The book is published by Monash University Asia Institute, Melbourne David Savage was a technical and script consultant during the filming and also played a minor role.

The story is a fictionalised account of a team of international observers, primarily police officers from nations such as Canada and Australia, working on behalf of the UN in order to arrange and run the vote for independence in East Timor, against strong and violent opposition from pro-Indonesian militia forces in 1999.

However, from the onset, it is obvious that many groups at a community level are attempting to subvert UN authority, taking advantage of the unarmed status of the Officers, and their corrupt ties and influence over both the Indonesian military and the East Timorese Police.

Joining Waldman is Julie Fortin (Isabelle Blais), a Canadian RCMP police officer and Ismenio Soares (Alex Tilman), a Timorese university graduate assigned to translate for the UN team.

It is obvious early on that not all is well in the troubled region, with massacres of entire families leaving no doubt in the mind of the UN officers that the Pro-Indonesian Militia are attempting to subvert the independence proceedings via strong-arm tactics over the population.

Immediately the violence begins, with Indonesian Military and militia carrying out a scorched earth campaign[broken anchor], removing 'vital assets', the UN team is forced to evacuate.

The final card tells us of the numbers of militia who are still granted asylum by the Indonesians, not pursued by the Australian Government in an attempt maintain the uneasy relationship between the two nations.