Potsdam Station
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Review
'An extraordinary evocation of Nazi Germany'
C.J. Sansom
'A remarkable achievement . . . David Downing is one of the brightest lights in the shadowy world of historical spy fiction'
Birmingham Post
'Excellent . . . Downing's strength is his fleshing out of the tense and often dangerous nature of everyday life in a totalitarian state'
The Times
'Stands with Alan Furst for detail and atmosphere'
Donald James, author of Monstrum
'Think Robert Harris and Fatherland mixed with a dash of Le Carré'
Sue Baker, Publishing News
'A wonderfully drawn spy novel . . . A very auspicious debut, with more to come'The Bookseller on Zoo Station
'Exciting and frightening all at once . . . It's got everything going for it'
Julie Walters --...
C.J. Sansom
'A remarkable achievement . . . David Downing is one of the brightest lights in the shadowy world of historical spy fiction'
Birmingham Post
'Excellent . . . Downing's strength is his fleshing out of the tense and often dangerous nature of everyday life in a totalitarian state'
The Times
'Stands with Alan Furst for detail and atmosphere'
Donald James, author of Monstrum
'Think Robert Harris and Fatherland mixed with a dash of Le Carré'
Sue Baker, Publishing News
'A wonderfully drawn spy novel . . . A very auspicious debut, with more to come'The Bookseller on Zoo Station
'Exciting and frightening all at once . . . It's got everything going for it'
Julie Walters --...
Product Description
April 1945. Hitler's Reich is on the verge of extinction, and its enemies are already plotting against each other. Assaulted by Allied bombs and Soviet shells, ruled by Nazis with nothing to lose, Berlin has become the most dangerous place on earth.
Anglo-American journalist John Russell has travelled to Moscow, having escaped from Berlin in 1941 as America entered the war following the attack on Pearl Harbour. Russell's eighteen-year-old son Paul, born to a German mother, is on the Oder front line, awaiting the final Soviet onslaught, ready to retreat towards Berlin, and resigned to the certain prospect of either death or imprisonment. Inside Berlin, Russell's girlfriend Effi has a Jewish orphan to care for, and the Gestapo on her trail. The advancing Red Army promises liberation, but is also seeking retribution, particularly from German women.
To find and save his son and girlfriend, Russell must reach Berlin no later than the Red Army. But only the Soviets can get him there, and the price of their help will threaten both his and the world's future.
Anglo-American journalist John Russell has travelled to Moscow, having escaped from Berlin in 1941 as America entered the war following the attack on Pearl Harbour. Russell's eighteen-year-old son Paul, born to a German mother, is on the Oder front line, awaiting the final Soviet onslaught, ready to retreat towards Berlin, and resigned to the certain prospect of either death or imprisonment. Inside Berlin, Russell's girlfriend Effi has a Jewish orphan to care for, and the Gestapo on her trail. The advancing Red Army promises liberation, but is also seeking retribution, particularly from German women.
To find and save his son and girlfriend, Russell must reach Berlin no later than the Red Army. But only the Soviets can get him there, and the price of their help will threaten both his and the world's future.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
54 of 54 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I greatly enjoyed the three previous *Station* novels and ordered this early. I was a little disconcerted to read that the action has skipped across some three years, and that this installment brings together all the key protagonists as the Reich contracts to its core, Berlin.
This must have been a challenge to write. Downing has to orchestrate his characters, bringing Russell back from the US and his son back from Russia. The latter is simple--he retreats; the former is more complex and while plausible, it ratchets up the plot to a higher level of physical action than the series has seen before.
I thought I had seen and read enough about Berlin in 1945 to get a sense of time and place, but this account takes the challenge of survival to a whole new level. The noise, smells and sights are piled on, almost to breaking point--as indeed they were for the German population, waiting either to vanquish their enemies at the last moment, or instead to die.
By the last third of the book, I was virtually unable to read ahead or put the book down--the tension was almost too much. It seemed impossible that the characters could survive the SS, the Red Army or the USAF bombs (and of course in reality many did not]. As the Thousand Year Reich shrank to a city, then a few districts, the characters are aligned, find each other, lose each other and .....well, you need to read it yourself!
I can't say this was a fun summer read. It stepped well beyond the minimal action of Alan Furst and Phillip Kerr and offered up a true inferno of intense experience. It would be a shame if David Downing now abandoned these people after investing so much in them; just as Bernard Gunther has become more interesting after 1945, I hope we get to see what happens to this cast in the post-war world.
This must have been a challenge to write. Downing has to orchestrate his characters, bringing Russell back from the US and his son back from Russia. The latter is simple--he retreats; the former is more complex and while plausible, it ratchets up the plot to a higher level of physical action than the series has seen before.
