City of Thieves -the book

David Benioff wrote a fine novel of World War II, focusing on a topic rarely touched by Ameri can writers for many reasons. The war in Russia against the Nazis was a separate front, rarely experienced by any American troops until the very end of the war. The Russians suffered terribly at the hands of the German army, especially the civilian population without any defense.
The author carries the story on the backs of 2 protagonists: Kolga and Lev, 2 unlikely, but sympathetic Russians. Lev is a 17 year old, whose father was disappeared by the Russian secret police within the purge period of the late 1930's. His father was an intellectual, a published poet, recognized for his efforts by other poets and academics. Lev had been living in Leningrad when surrounded by Nazi forces after the summer attack of 1941. Trapped, the civilian occupants were pressed into service by Russian military forces for survival. Conditions were bad and only got worse. Kolga was an older young Army officer, who had been on unauthorized leave from his unit, visiting friends in the city when collared by local police and tossed into the dreaded prison that few escaped from. The 2 were thrown together by chance, and then the story begins.
It's a form of road trip, with a quest: a dozen eggs, somewhere, to be returned to the commandant or their lives would be forfeited. The story of their quest makes a good read. Of course, a good, cold Russian winter figures large in their quest, along with encounters of "monsters": Nazi death squads, trigger happy partisans, "sirens" in the form of Nazi comfort women; sympathetic advisors who help them along the way.
Benioff's book was a NYT's best seller, popular among readers old and young. Kolga, the former literature student, provided the source of quotes and citations across the literary landscape of Russian poets and authors. Lev, despite the efforts of his late father, had not found his calling in literary circles-he was still trying to figure it all out. Kolga was the worldly one, offering Lev advice for the inexperienced: how to make love to a woman, what every man must know. Lev was not the best pupil, trying to appear more worldly than actual fact.
Funny, sad, and depressing in parts, the author found a winning formula. With his other work, he's developing a following.
Mayor awards 3 1/2 stars to "CITY OF THIEVES".

note: the City referred to is Leningrad, formerly St. Petersberg. It was identified by Hitler as a city of thieves and reprobates, unworthy of continued existence.