City of Thieves by David Benioff

City of Thieves by David Benioff, 258 pages, Fiction
This book buddy / road-adventure story is set in the siege of Leningrad during WWII. Lev is a seventeen-year-old Leningrad resident who is working as a fire warden with his friends and neighbors. His mother and sister have already left the city for a safer haven elsewhere. One night, while on watch, Lev and his friends leave their post to follow a parachuting German pilot, hoping for something to scavenge. When their own soldiers find them there, and Lev goes back to rescue the girl he might love, he is caught, arrested and facing execution for stealing from the state (the corpse and all its belongs became state property when the pilot landed on Russian soil). While awaiting his fate in a prison cell that night he meets Kolya, a charming deserter, who will become his closest friend. The two are spared immediate execution and sent on a crazy errand for the commanding officer. Their quest takes them behind enemy lines, into the arms of a group of resistance fighters. He and Kolya face Odessyean tasks and problems on their journey, many of them brought on by Kolya, with his over-sized sense of adventure and honor. They find danger, friendship and more. We did this for our book discussion group in February. One of my favorites from recent years.

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