A Rope and a Prayer: The Story of a Kidnapping

The compelling and insightful account of a New York Times reporter's abduction by the Taliban, and his wife's struggle to free him.

In November 2008, David Rohde, a Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent for The New York Times, was kidnapped by the Taliban and held captive for seven months in the tribal areas of Pakistan. In the process, Rohde became the first American to witness how Pakistan's powerful military turns a blind eye toward a Taliban ministate thriving inside its borders. In New York, David's wife Kristen Mulvihill, together with his family, kept the kidnapping secret for David's safety and struggled to navigate a labyrinth of conflicting agendas, misinformation, and lies. Part memoir, part work of journalism, A Rope and a Prayer is a story of duplicity, faith, resilience, and love.

David Rohde, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes in journalism, is a reporter for The New York Times and the author of Endgame: The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica.
Kristen Mulvihill has been a photography editor and director at various women's magazines, including Marie Claire and Self. Most recently, she was the photography director of Cosmopolitan. They live in New York City.