My 2013 Best Fiction

Of the fiction  I read in 2013 two titles stand out: Stalin's Barber by Paul Levin and The Taliban Cricket Club by Timeri N. Marari.  Both are tales of cleverness and chance in perilous times and places told with reasonable accuracy and imagination.  Stalin's Barber is set in the 1930's Soviet Union I know from studying Russian history in college; the story is not at all improbable.  The Taliban Cricket Club is from history that I have lived and, while the dire conditions under Taliban rule are all too real, the plot is a real stretch.  It's clever, though and to Marari's credit, he makes it seem possible. 

Both books were published in 2012.