Lehrter Station: A John Russell WWII Thriller (utgåvan 2012)

Unbeknownst to me when I began reading David Downing’s new novel, Lehrter Station is actually the fifth book in a series of World War II novels featuring spy-of-all-trades, and British journalist, John Russell. Much of what happened to Russell and those closest to him in previous books is unobtrusively recapped here, however, meaning that Lehrter Station works well as a standalone. Many readers new to the John Russell character, me among them, will want to go back and read the earlier books in the series even if they begin with this one.

Having successfully bought his way out of Berlin just a few months earlier, Russell now lives in London as 1945 draws to a close. He shares a cramped flat there with Paul, his grown son; Effi, his German girlfriend; Rosa, the little German war orphan they are caring for; Zarah, Effi’s sister; and Lothar, Zarah’s young son. Although John Russell hopes to begin a new life with his makeshift family, he knows the odds are stacked against him. He is a man with a cloudy past, and he owes his escape to London to a deal he made with the devil – and now the devil wants to be paid for his services.

Russell delivered German atomic research secrets (with promises of continuing cooperation after the war) to the Soviets in exchange for his family’s safe passage out of Berlin. Now, forced to return to Berlin by the NKVD, Russell and Effi find the occupied city to be every bit as dangerous for them as it had been during the war. Russell, who has convinced both the Russians and the Americans that he is spying on their behalf, will have to keep both sides happy if he and Effi are to survive. Then, when his snooping inadvertently threatens to expose a former German army officer’s new role, Russell’s life becomes even more complicated.

Lehrter Station, though, is much more than a “spy novel.” It is an interesting piece of historical fiction that vividly portrays life in post-war Berlin as its American, French, British, and Soviet occupiers began to settle in to the four zones into which they have carved Berlin. Thousands of displaced citizens are flooding the city only to learn that their former homes no longer exist or that other refugees have been placed in them. Their scramble for shelter is worsened by all the others who join the returning Berliners because their own homes are now outside the newly-drawn German borders. The streets are still filled with bomb rubble, public utilities are unpredictable, and the currency of choice seems to be the American cigarette. The country’s legitimate economy has been replaced by a cutthroat black market one already infiltrated by former German army officers – under new identities – and used by scores of occupying soldiers for personal profit.

In the midst of this chaos, John and Effi search for word of missing friends and relatives while John tries to negotiate the complications of simultaneously trying to please two very different spymasters. Dealing successfully with the devil is not easy.

Rated at: 4.0 ( )

Anyone who has been following the adventures of reporter and reluctant spy John Russell through the four previous novels by David Downing (starting with "Zoo Station") is going to want to read this fifth in the series, if only to figure out how Downing, his son Paul, Effi, his German movie star girlfriend and other assorted members of his circle deal with the advent of peace after a decade or more of upheaval, war and tragedy. Certainly, it's not back to business as usual: when we meet Russell again, he's struggling to find someone to run his stories in London and postwar life is bleak. Then one of his old spymaster buddies comes calling to collect a bill owing from his past, and it's back to Berlin...

Downing does a fabulous job of capturing life in Berlin at the end of 1945, only six months or so from the bloody final battle for control of the city that was his focus in "Potsdam Station". Russell may not have to dodge the Gestapo, SD and SS any longer but he finds himself caught between rival spy agencies, as both the Americans and Soviets lay claim to his loyalties and service. And the ending of the war hasn't brought about peace and harmony: Nazis are still strolling the streets and while Jews get special ration cards as victims of fascism, they are being driven out of their homes in Poland or confined to DP camps until the victors can figure out what to do with them. Then there are the shady black market figures and the groups seeking vengeance for the horrors of the concentration camps, who live in an even darker world...

