As Rufus and Zaq navigate polluted rivers flanked by exploded and
dormant oil wells, in search of "the white woman," they must contend
with the brutality of both government soldiers and militants. Assailed
by irresolvable versions of the "truth" about the woman's disappearance,
dependent on the kindness of strangers of unknowable loyalties, their
journalistic objectivity will prove unsustainable, but other values
might yet salvage their human dignity.