Lehrter Station

Starred review from March 19, 2012
Set in late 1945, Downing’s outstanding fifth novel featuring Anglo-American journalist John Russell (after 2011’s Potsdam Station) centers on Russell’s efforts to fulfill his part of his deal with the devil that extricated his family from Berlin during WWII. NKVD agents approach Russell in London with two demands: first, that he return to Berlin to spy on some Germans to assess their political leanings and gauge the implications for the Soviet Union if Germany becomes socialist; second, that he volunteer to assist American intelligence, in essence becoming a double agent. Russell hopes that acceding to these terms will end his obligations. The stakes rise when his handlers arrange for his lover, actress Effi Koenen, to return to Berlin to appear in a German movie. A violent robbery by the Lehrter Station Gang, former Russian POWs who prefer crime to returning home, places the pair in jeopardy even before they arrive in Berlin. Philip Kerr and Alan Furst fans will be pleased. Agent: Charlie Viney, the Viney Agency.

June 15, 2012

In Downing's fifth tale of historical espionage (after Potsdam Station) it is 1945, and the war is over. British journalist John Russell is trying to begin life with his family again when he receives a message from a Soviet agent. Russell was able to escape Berlin with this agent's help, and now he wants the favor returned. With his wife, Russell heads back into Berlin to conduct a spy mission. VERDICT Downing does a masterful job of exploring life in postwar Berlin and London. The devastation of the war creates the atmosphere of despair that haunts the characters. New readers, especially fans of Philip Kerr, Joseph Kanon, and Alan Furst, won't feel lost if this is their first exposure to Downing's impressive series.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2012
The latest in Downing's Station series (following Potsdam Station, 2011) finds American journalist John Russell back in Berlin, a few months after escaping the city at the end of the war. All those years of simultaneous spying for Germans, Americans, and Russians seem to have finally caught up with Russell, as the Russians are now claiming payback for facilitating his escape from Berlin. The plan is for Russell to scout out Germans sympathetic to socialism and, in addition, to offer his services to the Americans, becoming a double agent. Russell one-ups them by telling the Americans the plan and becoming a triple agent. Meanwhile, his wife, Effi, once a movie star in prewar Berlin, is back in the city, too, lured by the prospect of resuming her film career. Downing vividly portrays the poignant process of war-scarred Europeans struggling to rebuild lives in the ashes of a nearly destroyed city: Jews returning to Germany, Jews immigrating to Palestine, Germans trying to establish their bona fides as Nazi opponents, and, appallingly, former Nazis posing as Jews to avoid recriminations. A powerful look at the human side of postwar reconstruction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)