Caleb J. Ross' booklikes

It is always the simplest premises that make for the most engaging fiction. With CITY OF THIEVES, the story could not get simpler: in war torn Russia, two boys set out to find a dozen eggs at the demand of a Russian colonel. And Benioff, as if his eloquent command of language and pacing wasn’t enough, even manages to leverage one of the boy’s inability to shit as a point of tension. Quite possibly a perfect novel.Anyone familiar with Benioff’s collection, WHEN THE NINES ROLL OVER, will recognize CITY OF THIEVES as a possible extension of the collection’s standout story, “The Devil Comes to Orekhovo,” which still stands as one of the best short stories of recent years.