Lehrter Station

John Russell & Effi Koenen #5

by David Downing

Paris, November 1945. John Russell is walking home along the banks of the Seine on a cold and misty evening when Soviet agent Yevgeny Shchepkin falls into step alongside him. Shchepkin tells Russell that the American intelligence will soon be asking him to undertake some low grade espionage on their behalf—assessing the strains between different sections of the German Communist Party—and that Shchepkin’s own bosses in Moscow want him to accept the task and pass his findings on to them. He adds that refusal will put Russell’s livelihood and life at risk, but that once he has accepted it, he’ll find himself even further entangled in the Soviet net. It’s a lose-lose situation.

Shchepkin admits that his own survival now depends on his ability to utilize Russell. The only way out for the two of them is to make a deal with the Americans. If they can come up with something the Americans want or need badly enough, then perhaps Russell will be forgiven for handing German atomic secrets over to Moscow and Shchepkin might be offered the sort of sanctuary that also safeguards the lives of his wife and daughter in Moscow. Every decision Russell makes now is a dangerous one.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Espionage, Thriller, Mystery, Germany, War

335 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

David Downing is the author of a political thriller, two alternative histories and a number of books on military and political history and other subjects as diverse as Neil Young and Russian Football.

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was tough. The book was definitely not the page turning read the others were, but somehow at the end I felt it was necessary more than enjoyable. It wrapped up several story lines that you might not even remember, but there was closure for all the characters John and Effie crossed in their paths. The problem was, that's really all it was, so it didn't flow like the other books did.

The only other problem with the book wasn't Downing's fault at all. The world is ugly, and full of distasteful compromise. As John observed fairly early on, simple survival was much easier than trying to navigate the post-war world. Seeing Nazis survive and thrive stealing the identities of Jews they'd killed, seeing Americans not care about employing those Nazis as long as they bring something tradeable to the table, and worst of all, seeing all the occupying forces really not care about the surviving Jews because anti-Semitism is not a strictly German idea was just so harsh. And so true, every step of the way. Downing does not dwell, nor does he present for simple effect. It's all woven into the circumstances of John and Effie and I think seeing it in terms of normal, every day people rather than a textbook made it just so much more sad.

I'd recommend this book for anyone who read the others in the series, but no one else. And I'd strongly recommend the series for anyone with any interest in World War II Germany.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The war is over so wasn’t sure how this series would pan-out as to date the series has covered the pre-war rise of the Nazis to power as well as the war years. It becomes clear early on where the story is going as we’re launched into the espionage conflict of post-war Berlin with the uneasy alliance of Russia/America coming to the fore.

The stars John Russell & Effi Koenen (Yes the actress girlfriend gets equal star billing this story) return to Berlin 6 months after the war..... they only return for a reason each, he involved in the espionage game whilst she is to resume her career as an actress & it’s the suspicion, distrust, revenge & denial that is palpable in the city as their stories & interaction with lost friends/old enemies transpire & evolve. There are a few sidelines too that involve Rosa their adopted daughter.

The main story portrays the aftermath of a fallen Germany, a shattered & now divided Berlin, the stories of survival from both Berliners & the Jewish population from the death camps, tales of searching for missing/displaced relatives, there’s profiteers, despair, people trying to strike out & make a life for themselves....... all to the backdrop of a developing distrust between Americans & Russians, the Brits/French being sidelined for all intents & purposes. The lead-up to the American/Russian detente is covered as well as the flight of the Jews to Palestine & the beginnings of Mossad & other underground units who decide to take matters into their own hands, as the allies, after having caught & tried the big names of the Nazis have seemed to let others go.....

With all the reunions (both good & bad) in Berlin its an atmospheric & poignant story for sure & enjoyable for the most part but..........

There’s no REAL sense of danger in the story, the lead coupla haven’t got the Gestapo or NKVD one step behind them & looking over their shoulder, there’s no imminent capture & certain death in play & for that reason the suspense element is missing & certainly a lot diffo than the first 4 books.

Its 3.5 stars jus rounded upto 4 as it’s a good read & I learnt stuff! But it is the weakest of the series to date as it does fizzle out a little.

[Jaksen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intricate end to the series. (If it is the end?) I often state that some writers must have had an entire bulletin board with cards on it - character names, locations and descriptions, timelines to show where who is and when, and why she did this or that, and who knew about it, etc...

