really came to hear in the first place — remain silent.
