One of the 19 members of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, psychologist Gobodo-Madikizela weaves together gripping stories from apartheid's victims and perpetrators. Most compelling are the stories behind her prison interviews with Eugene de Kock, known as "Prime Evil," for leading apartheid's death squads. Equating these encounters to a real-life version of Silence of the Lambs,
Gobodo-Madikizela, much like her fictional counterpart Clarice, runs a gamut of emotions from anger to empathy as she deconstructs the mind of this insidious yet tortured soul. Although Gobodo-Madikizela provides a superficial background of de Kock, the captivating honesty of her inner struggle to transcend the hateful emotions attached to the apartheid regime is compensation for the book's lack of historical data. This is a refreshingly psychological study into society's ability to cope in the wake of great tragedy. An entire chapter is devoted to the mental repercussions of Gobodo-Madikizela's knee-jerk reaction to touching de Kock's hand as a sympathetic response to his sorrowful regrets. Upon learning from de Kock that she had touched his "trigger hand" she notes her confusion about having embraced the hand that killed so many. Gobodo-Madikizela cautiously notes that some countries might not be ready for the type of truth commission instituted in South Africa but wisely suggests that all societies should seek an alternative to retributive justice because "to dismiss perpetrators simply as evildoers and monsters shuts the door to the kind of dialogue that leads to an enduring peace " (Jan. 23)