But this book? Mr. Downing had to have had an entire atlas - or atlases - at the ready. Of two cities, London and Berlin, with exhaustively detailed street maps to keep track of where his characters are, and what they see - or don't see - on almost every page. Otherwise, he's a master of keeping track of all this and has it in his head. (Which is possible if you lived, worked and moved in a particular city over a long period of time, I suppose.) But he not only tells you where his main characters are - John Russell, a journalist during and after WW2, and Effie, an actress and Russell's longtime girlfriend - but how the location has changed before, during and after the war. Hotels and hospitals, military headquarters and private homes, diners and restaurants, right down to the street signs!

I actually like this kind of detail, telling where and when John Russell gets a coffee or a quick bite to eat, as long as there is a story surrounding it - and there is! The war is over and John and Effie, who made it to London in the last book, have now returned to their real home: Berlin. They are there to act in a film (Effie), and write some articles (Russell), as well as find out what happened to a few of their friends and relatives who they lost track of in the last days of the war. Russell also is paying double-agent or triple-agent with the Americans and the Russians...

However, what they find in and around Berlin...

Refugee camps. For both the Germans (those who lost their homes, or were living outside Germany and now being forced to return to Germany) and the Jews (who survived by hiding or being members of resistance groups, or were freed from the concentration camps.) What a difference! The allies - French, British, Russian and American - make no bones about how they feel about the Germans. Little food, lots of restrictions and constant checks - the allies are still rooting out any of the old Nazi leaders, etc. For the Jews and others who were mistreated by the Nazis: extra ration cards, decent housing, etc.

But there's so much more here! An entire continent - Europe - which has suffered, been battered, bruised, kicked around. The effects of the war are felt everywhere and there are subplots galore as groups of Jewish resistance - who earlier hid people while they undermined the Nazis - are now smuggling Jews to Israel! (Because the British have put a 'cap' on how many can immigrate to what was then still known as Palestine.) This is a complex book with people constantly moving everywhere and a definite comparison to what is happening today as economic issues, climate change and wars in distant nations are causing mass migrations all over the globe. The scenes of people moving, of trains coming and going, of being stopped and searched, or stopped and robbed by roving gangs of young men - are all terrifically realized.

(Anyhow, one thing I would say: you need to read the previous books to get a real feel for this one. There are so many characters and events that this read might be a little confusing without the background.)

And overall, very well-written, dialogue is true, description is carefully done, the story is a great finale for both John Russell and his ever-faithful and true-to-life Effie.

Five stars.

[David Highton · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Russell and Effi Koenen return to Berlin in November 1945, after 6 months in London following their earlier escape from the Red Army. Russell has been forced into a dangerous double agent role with the Russians and the Americans, and quickly gets caught up with black marketeers, the Jewish exodus to Palestine and the hunt for ex-Nazi officers and camp guards. As usual, Downing's novel provides great insight into life in Berlin in the immediate post-war period and also provides information of the fate or future of many character from the previous books.

[Jørn Lybech · Rating 5 out of 5]

Det har været en sindsoprivende tour de force at følge John Russels eskapader i førkrigstidens, krigens og efterkrigstidens Berlin. Klemt mellem Gestapo, NKVD, partiet (kommunisterne) og endelig koner og kærester. Det hele går op i en højere enhed i denne fabelagtige og meget oplysende del 5 som udspiller sig i vinteren 45-46. Jeg ved at der findes to mere som dels foregår i Berlin 1948 og USA 1952. Dem glæder jeg mig rigtig meget til!
Kan kun anbefales!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I spotted this at the library, I couldn't resist -- the latest in a series I fell in love with last year, about journalist/spy John Russell, living in Berlin before and after WWII.

In this book, the Nazis have been defeated, Berlin is a surreal landscape of rubble and occupying armies, and Russell and his girlfriend Effi have returned from exile in London, because the Soviets have their hooks into him for work he did for them previously, and they want him back in the city for work as a double agent with the Americans.

Seems straightforward and yet hard to believe, but Downing is such a good writer about the complex relationships and alliances of that period that you not only embrace all this, but you accept the idea that Russell is a moral man trying to do right in an immoral world.

As in his other novels in the series, Downing also uses the precarious adventures of Russell to illuminate other often uncomfortable pieces of history -- the brutal displaced persons camps the Americans ran for Germans, in which people would die from falling into latrine ditches or for lack of decent medicines; the early network to move displaced Jews toward Palestine despite British opposition; the thriving and corrupt black market in Berlin after the war and the involvement of different military officers in it.

