City of Thieves, by David Benioff

This book tells the story of what appears to be (based on the first chapter) the author's grandfather in St. Petersburg during the 900-day German siege on Russia in WWII. This book is a positively fantastic adventure. The writer's voice is absolutely perfect. It is set amidst horrible, tragic events, but the story is told without the slightest hint of melodrama. Benioff reminds you of how awful things were, but in creative ways that are relevant to the story line without ramming it down your throat. For example, he reminds us of Lev's starvation-thinness by his fear of falling down while running because of his heightened risk of a broken bone.

While the book is highly plot-driven, it is really about the relationship between the two main characters, Lev and Kolya, who get sent on a near-impossible mission together by a Russian army official. Lev is a naive boy; Kolya is a conceited playboy with very few reservations. The character of Kolya opens up beautifully throughout the book, though, and he is instrumental in Lev's coming of age. I cared about these characters deeply.

I was incredibly curious about how much of the book is real. I tried doing some research on the main Nazi in the book, but couldn't find anything, leading me to believe names were changed. But then I did some more research and found out, from a Benioff interview, that the book is entirely fictional. Benioff's grandparents were born in the United States. That doesn't change how I feel about the book, though. A good book is a good book.

My only complaint about this book was that it was too short. I loved it. I'm sure we'll see a movie soon, since the author is a main-stream screenwriter.