CITY OF THIEVES by David Benioff

Note: I am not a paid reviewer, and I have purchased this title to read for my personal enjoyment.

From late 1941 to early 1944, Leningrad was besieged by the Wehrmacht, resulting in the deaths of 1.5 million Russians and evacuation of another 1.4 million. Protagonists Lev, or “big nose,” a seventeen year old chess whiz alone in the city, and Koyla, a twenty year old handsome, sex-addicted, aspiring writer and army deserter, guide us through ravaged Leningrad and into the surrounding countryside behind enemy lines. Lev and Koyla are spared execution by a Russian Colonel of the NKVD in exchange for bringing him a dozen eggs so his daughter can have a wedding cake. Lev and Koyla encounter cannibalism, the demolition of Lev’s apartment building, bone-chilling cold, sacrificial dogs and collaborator-prostitutes, and the dead and dying—both young and old. Their bond grows, fueled by non-stop witticisms, often sophomorically irreverent, and sanctimonious reflections on Russian literature. Their link up with Russian partisan resistance leads to a riveting showdown with a Nazi death squad psychopath. The story flows with a natural authenticity inspired by the story of the author’s grandparents, and gives us plenty of great lines to chuckle over with humor seldom seen in the pages of historical fiction.