This seemed like a good winter read, and it was, if a smidge harrowing! I was curious about Benioff's story telling, as a fan of HBO's Game of Thrones, which he co-created. A young Russian is thrown together with an army deserter during the Nazi seige of Leningrad, supposedly based on a story told by his grandfather, had a similarly visceral feel to Thrones - scenes that were downright horrible, now burned in my brain. The pair's questionable mission (to obtain a dozen eggs for a Soviet colonel who wants them for his daughter's wedding cake) had shades of Saving Private Ryan. It was a sad and sincere read that made really want to know how much of it was embellishment, and how much was true the story of Benioff's grandfather.
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