With action and excitement in every chapter, City of Thieves, a novel written by David Benioff, is one outstanding adventure story.

The novel is under the category of historical fiction, as it takes place in Russia during the time of WWII. During this period, the Russians are fighting the Germans to keep their country off the brink of defeat. They have been surrounded in their homeland, and as a result, food is incredibly hard to find.

In these conditions, the main character, 17-year-old Lev Beniov, must struggle to keep himself alive, but things are about to get even harder.

After being arrested for stealing a dead German paratrooper’s knife, Lev is sent to prison where he meets a cunning young man by the name of Kolya. Lev and Kolya are then oddly taken to a Russian colonel and told to find a dozen eggs for his daughter’s wedding.

At first, they think that this is crazy. It was nearly impossible to even find beef at the time. But then, Lev and Kolya hear the reward of their troubles if they succeed in their quest: freedom. This is a huge deal because, back in that time, Russian jails were filled with prisoners, and normally one was executed on the spot for committing a crime.

The author then follows their tough, thrilling journey along the way that involves plenty of Nazis and even cannibals.

Thanks to the novel’s crazy adventure story and unending action and excitement, City of Thieves engages the readers. As a result, its 258 pages fly by, and it is an easy read. Sadly, though, the novel is not life-affirming and inappropriately vulgar. Also, there is plenty of foul language, and at times, City of Thieves can be very graphic in terms of violence.

The novel is an action-packed adventure of the ages that is thrilling and keeps readers on their toes. Consequently it also contains the downsides of modern adventure books and movies in the form of low moral standards, vulgarity, language, and explicit violence. Therefore readers are strongly advised to keep clean, pure consciences while enjoying the exciting novel.