As a fan of the series, I couldn't help wondering whether this novel would seem a little too much of a hot mess to someone reading it without having read the prequels. Downing seems intent on tying up all the loose ends of missing people from his previous novels, and much of the book has John and Effie searching for family members who were part of other books' plots. With my patchy memory, even I had trouble remembering some of these characters, and for a rookie reader, it might be fairly confusing.

But just as in the others, I suddenly found myself near the end of the book, on tenterhooks -- and it so obviously looks like a sequel is coming, so forge ahead, Mr. Downing.

[MisterLiberry Head · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fifth “John Russell” novel picks up roughly six months after the end of POTSDAM STATION. Back in Berlin after escaping the final conflagration of the Third Reich, journalist John Russell once again is a reluctant spy whose allegiances would seem mixed—the Soviets, Americans, British and Germans all have a claim on him—except that his only true commitment is to his girlfriend Effi, his son & extended family. (My kind of guy!) Post-war Berlin is divided not just into zones held by the war’s four victors, but into survivors who are displaced, traumatized civilians and those who are profiteers or ex-Nazis. Also, there is the steady stream of Jews slowly making their way to either America or Palestine, sometimes with unexpected help. As the peripatetic journalist realizes: “In post-war Europe kindness was a story in itself.” The grim setting would be depressing, except for the many indomitable characters who are like flickering flames of hope & humanity in the darkness of the rubble.

I’ve always been puzzled that this series of novels often is referred to as “Thrillers.” The books are much too atmospheric, character-driven and sensible to be thrillers. Espionage is much less important than depicting what it means to be decent people in a Germany gone insane and murderous.

Like the previous four books, the title is taken from the name of a stop on the rail line and it marks the site, not of a victory, but of a crucial moral turning point or a nexus between key characters. What transpires at Lehrter Station is a very dark moment, but the sun is coming out for a cruelly segmented Berlin and an equally divided John Russell.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read the first four books in this series and then set it aside for some reason I can't recall. It was comforting to return to it. This story takes place in 1945. John Russell, who was living in London at the end of the war, returns to Berlin to find work as a journalist. Berlin is in ruins. The currency is worthless, and most people use cigarettes to barter for goods. Mr. Russell strikes a deal with both the Soviets and the Americans to gather intelligence. Intrigue and danger follow. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Cheers!

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the tremendous suffering and the chaos of the Potsdam Station finale to WWII within Berlin- this book does an after war transition to the Russian and Cold War agendas within Berlin, before there was a name for it. John is wearing another color now.

These books are sometimes redundant and so pithy in detail that they seem to tread water. But that IS the skill of a spy. To be "normal" and right there, and part of the approved authority, so to speak. Boring and normal, full of observations and details, and not worthy of notice.

Downing just blows me away with his knowledge of Berlin. I was there in 1983, when it was still the DDR and people followed us around with rifles through Checkpoint Charlie. And I remember trying to use money in those stations phones. It was a trick, let me tell you. My cousin had to throw in the coins while I tried to dial and get an operator. Inflation was bad and you could never get enough coins in fast enough for it to work. We did it once and an entire crowd of GI's clapped.

I can not wait until Masaryk Station.

[George P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The United States and the Soviet Union were allies in World War II. As soon as that war ended, however, it became clear that the two nations would become adversaries in a contest for control of Europe. That contest would center on Berlin.

Lehrter Station opens on December 14, 1943, with an incident on a train whose significance becomes clear only at book’s end. The main story is set in the waning weeks of 1945, with John Russell and Effi Koenen returning to Berlin, he as a freelance journalist and she as an actress. In reality, though, their jobs have been made possible by the NKVD, the USSR’s dreaded state security. They want Russell to work for the Soviets … by offering his services to the U.S.

Russell agrees to do this in order to get back to Berlin and locate family and friends separated by the war. At the same time, however, he reveals the NKVD’s plans to the Americans, who enlist him to double-cross the double-crossers. Russell navigating the contradictory expectations of these rival agencies provides the main plot tension of the book.

But there are other emerging realities. Some of the European Jews who survived the war are emigrating to Palestine. Others are seeking revenge against Nazis who have resumed their normal lives in post-war Germany. The Soviets are snatching up ex-Nazi scientists, but the U.S. wants them, too. And the U.S. seems more than willing to turn a blind eye to criminal activities by ex-Nazis, as long as those activities give them a leg up on the Russians. Figuring out how to help the Jews and hurt the Nazis is another difficult tension Russell needs to resolve.

