City of Thieves

by: David Benioff

Published by: PLUME/Penguin

Reviewed by Sarah Nagle

Imagine a buddy novel set in January 1942 in the midst of the siege of Leningrad. Seriously. Our story begins with a 30-something screenwriter (not unlike the author himself) visiting his Russian immigrant grandparents in Florida. They have never talked before to him about their previous life, but his grandfather suddenly decides to share 40 years of experiences, including his wartime years. What follows is a story both hilarious and horrifying.

While working one night as a civilian firefighter, young Lev Beniov is caught stealing from a downed German plane which has crashed in his icy Leningrad street. Although the penalty for this offense is execution, the officer gives him the option of an impossible task – procure a certain item for his daughter’s wedding feast. This is in a world where a “decent meal” for four people is half an onion and a small loaf of bread, to be split among them.

Accompanied by a wisecracking, digestively challenged student of literature and fellow prisoner named Kolya, Lev sets off into a frozen nightmare of mine-infested fields, shifting army lines, sadistic officers both Russian and German, and other, more unimaginable, horrors. Against the odds, Lev and Kolya manage to obtain their prize and race back to the city to secure their freedom, if their luck can hold just a little bit longer. It just may not.

“You have never been so hungry; you have never been so cold,” reads the first line of Chapter 1. By the time you’ve finished this book, you’ll feel as if you’ve slogged every frozen mile yourself in broken boots and on a ration of 900 calories of sawdust-filled bread a day, so well has the author done his research and recreated a world engulfed in total war.

Armchair Interviews says: In City of Thieves, the author deftly balances humorous and ugly events in a gripping journey through the frozen Leningrad of WWII.