For those who prayed for Shahbaz Taseer during his years of disappearance and who thank God for answered prayer, read this book for the details. For hostage negotiators who are well-intentioned but whose lack of understanding ends up causing more long term bad than good (for ex, greenlighting ransoms), read this and learn. For book-trained counterterrorism "experts" whose bad counsel gets people killed, read this and accept correction. That said, all that is side benefit, and absolutely none of this is part of the goal or tone of this humble book whose author says he's merely sharing a story of survival and hope. In the same way that the Bible's story of Esther does not mention God but He's present all over the place in it, in this story the author's martyred, hero father, Salmaan, is not even alive during the time of the author's captivity yet is present and influential, even in ways helping to keep Shahbaz alive while hostage. (Salmaan was the courageous leader who advocated for the falsely accused and persecuted Christian Asia Bibi). Oh, and Shabaz's mom ... just, wow. No prior knowledge of terrorism or this part of the world is necessary to enjoy this book -- yeah, I really said "enjoy" about a book filled with torture and tragedy. How can a book of war and suffering be enjoyable and uplifting? Authenticity, nobility of spirit, love, fearlessness because of love, resilience because of love, heroics because of love ... these are things I see in this book. An autobiography that's not self-focused, imagine that. Learn and leave hopeful. ( )