Product Description

We love this book so much we ll give you TWO other great books for FREE if you don t love it too



We love this book more than Sunday Roast.


More than a hot bath on a cold day.


More than our children. Okay maybe not the children.


But we love it so much that we want to prove it.


So if you read City of Thieves and don t feel compelled to run out immediately and shout about it in the street, we ll give you two different, fantastic books for free.


Offer ends 31.12.09. Terms and conditions apply.



Terms & Conditions
The Promoter is Hodder & Stoughton, 338 Euston Rd, NW1 3BH. Offer ends 31 December 2009. Entrants to email freesceptrebooks@sceptrebooks.co.uk and then send either a receipt, or the front jacket to Free Sceptre Books, 338 Euston Road, London, NW1 3BH. All free books will be mailed by 31 March 2010, and are subject to availability. Hodder & Stoughton reserves the right to send a replacement free book in the event of selected titles being unavailable. No cash alternative offered. No responsibility can be taken for lost, illegible or incomplete entries. Following your application, we will send you one email to invite you to join the Sceptre mailing list. If you do not wish to receive this communication please indicate in your correspondence with us. Further information available at www.sceptrebooks.co.uk.




Four months into the siege of Leningrad, the city is starving. Seventeen-year-old Lev fears for his life when he is arrested for looting the body of a dead German paratrooper, while his charismatic cellmate, Kolya, a handsome young soldier arrested for desertion, seems bizarrely unafraid. Dawn brings, instead of an execution squad, an impossible challenge. Lev and Kolya can find a dozen eggs for an NKVD colonel to use for his daughter s wedding cake, and live. Or fail, and die. In the depths of the coldest winter in history, through a city cut off from all supplies and suffering appalling deprivation, man and boy embark on an absurd hunt. Their search will take them through desolate, lawless Leningrad and the devastated countryside surrounding it, in the captivating journey of two men trying to survive against desperate odds.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4688 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Review

'Complex and compelling. . . a thought-provoking novel that leaves its own lingering , haunting presence in the reader's imagination'

(Waterstone's Books Quarterly )

'This gut-churning thriller will sweep you along and, with any luck, propel Benioff into bestseller land' 

(Kirkus - starred review)

'Told with compelling power'

(Sunday Telegraph) 'Expert tone. . . fine sense of pace. (Financial Times );

'A hard-to-put-down novel . . . Benioff blends tense adventure, a bittersweet coming-of-age and an oddly touching buddy narrative to craft a smart crowd-pleaser'

(Publisher's Weekly ) --x

Review

'Complex and compelling. . . a thought-provoking novel that leaves its own lingering , haunting presence in the reader's imagination'

(Waterstone's Books Quarterly )

'This gut-churning thriller will sweep you along and, with any luck, propel Benioff into bestseller land' 

(Kirkus - starred review )

'Told with compelling power'

(Sunday Telegraph )

'Expert tone. . . fine sense of pace." (Financial Times )

'A hard-to-put-down novel . . . Benioff blends tense adventure, a bittersweet coming-of-age and an oddly touching buddy narrative to craft a smart crowd-pleaser'

(Publisher's Weekly )

About the Author
David Benioff has published articles and stories in GQ, Seventeen and Zoetrope. Born and raised in New York City, he now lives in Los Angeles. This is the long-awaited new novel by the critically-acclaimed author of THE 25TH HOUR and WHEN THE NINES ROLL OVER. (20080323)

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Customer Reviews

How does 12 eggs make 5 stars...?
David Benioff's "City of Thieves" is something of a coming-of-age tale with a twist. The twist is the fact that the tale is set in the besieged and starving city of Leningrad in January, 1941. It is a city at war surrounded by the German army, in the middle of a bitter winter, where the last resort becomes commonplace.

The story begins in modern day America, with a brief narrative of the author's own life as a writer and then evolves into him asking his Russian grandfather to tell the story of his experiences during the war.

