Shohreh Aghdashloo At the "The Kite Runner" theatre opening

The San Francisco Chronicle pointed out in 2009 that Spangler spends the whole first act on the first quarter of the novel, giving the remainder "a kind of CliffsNotes rush". The Globe and Mail gave a 2009 production 3 out of 4 stars, calling it "a ripping good yarn", but "dangerously simplistic about modern-day Afghanistan".