City of Thieves by David Benioff

City of Thieves

by David Benioff

Four months into the siege of Leningrad, the city is starving. Seventeen-year-old Lev fears for his life when he is arrested for looting the body of a dead German paratrooper, while his charismatic cellmate Kolya, a handsome young soldier arrested for desertion, seems bizarrely unafraid.

Dawn brings, instead of the execution squad, an impossible challenge. Lev and Kolya can find a dozen eggs for an NKVD colonel to use for his daughter's wedding cake, and live. Or fail, and die.

In the depths of the coldest winter in history, through a city cut off from all supplies and suffering appalling deprivation, man and boy embark on an absurd hunt. Their search will take them through desolate, lawless Leningrad and the devastated countryside surrounding it, in the captivating journey of two men trying to survive against desperate odds.

Reviewed by ibeforem on

4 of 5 stars

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The great thing about this novel is that it taught me a lot about what life may have been like in Leningrad (and other parts of Russia) during World War II. The not-so-great thing is that I started listening to this without really reading anything about it, so I completely thought that it really was based on the author’s grandfather. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed to find out it wasn’t the case! But, true or not, this was a great story. Something as simple as the search for some eggs for a wedding cake turns into an adventure that changes Lev’s life. Kolya’s “voice” was fantastic as he vacillated between being funny, serious, and cocky. There’s a lot of sadness here, some of it explored and some of it glossed over. Benioff was smart to frame this as a grandfather telling his story to his grandson, because he made me believe — in Lev and in happy endings.

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  • Started reading
  • 16 June, 2009: Finished reading
  • 16 June, 2009: Reviewed