His first book, Notes from the Last Testament: The Struggle for Haiti, with an introduction by the Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck, was published by Seven Stories Press in November 2005.

[2] A third book, In the Shadow of Saint Death: The Gulf Cartel and the Price of America's Drug War in Mexico, was published by Lyons Press in June 2014.

[19][20] Deibert's book on the Democratic Republic of Congo was called "mandatory reading for anyone interested in building lasting peace in the heart of Africa" by the Institute of Development Studies, "a comprehensive first-rate account of the tragedy of Congo...Riveting and brutally honest" by the Free Africa Foundation[21] and "a scrupulously researched reminder of how this corner of the world became so wretched, and of the multiple actors responsible" by The Guardian.

[22] Latin American Politics and Society called In the Shadow of Saint Death "a superb piece of reporting on U.S. drug policy and its devastating effects on drug-producing and transit countries in the Western Hemisphere."

[24] Since 2017, Deibert has worked extensively in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, and has been highly critical of the approach of the U.S. federal government to the island.