While I enjoyed this book -- and was delighted to see that the series didn't end with the last book, as I had feared might be the case -- it wasn't as strong or focused as the others. Perhaps that is inevitable, given that the prior books subordinated all previous conflicts to the one great conflict that pitted everyone against Nazi Germany. In this book, it sometimes felt like Russell was playing "whack a mole" -- as soon as he figured out a way to deal with one problem, another popped its head up, not necessarily connected to the first. It also made me slightly irritable that the author seems to have decided to find a way to bring back -- in kind of cameo performances -- characters that Effi and/or Russell encountered in prior books. This is mildly interesting, but often felt too much like a deliberate effort to tie up loose ends. As someone remarks late in the book, "this has been our month for renewing acquaintances"; I groaned, yes I had noticed. At times it felt like I was being introduced to a special guest star per chapter, and not all of them fit naturally into the plot.

So this is a book for Downing's fans, of whom I'm sure he has many after writing four excellent suspense novels. Those admirers will find in this fifth book another noirish series of adventures, with echoes of "The Third Man" and Joseph Kanon's "The Good German". Newcomers to the series should start with book #1, and read their way through the others, which are stronger and more coherent. That said, this is still a "thumping good read", just not quite as unputdownable as its predecessors. Recommended, although I'm not jumping up and down with excitement about it. ( )

This is the fifth installment in the John Russell series by David Dowining. Once again the author's forte is in creating an atmosphere that brings the reader into the world the characters inhabit. John Russell and Effie move back to Berlin in the fall of 1945, just in time to deal with winter in a city that has no government and few or sporadic utilities and services. The streets are full of rubble and a pervading smell of unsanitized humans meets the inhabitants every day. Thousands of homes and dwelling places have been destroyed forcing families to double and triple up in what housing they can find. The government is that provided by the conqueror and there is no economy except that of the Black Market where the currency is literally cigarettes. Add to that the hundreds of thousands of displaced people moving all around Europe and the confusion and chaos is multiplied. Describing this scene is where the author excels.

Russell, along with the rest of the world is making a transition. He to that of being a full time spy for both the Soviets and the Americans, and the world to a Cold War status. The change from fighting a common enemy to fighting former allies is disconcerting to all. Added to this is the de-nazification process and the "Jewish" problem. Who is a friend and who is an enemy? This plot line is rather shop worn and does not work the best in this book. However, old fans of this series are already invested in the lives of John and his extended and family and this book does advance their individual stories in a way that does not detract from earlier books. While not the strongest work in this series, this is certainly work reading, just to get a feel of what it was like to live in a ruin and try to pick up the pieces.

Long-time fans of this series will also note that the cover design has changed. Perhaps this is a symbol of the change in the main characters life, but as a fan of the previous covers, I found this one unexciting and not very evocative. ( )

Lehrter Station is David Downing’s fifth book in his John Russell series, all named after railroad stations in Berlin which each has a special significance to the story.
Set against the devastation of Berlin in 1945, Lehrter Station is a spy story whose characters struggle to reclaim their lives after World War II. The city has been divided into British, American, French and Soviet sectors, and it is becoming clear that the lines are being redrawn with the Soviet Union as the new enemy for the Western powers.
John Russell is a double agent, spying for the Soviet Union and the United States, not because he wants to, but because he owes a debt to the Soviets for his son’s life. When Soviet agent Yevgeny Shchepkin “requests” that Russell move back to Berlin from London to spy for the Soviets, he has no choice.
Russell and his girl friend Effie, a film actress, return to Berlin and are witnesses to the fragmented lives of the survivors of war. Human life is cheap after the bombings, rapes and mass exterminations of the concentration camps. Since Russell is a journalist by profession, he is on the look-out of a good story as a cover for his espionage activities. He finds a story in the exodus of Jews from Europe to Palestine. But on his return to Berlin, he finds that Effie has been involved in some risky clandestine operations of her own.
Author David Downing portrays an incomprehensibly tragic time and place in history in a manner that shows us the humanity of each character, as well as pointing us in the direction of the world political situation today. He weaves history and fiction together in a way that entertains and makes the reader think at the same time. It is an intelligent and powerful book.
(Review published in Suspense Magazine)