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    Silesian Station
    Silesian Station
    Silesian Station
    Audiobook11 hours

    Silesian Station

    Written by David Downing

    Narrated by Simon Prebble

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    About this audiobook

    The second in David Downing's critically acclaimed WWII espionage series

    It’s the summer of 1939. British journalist and longtime Berlin resident John Russell has just been granted American citizenship when his girlfriend, Effi, is
    arrested by the Gestapo. He had hoped his new nationality would allow him to stay safely in Germany with Effi and his son, but now he’s being blackmailed. To
    free Effi, he must agree to work for the Nazis. Can he turn this situation to his advantage?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateApr 27, 2021
    ISBN9781705035733
    Author

    David Downing

    David Downing is the author of eight John Russell novels, as well as four World War I espionage novels in the Jack McColl series and the thriller The Red Eagles. He lives in Guildford.

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    Reviews for Silesian Station

    4/5

    133 ratings17 reviews

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    • 4/5
      English/American journalist experiences the beginning of war in Hitler's Berlin.
    • 4/5
      These Downing more quaint spy books give me pause from sci fi and fantasy. They are exactly that but Im ready to start book 3!
    • 4/5
      This is good writing, good characters, and fascinating running around all over Germany, a tiny bit in the US, and Eastern Europe all right before Poland and the Phoney War of 1939. And, also, having the protagonist when not travelling everywhere, also zipping between the Gestapo HQ and the Soviet Embassy and Intelligence. Downing has a pretty good conceit going for him in these Russell novels.
    • 4/5
      As the second book in the John Russell series opens, journalist Russell and his son, Paul, are returning from a trip to the United States to visit Russell’s parents and Paul’s grandparents. They arrive to a Berlin preparing for war. Everyone expects the Germans to declare war against Poland any day now. The only question is whether Britain and France will honor their defense pact with Poland, and which side the Russians will take. Russell’s circumstances are still precarious. He has exchanged his British passport for an American one, which will allow him to remain in Germany near his son and his actress girlfriend should Britain go to war with Germany. However, the new passport came with a price. The Americans expect him to act as a spy for them. The Germans held his girlfriend hostage until he agreed to spy on the Soviets for them, and the Soviets expect him to spy on the Germans for them in exchange for something that happened in the first book in the series. Meanwhile, Russell’s former brother-in-law, Thomas, enlists his assistance in finding a missing Jewish girl. The girl’s uncle, one of Thomas’s employees, arranged a job for his niece but died before she arrived in Berlin and then seemingly disappeared into thin air.

      Downing proves adept at juggling multiple plot threads and stringing readers along with just enough danger and suspense to keep them turning pages. Russell and the well-developed cast of supporting characters are all realistically portrayed as decent people who hope that they’ll have the courage to do the right thing at a moment of decision.
    • 4/5
      Silesian Station by David Downing is the second book in his series about international journalist John Russell who is working for an American newspaper in 1939 Berlin. In this volume Russell is juggling his spying duties for 3 different countries in the month leading up to Hitler’s invasion of Poland. As his son, Paul, is a German citizen and he is romantically involved with a German actress, he wants to stay in Germany to be with them. He has changed his citizenship from British to American as war between Britain and Germany is eminent. Part of the price for his American passport is to gather information for them. Germany is threatening his girlfriend to force him to work for them, and, in order to have an escape path for himself and his girlfriend, he also helps the Russians.

      If this wasn’t enough, he has also been asked by his former brother-in-law to help track down a missing Jewish girl who, being harassed in her small town, came to Berlin, thinking it would be safer there. She arrived at Silesian Station but hasn’t been since since.

      Although there is both a lot of plot and characters to follow, Silesian Station paints a vivid picture of the rising tensions as well as the day to day life in the Third Reich. As Russell travels to cover various stories we are given a clear picture of how the war escalated. I am looking forward to continuing with this series to learn about the complex life of John Russell as well as getting more insights into this world changing war.
    • 4/5
      This second installment in the John Russell series is a worthy successor to ZOO STATION. Russell himself is an excellent protagonist who makes for a good and extremely likable hero. Once again, Downing does an excellent job of setting a scene and evoking a place and time, and it was nice to see the further developments of some of the relationships that I was introduced to in the first book in the series. It was also heartbreaking to read about Miriam Rosenfeld and her parents, around whom the main subplot revolves. This one ends in late 1939, immediately after the war in Europe has begun, and I look forward to seeing where the third in the series takes me--and sooner, rather than later.
    • 5/5
      Another brilliant evocation of Nazi Germany as the country counts down to war and the Non-agression Pact with Russia is signed. John Russell is an English journalist in Berlin with communist sympathies but pretending to spy for the SD whilst also keeping the Americans informed. He becomes involved in the hunt for a missing Jewish girl in Berlin which threatens to expose himto the Nazis. Impressive research not only of Berlin and the surrounding area but also Poland and Czechoslavia as the Nazis take over. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Second in the series, and it ends where I expected the first to end. It starts a few weeks on from where the previous book left off. In late July 1939 John Russell is returning to Germany from America by boat with his son.

      Definitely an interesting read, Downing has clearly done his research well. There is a fantastic period feel to it. Especially the embuggerance around the travelling to and from Poland. The action picks up a gear too as this book progresses. As well as the SD and the Soviets wanting Russell to work for them the Americans get in on the act too. Russell tries his best to skirt around all of it, pleasing those he cannot avoid and avoiding ending up in a nazi concentration camp.

