“Mealer’s talent for detail, deftly rendered, lifts his material toward the sublime.” ―Christian Science Monitor

“[A] troubling expose of the brutalities suffered by those in war-racked Congo.” ―Chicago Tribune

“With vivid prose and compelling emotion…[Mealer] reports his own “creeping emotional atrophy” as he is repulsed and then spellbound by the violence and by the courageous people who struggled to make sense of the fighting.” ―Booklist

“A perceptive, empathetic, stomach-twisting presentation of the human condition during chaos…A quiet paean to the courage he has witnessed, and its final salute to ‘the many proud people of Congo’ is as much eulogy as affirmation.” ―Publishers Weekly

“Bryan Mealer has put his life on the line to bring us a story of terror and courage from the heart of Congo…Both as a journalist and as a reader, my hat’s off to Mealer.” ―Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm