In January 2015, Bill ten Boom decided to retire from his lucrative private practice and accept a position with the ICC at the request of his colleague from law school, Roger Clewey.

In retrospect, ten Boom sees it as the last step in divorcing his life and career from the fictional Kindle County; the majority of the story is set in European locations including The Hague and Bosnia.

Because the Roma had tipped American forces to the location of Laza Kajevic, a wanted war criminal, just prior to the massacre, one potential motive for the crime would have been retaliation for the unsuccessful capture attempt.

However, Rincic's testimony, which included a detail that the Chetniks spoke Bosnian with a foreign accent, pointed towards the potential involvement of nearby American troops.

"[1] Kirkus Reviews described ten Boom as "a too-familiar, not very fascinating character [going through a male midlife crisis] to carry the tale" but stated the novel was worth its "complicated, trenchant, and pertinent finish.