I thought I had seen and read enough about Berlin in 1945 to get a sense of time and place, but this account takes the challenge of survival to a whole new level. The noise, smells and sights are piled on, almost to breaking point--as indeed they were for the German population, waiting either to vanquish their enemies at the last moment, or instead to die.
By the last third of the book, I was virtually unable to read ahead or put the book down--the tension was almost too much. It seemed impossible that the characters could survive the SS, the Red Army or the USAF bombs (and of course in reality many did not]. As the Thousand Year Reich shrank to a city, then a few districts, the characters are aligned, find each other, lose each other and .....well, you need to read it yourself!
I can't say this was a fun summer read. It stepped well beyond the minimal action of Alan Furst and Phillip Kerr and offered up a true inferno of intense experience. It would be a shame if David Downing now abandoned these people after investing so much in them; just as Bernard Gunther has become more interesting after 1945, I hope we get to see what happens to this cast in the post-war world.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I can't remember how I found these novels but I am sure it was through scouring Amazon for similar books to David Fiddimore's Charlie Bassett series which are also excellent. Like many of the other reviewers here I have really enjoyed this series of 'Station' books. I read them all over the last couple of weeks and agree with others that you need to start with Zoo Station. Can't say I have a favourite as I thought they were all excellent! I am now trying to find something else along the same lines....
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have really enjoyed the three previous books in this series and was intrigued to see how he John Russell would manage to try and extricate his girlfriend, Effi and family from the bombsite that was Berlin in 1945
I've only given it four stars because for me he's had to break up the story line so that instead of the whole book being told from John Russell's viewpoint, because of where the characters are, its written with whats happening to them. This is a change from the first three books and part of the charm and style and personal nature of the first three has to be lost.
Having said that its a great story with a very neat twist at the end. The whole book is action packed as John Russell, Effi, and Paul all try to survive as the 3rd Reich distintegrates around them, John trying to get back to Berlin to rescue his family and trying to enlist some Russioan help to do so, Effi staying one step ahead of Gestapo and Paul (his son) being involved in the fighting retreat to Berlin
..and it may be just wishful thinking on my part but there may be more.. the end of the story could be interpreted that way - great series , just hope its not over
I've only given it four stars because for me he's had to break up the story line so that instead of the whole book being told from John Russell's viewpoint, because of where the characters are, its written with whats happening to them. This is a change from the first three books and part of the charm and style and personal nature of the first three has to be lost.
Having said that its a great story with a very neat twist at the end. The whole book is action packed as John Russell, Effi, and Paul all try to survive as the 3rd Reich distintegrates around them, John trying to get back to Berlin to rescue his family and trying to enlist some Russioan help to do so, Effi staying one step ahead of Gestapo and Paul (his son) being involved in the fighting retreat to Berlin
..and it may be just wishful thinking on my part but there may be more.. the end of the story could be interpreted that way - great series , just hope its not over
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Potsdam Station
Excellent book. Great follow up from the three previous books in this series. Makes you think of how difficult it was for people, especially Jews, during WW11.
Published 1 month ago by MD
A retelling of Homer's Odyssey?
Does no one notice that this novel is loosely based on the Odyssey? John Russell plays Ulysses, Effie is Penelope, and Paul is Telemachus. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Christopher H
a good yarn
I have read two of the author`s "Station" series and enjoyed but felt a bit overwhelmed by his knowledge of the Nazi era, the railways and streets of the various cities his... Read more
Published 2 months ago by frankjones
Requires a Suspension of Disbelief
In sum, I liked the novel. It is an example of form and style over substance and historical fact.
I love the characters, which allows me to over look certain factual... Read more
I love the characters, which allows me to over look certain factual... Read more
Published 3 months ago by F. Sahlin
Good but flawed
Providing your brain is in neutral, and you are in need of some undemanding entertainment this book is a good read in a Georgette Heyer sort of way. Read more
Published 4 months ago by bernerlap
Recommended
Just started reading it, but it looks as good as the first three books in the series. You can't put them down.
Published 4 months ago by Paul Norton
For full enjoyment read the books in order of publication !
Having just finished reading this, the latest(currently available) book in David Downing's 'Station' saga; I would strongly recommend that the books be read in their order of... Read more
Published 6 months ago by HuddyBolly
Berlin series
This is the fourth, and last, in a series on the experiences of a British journalist in Berlin in the period leading up to, during, and just after the Second World War. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Jay
Enjoyed the other books in the series
Although in some respects slower paced than the Bernie Gunther novels they never the less paint an authentic picture of Germany around WW2. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Alan B. Patterson
The vortex of war--Berlin 1945
Author David Downing has previously written three first-rate war/spy novels in the "Berlin Station" series that feature Anglo-American journalist, John Russell as protagonist. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Blue in Washington
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