If you have read the John Russell series to this installment, you know that David Downing has drawn a detailed picture of the streets, parks, and buildings of Berlin—based on what has to be detailed archival research—that Russell inhabits. In Lehrter Station, Russell surveys the ruins. The Berlin he knew and loved is dead, but will it rise again?

There are moments of suspense and heartbreak in this novel, but also moments of joy, as the lost are found and the separated reunited. I love the series, I enjoyed this book, and I look forward to what happens next in Masaryk Station.

Book Reviewed
David Downing, Lehrter Station (New York: SoHo Crime, 2010).

P.S. If you liked my review, please click “Helpful” on my Amazon review page.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fifth book in a series and I have not read the prior books so I was more than a little lost in the beginning because it is very much a spy vs spy vs counter-spy vs double-agent type of book. But this story shows some things that I really haven't read much about before. This series entry takes places after WWII is over but before the wall goes up in Berlin. After the war is over life doesn't just return to normal. Berlin is divided into zones. People want to go home but many don't have homes to go to. John Russell is back in Berlin because the Russians have called in their marker. He is supposed to double agent for them. In other words, he is supposed to spy on the Americans for Russia. But the Americans want him to spy on Russia for them. His girlfriend and partner Effi Koenen has been asked to go to Berlin to film a movie. It is a good opportunity for Effi to search for her Jewish foster daughter's father. It was fascinating to see what post-war Berlin was like. To watch how people treated the Jews, to understand the politics that drove barriers, to hear what ordinary Germans said about their roles in the war. Although this was a novel, it still opened my eyes to a period of time that I really didn't know much, if anything about.

[Magdelanye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who would have thought that peace wold prove more difficult than the war? The diminished danger of a violent death was certainly to be welcomed, but what else had peace brought in its train? Chaos, hunger, and corrupted ideals...the Rapist and the...Profiteer. p170

As a pacifist, it's very distressing to read those words, and to realize that wars never end but only change their form. DD documents the drastic struggle underlying the desperate attempts to domesticate the chaos that lingered in the bombed out war zones in the aftermath of WWll and the power struggles for dominance between the former allies.

Most people were incapable of looking beyond themselves and those they loved-the camp on the other side of the hill was never their business....The only mystery in this world was kindness. P165

I was lucky to notice, checking out DD to see what else he has written, that this 5th volume is not the last in the series. That's a relief, for everything is still up in the air for John Russell and Effi Koenen.

...the rules seemed straightforward enough. So all that remained was to bend them. p325

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 stars. An always interesting novel set in Berlin late in 1945. The details are convincing, both in terms of the places and the large cast of characters. I have read earlier books in this series, without becoming hooked, and would still not go looking for further books by the author. The lead characters are not particularly engaging but their story is quite moving.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are remarkable books and I find I can't stop reading. It's a bitter thought that there's only one more in this series. In this installment, the war is over, but the challenges remain. I am on the edge of my seat to find out what happens next.

[Martin Keller · Rating 4 out of 5]

As other reviewers have noted the book ties up loose ends from the series thus far. It also starts the journey into the post war/Cold War era where it is not always clear who the good guys and bad guys are. The book also delivers insights into the beginnings of the convoluted world that we live in today and that usually any one person’s or country’s motivations seem to be greed, power or both. I am left wondering where the series goes from here.

[Speesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

It goes without saying that this is (another) beautifully written paced and structured, evocative, sometimes provocative, story from David Downing. All his books in the ‘Station’ series have been. I’m not quite sure how he’s done it - maintain such a high standard of writing and story-telling over six novels (yes, I’ve finished the sixth now, though this is number five). Maybe he wrote them all at one sitting and then divided it all into six parts. Who knows how he’s done it, they’re all uniformly superb and this is (obviously, after all that) no different.

‘Lehrter Station’ begins at the end of 1945. The war has ended and John Russell, Effi and John’s son, are holed up in London. Naturally, Effi misses Berlin, but so does John. Then, the bleak, post-war London woodwork squeaks and out comes Russell’s old Soviet contact Shchepkin with an offer Russell, after some consideration, finds he can’t, or would be stupid to - as in he wouldn’t live very long if he did so - refuse. So, Russell returns to Berlin to work for the Russians. And the Americans. He finds himself essentially, walking a tightrope at the cusp of the old war and the new, cold war. Clearly, as soon as the war was over, peace declared and celebrated, even before that, the parties were working behind the scenes on the next one.

