City of Thieves, David Benioff
City of Thieves, David Benioff
27 Rating(s)
List: $20.00 | Sale: $14.00
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City of Thieves

Author: David Benioff

Narrator: Ron Perlman

Unabridged: 8 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 05/15/2008

Synopsis

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.

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 Over appeared in Best New American Voices and The Best Nonrequired American Reading. His latest novel is City 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."   

Reviews

Goodreads review by jessica on July 06, 2021

one of my favourite WWII stories. DB has somehow combined the harsh winters of russia and the cruel nature of war with brotherly humour and friendly banter. kolya and lev have honestly one of the best bromances i have ever read. their comedic relief, as well as the absurd mission they are sent on, r......more

Goodreads review by David on January 11, 2020

Loved this book. This is one of very few that when I see it in a thrift store, or a Friends of the Library store, (I haunt these stores on a regular bases, my wife says I have a genuine problem) I buy them. I give the book to friends and fellow lovers of books. Not one has said they didn't love it. D......more

Goodreads review by Canadian Jen on March 07, 2016

This is what happens during war: people will do anything to survive -from murder to stealing, to going on exhaustive food hunts. Absurdly as it sounds, this becomes the cultural norm. It's the Soviet Union 1942. Tension is thick with famine and war. The Germans are beginning their invasion. Two sovie......more

Goodreads review by Maciek on August 10, 2015

Growing up in Poland you couldn't escape but be exposed to Polish war movies and dramas. The war defined this country and its people, with the country being completely destroyed and around 5,6 million people dead; because the Western powers trusted Stalin the country borders also changed, with parts......more

Goodreads review by Kemper on May 28, 2009

A terrific book that proves you don't have to write 700 or 800 pages to have real depth. I'm fascinated by how Benioff managed to describe the characters enduring terrible hardship and the worst of one of the most brutal battles in history, but the book doesn't read as grim or overly depressing. Tha......more

Quotes

“The novel tells a refreshingly traditional tale, driven by an often ingenious plot . . . [Benioff] shifts tone with perfect control—no 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. If Thieves were a movie, it would start out like Schindler’s List and end up like Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
—People

"City of Thieves is 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."
—The Washington Post

“City of Thieves is 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

Awards

  • DUBLIN Literary Award
  • Indies Choice Book Award
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