City of Thieves

Terrific historical fiction with a twist of thriller and easily identifiable characters - Lev and Kolya - as they adventure through under-siege Leningrad and beyond during WWII.

If you enjoy mainstream fiction I can't recommend City of Thieves enough, told as a montage of serialized adventures that ramp up the thrills and action, but if you care to look at the Goodreads tags you'll notice that 'thriller' isn't one of them as it mysteriously fails to continuously get the juices flowing when it should.

It's still a fine read though.

The accuracy, historical knowledge and educational details are enjoyable, as well as the character development and heavy bro love, but a thriller this curiously is not. The further you read the more predictable and cheesy it becomes, while also difficult to condemn for being so beautifully written in places, as well as continuously focusing on the importance of getting laid when you're barely 20 and endlessly worshipping your cock.

It's sometimes an odd mix for a pretty big bestseller in 2008.

But full credit to David Benioff for his tremendous research and often fantastic writing skills, with a generous 4 stars for mostly enjoying it.

The graphic visualizations are often surprising and more than just cozy mainstream thrills, but if you take away the historical background this is a pretty average story.