Lev Beniov- a teenager living in Leningrad besieged by the Germans. After his father’s disappearance, somewhere in the city, Lev has to cope on his own, fighting for food and money. The boy is caught looting a corpse and is dragged to jail where he faces the death penalty. He shares his cell with a Red Army deserter Kolya. Both are given a chance to save their lives by complying with a sinister directive: to get a dozen eggs for a very important colonel and to use them in his daughter’s wedding cake.

The pair seems to be quite unmatched, however where Lev’s intelligence fails the soldier’s beauty saves the day. They set out together and embark on a hunt to find the impossible. The greatest danger that awaits for them aren’t bullets or missiles, but human hunger.

“City of Thieves” in an interesting book about courage, friendship and the seemingly impossible mission to accomplish. It is also a story of the city, damaged by the cruelty of the war. The lack of food and unimaginable cold degenerated everyone. The concept of “humanity” died with the first wave of hunger.
Despite the heavy subject David Benioff managed to avoid falling into sentimentality and excessive pathos, which makes this book one of a kind.

It’s worth mentioning that Benioff isn’t only a good writer, he has also written a few screenplays : Stay, The Kite Runner. He is currently working on a adopted screenplay of the Charles Cross biography of Kurt Cobain.

Written by Maggie Gogler.