Some People Need Killing - by Patricia Evangelista

About the Book

"'My job is to go to places where people die. I pack my bags, talk to the survivors, write my stories, then go home to wait for the next catastrophe. I don't wait very long.' Journalist Patricia Evangelista came of age in the aftermath of a street revolution that forged a new future for the Philippines. Three decades later, in the face of mounting inequality, the nation discovered the fragility of its democratic institutions under the regime of strongman Rodrigo Duterte. Some People Need Killing is Evangelista's meticulously reported and deeply human chronicle of the Philippines' drug war and Duterte's assault on the country's struggling democracy. For six years, Evangelista had the distinctive beat of chronicling the killings carried out by police and vigilantes in the name of Duterte's war on drugs - a war that has led to the slaughter of thousands - immersing herself in the world of killers and survivors and capturing the atmosphere of fear created when an elected president decides that some lives are worth less than others"--

Book Synopsis

TIME'S #1 NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR - A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW TOP 10 BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

"Patricia Evangelista's searing account is not only the definitive chronicle of a reign of terror in the Philippines, but a warning to the rest of the world about the true dangers of despotism--its nightmarish consequences and its terrible human cost."--Patrick Radden Keefe, New York Times bestselling author of Empire of Pain

"Tragic, elegant, vital . . . Evangelista risked her life to tell this story."--Tara Westover, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Educated

"A journalistic masterpiece"--David Remnick, The New Yorker

For six years, journalist Patricia Evangelista documented killings carried out by police and vigilantes in the name of then president Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs--a crusade that led to the slaughter of thousands--immersing herself in the world of killers and survivors and capturing the atmosphere of terror created when an elected president decides that some lives are worth less than others.

The book takes its title from the words of a vigilante, which demonstrated the psychological accommodation many across the country had made: "I'm really not a bad guy," he said. "I'm not all bad. Some people need killing."

A profound act of witness and a tour de force of literary journalism, Some People Need Killing is a brilliant dissection of the grammar of violence and an investigation into the human impulses to dominate and resist.

WINNER OF THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY'S HELEN BERNSTEIN BOOK AWARD - FINALIST FOR THE CHAUTAUQUA PRIZE AND THE MOORE PRIZE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS WRITING - LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Economist, Chicago Public Library, CrimeReads, The Mary Sue

Review Quotes

"A journalistic masterpiece . . . One of the most remarkable pieces of narrative nonfiction I have read in a long, long time."--David Remnick, The New Yorker

"Evangelista makes us feel the fear and grief that she felt as she chronicled what Duterte was doing to her country. But appealing to our emotions is only part of it; what makes this book so striking is that she wants us to think about what happened, too. She pays close attention to language, and not only because she is a writer. Language can be used to communicate, to deny, to threaten, to cajole. Duterte's language is coarse and degrading. Evangelista's is evocative and exacting."--The New York Times

"Riveting . . . Evangelista's book is an extraordinary testament to half a decade of state-sanctioned terror. It's also a timely warning for the state of democracy."--The Atlantic

"In this blindingly ambitious, unfathomably brave, fiercely reported book, Patricia Evangelista exposes the evil in her country with perfect clarity fueled by profound rage, her narrative voice at once utterly brutal and terrifyingly vulnerable. You may think you are inured to shock, but this book is an exploding bomb that will damage you anew, making you wiser as it does so."--Andrew Solomon, National Book Award-winning author of The Noonday Demon and Far and Away: How Travel Can Change the World

"In this haunting work of memoir and reportage, Patricia Evangelista both describes the origins of autocratic rule in the Philippines, and explains its universal significance. The cynicism of voters, the opportunism of Filipino politicians, the appeal of brutality and violence to both groups--all of this will be familiar to readers, wherever they are from."--Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism

"A landmark work of investigative reporting by a writer of formidable courage. Patricia Evangelista's searing account is not only the definitive chronicle of a reign of terror in the Philippines, but a warning to the rest of the world about the true dangers of despotism--its nightmarish consequences and its terrible human cost."--Patrick Radden Keefe, New York Times bestselling author of Empire of Pain

"Completely astounding, and beautifully written, Some People Need Killing is a priceless act of documentation. Patricia Evangelista's account of Rodrigo Duterte's so-called drug war, and the conditions that made his regime possible, is one of the bravest things I have ever seen committed to paper. As each devastating page shows, the horrors of this war will echo for years to come."--Jia Tolentino, New York Times bestselling author of Trick Mirror

"This is a magnificent, brave book about the extrajudicial murders in the Philippines under Rodrigo Duterte. It is written in taut, powerful prose. . . . One of the most important books I've ever read."--Professor Suzannah Lipscomb

About the Author

Patricia Evangelista is a trauma journalist and former investigative reporter for the Philippine news company Rappler. Her reporting on armed conflict and disaster was awarded the Kate Webb Prize for exceptional journalism in dangerous conditions. She was a Headlands Artist in Residence, a New America ASU Future Security Fellow, and a fellow of the Logan Nonfiction Program, the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, and the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. Her work has earned local and international acclaim. She lives in Manila.