At the heart of it, there’s uncertainty. “I’m beginning to think certainty died with the Nazis” as a Jewish activist puts it. The new future is in many ways more uncertain than it was under the Nazis. Even at the end of the war, even not knowing where the next bomb was going to fall. Before the end, you knew who to avoid, who was the enemy. Now, even though the ‘enemy’ have been defeated, things are more unclear than they were. It’s about the future obviously, but also the past. How to think about it, how to revenge it. Should it be revenged? Is not revenging it, letting those who died, down? Is it revenge, or is it ‘justice’? Even when the Jews do it? Do two wrongs make it alright? About people paying for their past sins. Should they? Should sins be passed down to their children? Should whole nations be held responsible for the actions of their countrymen, when the actual perpetrators can’t be identified? When is enough? Do we turn a blind eye, because they’ve been wronged? No one won. We all lost. No one is behaving properly. Maybe the losers were, of course the Jews. And the Russians sent to their slaughter by Stalin. And the German people, sent to their slaughter, by the Nazis. And the German people, who saw their future destroyed. Twice. And the Jews. Though, basically, everyone thought they had it worse than everyone else (read Max Hastings’ ‘All Hell Let Loose’ you’ll know what I mean).

It’s about expediency and realpolitik - our new enemy’s enemy is now our friend. Even if that means our enemy of five minutes ago, now has to be our friend. It’s about how complicated it was for the ordinary person, not involved in the new Great Game, just to survive. And about mothers and families. Ordinary people doing what they have to do to survive. People looking in from the outside seem to be able to judge and tell those they’re looking at, what is right or wrong. The people doing it think they’re right, that it was right to go to war and what they’re doing now, after that, justifies whatever they do - they must be right, because they ‘won.'

“You end up asking yourself - how much better off are we? Enough to justify 40 million dead?”

David Downing has built up a totally immersive picture and puts you in it. I have not so much feeling I’m reading about it - I’m there. Right there. Finest kind.

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[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Russell is like a cat with nine lives. A lot of the prior events from the earlier novels come to a conclusion here. Post WWII Berlin is not a happy or nice place. I look forward to 1946, and what David Downing has in store for Russell, Effi and the big family.

[Gloria Feit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five months after the fall of Berlin, this chronicle of the adventures of John Russell, the Anglo-American journalist, and his paramour, Efffi Koene, the actress, continues. Four previous “Station” novels carried them through the pre-war years in Berlin to Russell’s escape to England. Now, his former Russian spymaster sort of blackmails him into returning to Berlin as a spy for both the Reds and the Americans. To sugarcoat the request, Effi is offered a starring role in a soon-to-be-made motion picture.

The couple return to a devastated city, where the only rate of exchange seems to be cigarettes and sex. No food, housing or other essentials, but a thriving black market. The story continues with the history of the immediate post-war, including the beginnings of the Cold War and the plight of surviving Jews, with the British reluctance to allow emigration to Palestine and the Zionists’ attempt to get around the roadblocks.

The series is more than just run-of-the-mill espionage stories, but a reflection of the time and people in an era of mass murder and terrible war and its aftermath. The descriptions of the rubble that was Berlin after the Allied bombings and the Russian rape (it is said that there were as many as 80,000) is terrifying. And the depiction of the duplicity of the U.S. and Soviet intelligence agencies is despicable, especially when they overlooked Nazi backgrounds when they served a purpose. Presumably, there is room for a new effort in the series, and we look forward to it.

Recommended.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am on a semi-constant quest for literate, historically accurate World War II espionage novels, a la Alan Furst. They are devilishly difficult to find. Thus, I was excited to discover David Downing. I seem to have started the series with the most recent book, but I'm hooked and am looking forward to going back to the first one and reading them in order.

Downing's hero, John Russell, is a British reporter with American citizenship. This novel starts in London, but most of it takes place in immediate post-war Berlin.. The city is a landscape of bombed out ruins, food and shelter are scarce, and the nations in charge of the various sectors into which Berlin has been divided are essentially lawless. There is little to recommend the place, yet the love of the Berlin that was brings people back to try to rebuild. There is no really reason for hope or optimism, yet there are glimmers of it throughout. I was impressed with how well Downing captured this - and also the frankness with which he describes the choices people make to live. His writing is understated enough to make the horror that much more real; the events speak for themselves, no hyperbole necessary.

