This novella is a wild story about a doctor working in foreign aid in Pakistan. She is kidnapped by the Taliban and taken to Afghanistan where she has apparently been killed. Presumed dead in a cheap coffin in the desert her unique life flashes through her mind. Meanwhile, her estranged parents attempt to find her by calling up an old friend from their hippy days in Afghanistan well before the wars. This friend, now a warlord, does his utmost to find her. In an impending countdown of time a rescue expedition is underway. All the while we come to understand the wayward upbringing of the doctor born to sixteen year old parents. Juxtaposed between hilarious and tragic her life unravels up to that moment in time all hanging in the balance. Some strange spirits collude to lead her rescuers to her erstwhile resting place.