A chilling work of true crime about the midair murder of Indonesian human rights activist Munir Said Thalib in 2004, set against a political drama in the world's fourth-largest nation.
...reads like a gripping legal-procedural whodunnit, as evidence is slowly unearthed from telephone records, lost documents are retrieved from deleted computer files and intriguing new witnesses emerge ... As recent history, it is meticulous and moving.
Easton patiently leads the reader through this net of bloodshed and subterfuge, while skilfully placing the story in the context of Indonesia’s troubled political history. Perhaps because the author is himself a human rights activist, the storytelling lacks the sensationalism of a more journalistic account. There is a steady resolve in the way Easton approaches his formidably complex material, and he never loses sight of the fact that, behind the sheer extravagance of the case, there is a grimmer story of brutality, cruelty and lives brought to ruin.
Drawing on evidence gathered by Munir’s family, Easton makes a persuasive case ... Easton lucidly unravels the complex history behind the murder and shines a well-deserved spotlight on and how tirelessly Munir’s wife and friends have worked to expose the truth. This harrowing account unearths the insidious legacy of authoritarian regimes.
