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Series Review
Playing the Players
British-born John Russell has an American mother, a German son, and a German girlfriend. So he stays in Berlin after Hitler comes to power, working first as a freelance journalist and later as a freelance spy, playing the government powers (German, English, Russian and American) off each other to keep himself and his family safe and to help others get out of Germany.
Intense suspense builds as we wait for the Gestapo to knock on the door and deliver our hero to a world of violence, pain and brutality.
Russell is a writer, not a fighter and he tries to beat the bad guys with his wits not his fists, which puts him in some hair-raising situations. Over the course of the series his conscience becomes more sensitive as the tightrope he walks between human decency and personal safety gets thinner and thinner.
These books are set in dangerous places in dangerous times. The suspense is in whether or not Russell and his loved ones can survive: first the reign of terror of the Nazis and then the privations and perils of World War II. In each book, Russell takes on lots of tasks--finding missing people, keeping his friends and family out of jail, getting intelligence to the good guys and keeping it away from the bad guys, smuggling people out of Germany. These subplots don't necessarily connect to create one climax.
Series Guide
Below, the books in chronological order. The author doesn't plan to write more in this series.
Book Summaries
I always like to read series in order, but each of these books stands pretty well on its own. Below, a list of the John Russell Spy Novels in chronological order.
Zoo Station (2007, John Russell Spy Novels #1 )
1939. In search of useful intelligence, Russell investigates when an American journalist dies in Berlin in suspicious circumstances.Silesian Station (2008, John Russell Spy Novels #2)
1939. Russell plays three intelligence agencies off each other to keep his girlfriend out of the Gestapo's hands.Stettin Station (2009, John Russell Spy Novels #3)
1941. Anti-Nazi interests in Germany hope that the war with Russia will turn against the Germans. Russell and his girlfriend try to leave Germany.Potsdam Station (2010, John Russell Spy Novels #4)
1945. Berlin is in ruins. John's son is fighting on the Eastern Front. His girlfriend is living underground in Berlin. He has heard nothing from either for four years so he concocts a plot with the Russians that may get him to Berlin...with the Russian Army.Lehrter Station (2012, John Russell Spy Novels #5)
1945. The war has been over for six months. Russell is blackmailed into carrying out one last job for his friend in Russian intelligence...A job that might end up with Russell in an American jail.Masaryk Station (2013, John Russell Spy Novels #6)
1948. In the first years after the war, Berlin is spy heaven as the battle lines of the Cold War are drawn. Russell is working for the American CIA and the Russian NKVD, hoping neither will figure out his duplicity.Book Reviews
John Russell Series
(From newest to oldest; Dates refer to publication in the US in English;
# refers to series order)
Lehrter Station (2012, John Russell Spy Novels #5)
by David Downing
NOT YET REVIEWED
(Historical. Set in Nazi Germany.)
Masaryk Station (2013, John Russell Spy Novels #6)
by David Downing
NOT YET REVIEWED
(Historical. Set in Nazi Germany.)
Zoo Station (2007, John Russell Spy Novels #1 )
by David Downing
Atmospheric and tense but the story takes a while to get going. The people who live in Germany and Poland are waiting for war and for the persecution of the Jews to become even more violent.
(Historical. Set in Nazi Germany.)
Silesian Station (2008, John Russell Spy Novels #2)
by David Downing
Atmospheric. In the days leading up to the invasion of Poland, Berliners exist in a bubble, knowing that bad times are coming but still making the most of such small pleasures as are left them.
(Historical. Set in Nazi Germany.)
Stettin Station (2009, John Russell Spy Novels #3)
by David Downing
Tense. Danger lurks on every corner and in every encounter as Russell and his girlfriend try to finagle a way out of Germany.
(Historical. Set in Nazi Germany.)
Potsdam Station (2010, John Russell Spy Novels #4)
by David Downing
Intense and scary. The stakes are very high for all three major characters. The most exciting book in the series so far.
(Historical. Set in Nazi Germany.)
Indexes
Other crime fiction series set in Nazi Germany:
- Bernie Gunther Mystery Books by Philip Kerr
- Hannah Vogel Mystery Books by Rebecca Cantrell
Mystery series set in the Weimar Republic, during the Nazi rise to power:
- Willi Kraus Thrillers by Paul Grossman
Mystery series set in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia:
- Gregor Reinhardt Mysteries by Luke McCallin
Cliffhangers' Favorites
Above, from top to bottom:
Zoo Station, Berlin, Germany, 1930s; Elephant House, Berlin Zoo, 1930s; Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, 1930s
