Rating: 
Summary: A fresh perspective on the lives of missionaries
Review: This is the story of Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer, the two American Christian aid workers who were arrested by the Taliban prior to 9-11 for witnessing to families in Afghanistan. The book begins with a little background about the pair and how they eventually came to know Christ. They relate how God began to put the people of Afghanistan on their hearts, leading them to become aid workers. From their arrest, captivity, and harrowing escape, the descriptive writing style of Stacy Mattingly, while sometimes too detailed, will make you feel as if you are with them throughout their ordeal. I could not put this book down. It was written in the form of a journal from each perspective, which allowed you to see the separate struggles each faced. The stories of the suffering they encountered prior to arrest broke my heart. To face the penalty of death while witnessing must have taken great courage. They constantly had favor with their captors, and it is a miracle they escaped alive. Reading this book will put a face to the people of Afghanistan, unlike the media. It will also instill a healthy perspective on what we truly have as Americans.
Rating:
Summary: A Moving Story of Compassion and Courage
Review: This story is our story, the story of the privileged people of the United States who followed the unfolding news events surrounding these two captives with prayer mingled with confusion. Why were they in Afghanistan to begin with? What had they done to warrant imprisonment? This book reveals the answers through Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer's heartfelt sincerity and honest story of fear and faith--and it challenges Americans to examine what they truly believe about freedom, including the freedom to worship. Though every reader will of course know the ending of this story before they begin, I can't imagine anyone not being moved by the compassion of these two women who simply wanted to demonstrate Christ's love in tangible ways to people who've been ignored by most of the world. Their desire to serve, to create opportunities, to care for the neglected people of Afghanistan reveals a selflessness to which we should all aspire. This is not a story of missionaries bent on converting the masses; it's a tale of two who longed to give their lives in meaningful service to meet the needs of others--and along the way share a glimpse of the faith that has given them hearts full of love.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Grace
Review: This story of Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer's imprisonment in Afghanistan is one that opens the eyes of the reader to the horrible conditions of their captivity as well as the lives of the Afghan people. This was two young women who went to Afghanistan not as Christian missionaries but as aid workers for Shelter Now International who just happened to be Christians. Their ordeal was very frightening and miserable for them both. Their rescue in the end was truly an answer to prayers from around the world. I must say that the book is not well written and at times it is boring. It is written in a fashion that is, at times, difficult to read. It gets a bit mundane at times with the description of their daily lives with the reader finding out every little detail of life in prision, right down to, practically, which sock they put on first. I also disagree with those who say that "poor theology, bad religion and their naivety" is causing trouble for other people. Neither were they spy's for President Bush. Heather and Dayna, again, went as aid workers. Not missionaries. If someone wanted to know about Jesus, they would tell them. They never once offered to tell people about Jesus. They even warned those who asked about Jesus what might happen if they engaged in discussion about Jesus. I am very thankful to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that they touched the lives of so many and were brought back home by a loving God!
Rating: 
Summary: Dumb and dumber.
Review: This story would make a hilarious movie starring Adam Sandler and Will Farrell as two muddle-headed evangelists who bumble their way through a foreign country, obliviously offending and endangering everyone they come into contact with. Of course, the funniest part of the story (in the "Being There" tradition of elevating simpletons to great heights) is when the hapless duo return to the US to be treated as heroic royalty by incredibly gullible segments of the population who mistake their primitive naivete to be a sign of courage or nobility. If you love reading books about totally clueless Americans who embarrass themselves and their country in ill-concieved attempts at religious conversion, you're gonna love 'Prisoners of Hope'. Soon to play at a theatre near you under the title of "Dumb and Dumber Go to Afghanistan". 2 stars for unintended humor and absurdity.
Rating:
Summary: The pampered emprisonment of two fools
Review: Two fanatical Christian American girls are imprisoned by the Taliban for attempting to spread their faith.
(I know we don't like to associate the world fanatical and Christian but what else do you call it when they're ready to leave their homes and loved ones, travel far away, live in uncomfortable conditions and risk their lives and those of others in the process? Saints? I call it fanatical.)
I thought their story would be truly horrible: American females at the hands of Islamic fanatics? It sound very very bad. I thought I would read about strength of spirit, human survival etc. I was completely wrong.
These two girls purposefully and deliberately violated the laws of the country they were in. They were risking capture and once captured, anything might happen: rape, torture, death. They knew it or should have known it if they were not so darn naive and unexposed. They were also endangering the lives of other people by being unable to restrain themselves from gushing about their God, like infatuated teenagers.
So they were captured...and against all expectations, they were then basically pampered by the oh-so-evil Taliban.
They received more goodies and had more liberties than most of America's penitentiary population. They had money, they ordered extra food from stores, once a birthday cake from a bakery for a birthday party.
Their comments are sometimes mind boggling. Heather throws a spoiled child tantrum when a letter to her parents is confiscated by her jailers. ("After all the time I invested in writing the letter, he took it way") Sounds like a harried New York stockbroker not a prisoner with nothing to do all day long. She's indignant that she can't see her father on his birthday (oh, are the Talibans supposed to care?) and then complains that they took away his birthday card that she made herself. (No Heather is not 5, she's in her twenties).
As for Dayna, I'm puzzled by her preoccupation with make-up. During a visit to her house, when she can grabs some needed items to bring back to the jail, she gets more make-up since her supply isgetting low. She mentions make-up several times (first thing she does when she thinks she's free is to apply make-up - in the middle of chaos and bombing, she finally "gives up on putting any" etc) and when they finally hear that a helicopter will be picking them up and they cannot bring any bags with them, one of the first thing she stashes away in her clothes is her make-up and even her make-up bag. Never be part of a US military rescue operation in a country at war without it! These girls were intent on doing charity work. But they were unprepared, unexposed, naive and reckless. I'm not denying they went through a hard experience. But compared with what could have happened, it's a very relative hard experience. Although they have denied working as missionaries, the book gives you a taste of what they are like, and they talk about God A LOT. A fellow reviewer talks about "the horrible conditions of their captivity". Don't be fooled. They were not horrible. Given the time, place and circumstances, they were anything but. I think Amnesty International would probably have rated their captivity conditions as a first class hotel compared to what other unfortunate human beings live through.
I didn't gain much respect for them by reading this book, and they are definitely no HEROES. What is the media's definition of heroes, for heaven sake? Anybody who has to be rescued by military extraction? Please.
And this is not an anti-Christian bash. I am a Christian. But I like to think I'm not a fool.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing Special
Review: What these girls did is nothing special. There are thousands of people like them (who weren't foolish enough to risk their lives and the lives of their national staff by trying to spread their version of religion in a culturallyl sensitive place like Afghanistan) all over the world working to try to help the poor. The 15 minutes of fame that these girls received is long over (thankfully). The book itself is fluff and poorly written. Let's look for other heroes. These girls certainly are not heroic; just a couple of simpletons who got themselves into a fix and got media coverage.
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