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David Benioff

City of Thieves: A Novel

City of Thieves: A Novel

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From the critically acclaimed author of The 25th Hour and When the Nines Roll Over and co-creator of the HBO series Game of Thrones, a captivating novel about war, courage, survival — and a remarkable friendship that ripples across a lifetime.

During the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad, Lev Beniov is arrested for looting and thrown into the same cell as a handsome deserter named Kolya. Instead of being executed, Lev and Kolya are given a shot at saving their own lives by complying with an outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful Soviet colonel to use in his daughter’s wedding cake. In a city cut off from all supplies and suffering unbelievable deprivation, Lev and Kolya embark on a hunt through the dire lawlessness of Leningrad and behind enemy lines to find the impossible.

By turns insightful and funny, thrilling and terrifying, the
New York Times bestseller City of Thieves is a gripping, cinematic World War II adventure and an intimate coming-of-age story with an utterly contemporary feel for how boys become men.

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Editorial Reviews

“The novel tells a refreshingly traditional tale, driven by an often ingenious plot . . . [Benioff] shifts tone with perfect controlno recent novel I have read travels so quickly and surely between registers, from humor to devastation.”—The New York Times Book Review

“This spellbinding story perfectly blends tragedy and comedy.”—USA Today

“Splendid . . . Benioff has produced a funny, sad, and thrilling novel.” —Entertainment Weekly 

“Benioff (a co-creator of HBO’s “Game of Thrones”) peppers his swift-moving plot with pitch-dark humor and unexpected turns. It’s a rousing reading experience, to cackle aloud at one paragraph then gasp at the next. . . . I’m glad I waited until warm weather to start this winter’s tale. But really, any other time would have been just fine. There’s no bad season to read a book this good.”—Ken Jaworowski,The New York Times Book Review

“Benioff blends humor and horror expertly.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“A deft storyteller, Benioff writes about starvation, cannibalism, and Nazi atrocities with poise and cinematic flair. IfThieveswere a movie, it would start out likeSchindler’s Listand end up likeRaiders of the Lost Ark.”—People

"City of Thievesis a coming-of-age story brilliantly amplified by its worn-torn backdrop . . . Benioff’s finest achievement in "City of Thieves" has been to banish all possible pretensions from his novel, which never wears its research on its sleeve, and to deliver a rough-and-tumble tale that clenches humor, savagery, and pathos squarely together on the same page."—TheWashington Post

City of Thievesis flat-out great . . . Benioff’s screen writing chops are in full force here - the plot careens along with cinematic verve - but that’s expected. The surprise is Benioff’s understated wisdom and tenderness.”—Men’s Journal

“David Benioff, has written a gripping war novel. With lots of humour, suspense and tragedy he shows the desperate lives of the people who were caught between two opposing forces during the Second World War.”—The Guardian

About the Author

David Benioff was born and raised in New York City. He adapted his first novel, The 25th Hour, into the feature film directed by Spike Lee. With many other screenplays to his credit, he is also the writer of the films, “Brothers” and “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”. Stories from his critically acclaimed collection When the Nines Roll Overappeared inBest New American Voices andThe Best Non required American Reading. His latest novel isCity of Thieves. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter where he is a co-creator and writer for the HBO hit series “Game of Thrones.”  

  • Publication

    Penguin House

  • Genre

  • Author

    David Benioff

  • Language

    English

    Lexile:

    910L

  • Pages

    258

  • ISBN-13

    9780452295292

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