This book hit a sweet spot for me: well-written and engaging with a good, complex story, yet not taxing. The thinking person's airplane novel. Highly recommended.

[Gail Barrington · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a good option to start at the end of a series but I couldn’t find Zoo Station which I think is the first one. So a full third of the book was the main character running into other characters from previous books with enough back stories provided to give you an idea of what you had missed, then another third of the book was filled with the characters riding around on various modes of transportation, giving you a good idea of what post-war Berlin was like and how it and its inhabitants had been ravaged, leaving the final third for plot development and, while not bad, did not live up to its promise of being a thriller. My advice? Don’t start at the end!

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed this series of novels but as the setting moves into the post-war period, I wonder if there is a sense that the characters thoughts reflect a modern interpretation rather than a contemporary perspective.

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

INTRODUCTION: Together with Alan Furst's historical novels about the immediate pre-WW 2 period, David Downing's John Russell novels which start on New Year's day 1939 in Zoo Station and so far cover the period up to New Year's Day 1946 at the end of Lehrter Station are big favorites that combine superb historical fiction - atmosphere, characters - with a dash of intrigue and action. Here is the blurb and more about it below.

"Paris, November 1945. John Russell is walking home along the banks of the Seine on a cold and misty evening when Soviet agent Yevgeny Shchepkin falls into step alongside him. Shchepkin tells Russell that the American intelligence will soon be asking him to undertake some low grade espionage on their behalf—assessing the strains between different sections of the German Communist Party—and that Shchepkin’s own bosses in Moscow want him to accept the task and pass his findings on to them. He adds that refusal will put Russell’s livelihood and life at risk, but that once he has accepted it, he’ll find himself even further entangled in the Soviet net. It’s a lose-lose situation.

Shchepkin admits that his own survival now depends on his ability to utilize Russell. The only way out for the two of them is to make a deal with the Americans. If they can come up with something the Americans want or need badly enough, then perhaps Russell will be forgiven for handing German atomic secrets over to Moscow and Shchepkin might be offered the sort of sanctuary that also safeguards the lives of his wife and daughter in Moscow. Every decision Russell makes now is a dangerous one."

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Lehrter Station is the fifth John Russell novel and it was still captivating and making me want the next installment asap - and there will be a next and probably as many as the market will bear since there is so much stuff that's going on and as the hero puts it:

"Rather to his surprise, he felt more sanguine about his new espionage career than he had when the Soviets first came to call. Wondering why, he realized what had changed. While the Nazis had flourished, he’d had no ethical room for manoeuvre. Helping them, or hindering their enemies, were not things he could live with. Or not with any sense of self-worth. But that black-and-white world had vanished with Hitler, and the new one really was in shifting shades of grey. He could make arguments for and against any of the major players; in helping one or the other he had no sense of supporting good against evil, or evil against good. If, in personal terms, Yevgeny Shchepkin was almost a kindred spirit, and Scott Dallin someone from a distant unfriendly planet, he had no illusions about Stalin’s Russia. And though American help was his only way out of the Soviet embrace, that didn’t mean he wanted a world run by money and big business"

Coming back to the book, first let's note that the blurb is wrong since it's London November 1945, John and his extended family (Effi - his longtime German actress girlfriend who missed escaping with him from Nazi Germany in late 1941 and spent the rest of the war in Berlin acting the part of an old woman and working for the underground that tried saving Jews and regime opponents, Rosa - their 7 year old Jewish "adopted" daughter assuming of course that her father is not to be found in the ruins of Germany, Paul - his 19 year old son and scarred veteran of the Reich's army, Zarah - Effi's sister married with a former mid/high ranking Nazi bureaucrat presumed dead or arrested, Lothar - her 11 year old son) are living in modest circumstances there, though Zarah and Paul are adapting better, while John is sort of blacklisted by the British press and Effi wants to act again (noting that while she did not act in a movie since 1941, she acted for her life in Berlin 1941-1945).

The first Soviet team (ironically the NKVD team, Dynamo) to visit the UK (and mostly trashing the British footballers on home ground) brings Yevgeny Shchepkin and his sinister boss Nemedin to London with an offer John Russell cannot refuse as trading atomic secrets to the Russians for his family above while understandable at a personal level can still lead to the gallows or the electric chair depending which of the two countries he is citizen of gets to try him; though of course Yevgeny wants out too so they form an alliance and John starts playing the double agent role though it is not yet clear for whom yet as the quote above notes...

