Gods and Demons

Behind the tourist veneer of Bali and greater Indonesia: a foreign correspondent's memoir

A year after the 2005 Bali bomb atrocities, journalist Deborah Cassrels found herself on an odyssey to the Indonesian resort island grappling with her own existential crisis. Instead, she catapulted into a posting as Bali's first foreign correspondent for The Australian newspaper, covering events in Indonesia.

Gods and Demons is not only about the joy of a new journey, the surprises and relationships made along the way. It's about mystery, power, corruption, violence, loss and unnecessary death. From the newly jailed, reeling Bali Nine drug gang and the gruesome executions of their condemned bosses, to stories of shackled people, infamous terrorists, powerful tycoons and lavish royal celebrations, Cassrels lifts the lid on the underbelly of the mystical Hindu paradise and vast archipelago in which all is not as it seems.

About the Author

Deborah Cassrels has been a journalist for over 40 years. Based in Bali since 2009, she has written extensively for The Australian newspaper on refugees, politics, terrorism, crime, the Bali Nine Australian drug smugglers among other issues. She covered the 2015 executions of the two Bali Nine ringleaders and was a finalist for the Walkley Freelance Awards in 2016 for her work on terrorism in Indonesia.

Previously a features writer at the Weekend Australian Magazine, she contributes to The Times of London, The Guardian and SBS. Her work has also appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review. Beginning her career as a reporter for the New Zealand Herald, Deborah moved to Australia in the mid-1980s to work for The Australian and the Courier-Mail. She has freelanced in the US, Europe and Central America. Deborah has two children and divides her time between Indonesia and Sydney.