The chronicle of journalist John Russell begins in Nazi Berlin a week before Pearl Harbor in this, the third novel in the series [with a fourth, Potsdam Station, to come]. The descriptions of Gestapo tactics and the beginnings of the “final solution” are eerily chilling.
Russell is ostensibly a correspondent for a San Francisco newspaper, allowing the author to describe the machinations of the Nazi censors and propaganda machine with vivid detail, while his protagonist acts as a go-between between German and American intelligence agents, carrying messages back and forth. He even obtains proof that the Gestapo is removing Jews from Berlin and planning to gas them, even though he can hardly publish the story.
As conditions worsen, Russell has to find a way to get out of Germany, hoping to bring his long-time girlfriend with him. It is a tale of terror with a thrill-a-page pace. Descriptions of wartime Berlin and the police state remind us of a period many may have forgotten, but of which we, and they, should perhaps be reminded.
Recommended.
i’ve been reading Donna Moore’s blog recently and have been jealous as hell of her trip to Berlin. i’ve been there a couple of times, pre and post wall demolishing and her tour has had me chomping at the bit to go back.
maybe, in the meantime, i can scratch the itch with a bit of fiction – this might just be the book to do it.
I came across the first of the series (ZOO Station) during the summer.I’m on the final pages of Stettin Station and might have a break before launching into Potsdam Station.
Simply put, this guy Downing comes up with the goods at any level.
He’s written a book on Neil Young.
‘Cool enough to be a Liverpool fan !