The offer included John getting back into journalism and Effi back in movies, both of course back in occupied Berlin and the story moves there and continues to a very good ending point a few months later for what is the first of hopefully many postwar novels.

Here is another memorable quote:

"The war had only been over six months, but the British and the French were already irrelevant – there were only two real powers in the city, or in the wider continent. And as luck would have it, he was working for both."

The journalism part starts involving the Jewish underground routes to Palestine and trips to Austria, Poland and Czechoslovakia and the kicking of the local Germans back to the Reich, but as usual the book is about atmosphere and the author is just a master at that recreating Berlin late 1945 and its myriad inhabitants, transients and occupants superbly; there are a few loose threads from older novels that are finally tied here (the fate of Miriam Rosenthal and of Rosa's father occupy John and Effy for most of the book), dangerous gangsters, ambiguous allied officers and of course the "jobs" John has to do for his American and Soviet masters...

While the usual danger moments and suspense occur here and there, the novel is mostly historical fiction that lives and breathes through its characters, mainly John and Effi who split the pages between them.

As mentioned the novel ends at a good stopping point and I am really looking forward to the next installment as new storylines are introduced, new loose ends develop and new secondary characters of interest appear in addition to many secondary characters from the previous 4 novels.

Excellent stuff and highly recommended.

And to end, another great quote that now looks to the future and has John and Albert Wiesner (whom John helped escape Nazi Germany through his Soviet connections after his eminent Jewish physician father has been murdered by the Nazis in 1939 and Albert assaulted some Gestapo officials and became a fugitive, while later John helped his mother and sister emigrate to London using this time his UK intelligence connections - note that here it is still late 1945, so the state of Israel is still in the future) discussing the future of the surviving European Jews:

"‘Says who? I didn’t think you were religious.’
Albert grinned. ‘I’m not.’
‘I don’t think you can use the Bible as a title deed,’ Russell insisted.
‘Some people do. Like the Europeans who conquered the Americas – being in touch with the right God made everything okay.’
‘You don’t believe that.’
‘I think that’s what will happen.’
Russell thought about that. ‘Maybe it will,’ he conceded. ‘A friend of mine suggested emptying Cyprus – the Greeks to Greece, the Turks to Turkey – and then giving it to the Jews. Lovely beaches, good soil, not that far from Jerusalem.’
Albert propped his head up on one arm and gave Russell a look. ‘We already have our homeland.’
‘Yes, I expect you do.’
‘And I’ll tell you something else,’ Albert said. ‘I understand why the Poles are expelling the Germans from their new territories. And I understand why they’re making it impossible for the Jews to return. If my friends and I have our way, the Arabs will all be expelled from Palestine. Anything else is just storing up trouble for the future.’
‘That will put a bit of a strain on the world’s sympathy, don’t you think?’
`Once we have the land, we can do without the sympathy.’"

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a terribly depressing book for a number of reasons. We don't usually spend time thinking about the victims of war, least of all our enemies but that's what Downing did here, but in a balanced approach. What I found most depressing was his description of how Jews were treated in Germany and Poland, especially since I had a professor who survived Auschwitz and wrote books, not just about his experiences in the camp, although he described them, but what he learned about the meaning of life. He also brought that discussion into the classroom, to those of us with little awareness of the Shoah and its impact in Jewry. I had another professor, also a Jew, who introduced me to the atrocities committed again German Jews by assigning me readings in the subject. He saw my world view at that time as too rosy and positive, without the balance of understanding evil.

After that time, I became intimately acquainted with a Jews and even participated in Jewish practices for a few years, attending a Reform temple and observing the High Holy Days.

The other depressing aspect of this book was the way Germans who were not Nazis were treated by the occupation forces. I know this was a work of fiction but I also aware that Downing does much background research to put an accurate historical perspective on his work, so I'm confident that what he describes is fairly accurate, at least as accurate as possible in fiction.

All in all, this was an interesting read, if not a pleasant one.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had not written comments on the previous four books in the series, notwithstanding the four stars awarded, but with this fifth book, and the awarding of five stars, perhaps some words are in order.

