City of Thieves is a stunning book with an excellent concept. It’s a WWII buddy book about two Soviet men who are forced to find a dozen eggs (a rarity during this time) for a brutal Soviet general so that the general’s wife can bake a cake for their daughter’s impending wedding. They have three days. If they don’t find the eggs they either starve to death or expect to be killed. One of the men is an arrogant, blond-haired, blue-eyed aspiring author and the other is a gangly, Jewish, former chess champion and son of an assassinated Soviet dissident. Together, they encounter cannibals, bombings, and each other’s annoying character traits only to find themselves in a situation too unbelievable to even imagine. (You’d be right if this description made you think of the great Robert Deniro/Charles Grodin film, Midnight Run.) I will say that this book earns six stars out of five. It’s also worth noting that Benioff also wrote The 25th Hour, which was made into an excellent Spike Lee movie.
The bottom line: Benioff has some serious narrative chops. Get it at the library for free – no excuses – and read this now.
JW