The main protagonists of this tale, Lev and Kolya, are each picked up by the Red Army for crimes against the state - Lev is caught on a trumped up looting charge (taking a knife from a dead German soldier), and Kolya for desertion. Although both crimes are capital offences, the boys are given an unusual lifeline - a `secret mission' by a Red Army Colonel, who agrees to grant their freedom on the condition that they steal a dozen eggs - even though eggs have not been seen in Leningrad for months - within 5 days to make his daughter's wedding cake. All they are equipped with to complete the task is their (somewhat misplaced) perceived skills in thievery, 400 roubles and their curfew waived - If they fail, they will be hunted down and shot.

It seems like the most bizarre premise, so why did I award 5 stars to City of Thieves? Well, there's a number of reasons for this, for a start, it is a very well written and very readable book, as one would expect from an author known for screenwriting. In a previous review, I criticised one book for taking the best part of 200 pages to fully set the tone of the book - David Benioff managed it in less than 10 pages (I would be surprised if a screen-writer would draw it out further).

Although the characters of Lev and Kolya play into a couple of chalk and cheese stereotypes, with Lev the shy, dreaming, chess-playing virgin of Jewish descent and Kolya is handsome, tall lothario - they are still very engaging characters, and seeing how their friendship develops is touching and fun. Although, looking at the base qualities of Lev and Kolya, one cannot help but think this will be a predictable odd-couple type yarn, however, the plot is well designed and very well thought out. Each story unfolds as a self-contained vignette but each has its own magic moment that draws the reader into the next chapter.

I found the ending more than satisfying, even if some of the `results' did not take me totally by surprise, I still stand by that 'City of Thieves' is a well executed and entertaining novel.

European history has been a topic of fascination for me, and as this is a story of a young man, being told with the benefit of hindsight, I feel this story gives a believeable picture of life in urban Russia during the early years of WWII - when ordinary people were prepared to do extraordinary things just to survive, or what price is put on things we take for granted now.

I managed to get through this while on a weekend break, I never thought I would have been so thankful for so much rain! I would definately recommend this - even if you are not a fan of war stories, you will never quite look at a box of eggs in the same light!

Nice, Unusual 'Buddy' Novel
Set during the siege of Leningrad by the Nazis during World War II, this book, is at its core, a `buddy' novel.

The relationship between the two young protagonists, thrown together by circumstance - Lev, 17 years old, gauche and of Jewish extraction, and the garrulous, charismatic Kolya, who at twenty years old considers himself very much a man of the world, provides many laughs and touching moments.

At first Lev is not much impressed by the older boy, but a real mutual affection develops between them over the few days that span the length of the novel. Kolya comes to be the older brother Lev never had. We've all known a few Kolyas in our lives: they're usually great fun, but just don't know when to shut up or let things lie, and this `quality' occasionally infuriates Lev.

It's a real page turner (I finished it at 2:30 in the morning) and it repays the publisher's gimmicky offer of two free books if you don't like it.

Penned by David Benioff, who has form as a screenwriter, this book was obviously written with the big screen in mind and the movie will inevitably follow. I just hope they don't play it too much for laughs.

Although potentially a `heavy' tome, it wears its research lightly, but as a result it lacks the gravitas of a more `serious' novel. Perhaps this was the approach the author was aiming for.

I personally loved it and would recommend it to all those who enjoy a flat-out good read, although probably not to serious war scholars!

One final warning: make sure you have a handkerchief ready for the ending!

If you only read one book this summer...
I'm not going to spoil the story for you by giving away any parts of the plot line. I am not usually interested in war stories however, this one is captivating. This is a wonderfully written story that quickly develops believable characters, manages to combine humour with the real horror of war sensitively and draws out the extent of human warmth and courage that can be found in the face of severe adversity. I agree that it will make a great film. However, it makes an even better book. If you only read one book this summer, make it this one.