As I read the first book, I felt the mise-en-scene was perhaps a tad over the top. As the plot quit literally thickened I felt myself ineluctably sucked in, as the tension heightened, masterfully plotted by Downing.

By the end of the third volume, I was relieved that John Russell had escaped, and I wondered why bother tying up the loose ends, that is, Effi's return to Berlin and how she might survive, as she was sought by the Gestapo, or what might happen to Paul, John's son in the Hitlerjugend, etc.

The fourth book exceeded my expectations. The depiction of Effi's life in the underground, the noose tightening around the besieged Berlin as the Red Army advanced, the "rape of Berlin," were all depicted with what I can only describe as authenticity.

Post-War Berlin, book five, depicted not only the bleakness of life in general in the divided city, but also the myriad shades of gray. Hard to fathom how Dowling was able to hit do many high notes successfully, with such consistency.

On to Book Six, and the conclusion of what can only be called a saga!

[italiandiabolik · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a world full of debris and broken lives, where everything is supposedly better but in fact harder to deal with, and moving on seems the hardest task, John and Effi go back to post-war torn Berlin, occupied by the Allies, where everyone needs to survive one way or another.
Several characters and storylines from the previous books reappear, and in most cases they come to a long waited closing chapter, unveiling the fate of those who crossed paths with the protagonists.
The description of antisemitism, still widespread, especially in Poland, and the indifference toward suffering (non Nazi) Germans, as well as the displacement of German people, either directly mentioned or hinted, from very German cities such as Breslau and Königsberg, display also the lack of empathy from the world outside Germany: they lost the war, so we don’t care if they lose everything - land, house, possessions, virginity, life. The History is clearly written by the winners.
The reading is slower compared to the previous one, however it is like a climax, especially in the third part of the book: more details add more pieces to the puzzle, thus allowing the reader to have a clearer understanding of the events.

[Scott Head · Rating 3 out of 5]

As others have mentioned, this post-WWII installment in the John Russel series felt a bit dense, while at the same time disjointed. It sought to nicely square off and close out many of the stories begun through the previous four books. But some seemed forced. There was a bit too much reliance on accidental meetings and coincidence, though this was easy to look past given the quality of the series as a whole. I did appreciate how the book communicates the immediate post-war state in Europe, the corruption of the occupying forces (which was very real), the justifications they made for colluding with former Nazis, and the ongoing European apathy toward the Jews, especially in Poland. The book wrapped up what seems like a historical epoch, and anticipates the next. Gritty, and in places very sad, this book gives an eye-opening historically accurate account of how it really was in Europe during the immediate clean-up. The series could end here satisfactorily, though there is one more book...

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who has not read all the previous books in this series - taking place before, during and - this one in the immediate aftermath of - the end of the War, I was lost a lot of the time. John Russell and Effi return to Berlin, she to return to acting, he to return to spying for two sides at once They seem to run into everyone they've ever known. And, while the portrayal of the intrigues, losses, grief, destruction are well written - I often had no idea who they were talking about. There were also many political strands (in exploring and explaining post-war alliances and struggles); I am rather conversant in post-war history but still found this confusing.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very strong entry in the series. It held my attention and made me think about how little has changed in how various nations and groups behave. It certainly gave me some useful background on the current messy and violent situation between Israel and Palestine. And made me realize that the US has not changed with regards to its disingenuous and underhanded policies about the peoples they put in camps .

This book had a little bit of everything including hope. Looking forward to the next book which I think is supposed to be the last one. hope it lives up to its place as the final book.

[Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best yet

One learns so much from Downing’s Station series, besides them being beautifully written espionage novels. I had little idea of how Jews after the Holocaust made their respective ways across Europe to America or more particularly, Palestine, and there is a fair and balanced debate between one of the Jewish organisers, whom Russell had previously got out of Germany, and the hero, about the rights and wrongs of that, besides heartbreaking stories about numbers of Jews whom he and his girlfriend were able, or not, to help. Can’t recommend the series enough, and this one in particular.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like all the other parts of this series it’s one of the best of this genre I’ve known. This is partly due to the extremely good information of the era, cartography etc and a really big part of it is the extremely nuanced characters. Russell & Koenen are able to discuss the problems of their era with easiness and depth, opening up really profound questions by doing so. In this volume it’s all the problems related to the politics of 1945 Germany. Who wants what, where will Germany go with all the moral debt? Is everyone guilty? Or not? And how to act accordingly? What about the Palestine question? These pop up throughout the whole story.