      The finale is pretty bloody, but the outbreak of war seems to overshadow the climax. I went straight into the third in the series off the back of it, and it skips forward two years.
    • 3/5
      I didn't like Silesian Station as I did Zoo Station, but I cannot help but admire Downing for the way he vividly portrays life in a totalitarian state. For these word portraits alone, the Station books are well worth reading.
    • 4/5
      Downing begins his second novel in the John Russell series with a girl being sent by her Jewish farm family to Berlin where they expect things to be better. She arrives at the Berlin Siliesian Station (now known as Berlin Ostbahnhof, it was a main station in East Berlin) expecting to be picked up by her uncle, but instead is met by someone in his stead. She disappears.

      John Russell is on his way back from the United States where he has been visiting with his son, Paul, and obtaining an American passport (it’s complicated, but explained in Zoo Station, the first volume - they should be read in order). While on the return voyage he receives a telegram informing him that his girlfriend, Effie, has been arrested by the Gestapo. Russell realizes it’s because they want something from him.

      John’s ex-brother-in-law, Tom, whom he trusts implicitly, reveals the niece of one of his Jewish employees has disappeared and her uncle had been killed by storm-trooper thugs shortly before she was due to arrive. Russell, having written a story about private detectives a year before promises to find one who might be able to look for the girl. The detective is shut down by the police so Russell embarks on his own search.

      And so begins another in this excellent series, part spy novel, part mystery. Downing’s choice of a journalist as the protagonist is an excellent vehicle for portraying the events the events surrounding Germany’s annexation of Czechoslovakia and the provocations leading up to the invasion of Poland. Russell observes all these events “from the ground” so-to-speak which gives them an intricacy and immediacy not often present in a history book, which by its very nature, has to take a broader view. Yet at the same time, Downing provides that as well through the interactions of Russell with the Gestapo and the British foreign office.

      Downing must have done an immense amount of research to get the details of ordinary life down so well. (Remember Pathe newsreels?) An excellent series.
    • 4/5
      The second in this series, this was much like the first, well written with a a very good sense of time and place and the creeping horrors and absurdities of Nazi Berlin on the eve of war. The central characters are likeable and all characters well rounded and believable. I did find the resolution of the plot thread around the rescue of Miriam a bit hard to swallow, though. At the end of the book, Britain has just declared war on Germany and all sides are trying to come to terms with this new reality.
    • 4/5
      I'm thinking it might well be possible that you either like David Downing's John Russell novels, or you don't. I don't know why, but I would imagine there isn't a half-way house here.

      I do like them, very much indeed. I'll admit that, on the face of it, it sometimes feels like nothing much actually happens. But that's 'nothing much' if you are expecting a war-time, cloak and dagger, murder mystery, spy cross and double cross novel, in the vein of Len Deighton, Alistair Maclean or Douglas Reeman, perhaps.

      Nothing wrong with those of course, but then a book like 'Stettin Station' (and David Downing in general), doesn't need to be one of those. It's much more than that by, on the surface at least, having much less of all that.

      In 'Stettin Station' the third of the John Russell novels, we've now reached 1939 (I'm trying to read these in chronological order, I think that's probably the best way to do it). Our 'hero', our main character, guide and narrator really, John Russell, has returned from a trip to the USA and is now Central European correspondent for one or more American newspapers. Amongst other things. As we know, he has a German son, from a previous marriage, and is of English-American parentage. The Germans take advantage of his various connections, commitments and knowledge and force him into working for them - spying on the Russians. Who also get Russell to work for them, spying on the Germans. Both sides seem to know he is working for the other side. It all means, that one way or another, Russell can travel, more or less unhindered, throughout Germany and much of Eastern Europe. He sees what is happening to the eastern countries annexed by the Germans, and he gets a very good idea of what their future might be under the Nazis. In the midst of witnessing this inexorable slide into war and more, he also gets involved in trying to track down a friend's Jewish niece. Just by being a decent guy. But it leads him and girlfriend Effi, into a situation where they find they need to put their lives on the line.

      How can I put it, the sense of what I get from these books? Of course, they are beautifully written, perfectly paced, full off nuance and flavour, and an absolute pleasure to read. But there's more. More subtlety. I think it is the environment around John Russell and through which he tries to weave his way, which gives the 'excitement' to his story. He is, despite all the mentions above of 'spies' and travel and so on, a reasonably ordinary man not doing a whole lot more than trying to be a decent reporter, a good father and a loving boyfriend. His being these things and being there in the middle of the build-up to the world-wide catastrophe that was the Nazis and World War II, is what makes the stories so fascinatingly un-put-downable. I think what the John Russell novels boil down to, is that they are a written 'snapshot' of this most important, traumatic time. Just being alive and in the middle and trying to find an ordinary path through, is enough to make anyone's story an incredible one. If things like this hadn't actually happened, you wouldn't believe it, if someone made it up. Incredible.
    • 4/5
      This is the second book in a series of historical thrillers set loosely in Berlin/Greater Germany 1938-1946 or so. Although a series the book works easily as a stand alone in the manner of Cherryh's Company Wars or Stirling's Emberverse or Draka. There's just enough background to place the main characters and the bit of detail on relationships you'll miss should not affect your enjoyment. Having now finished two books in the series I have ordered the rest. They are well worth reading but as period pieces / costume drama. This volume focuses on the last few months of peace before the start of war in Europe on September 1st, 1939. As a description of the moods and mentalities of a continent hurtling towards a war that no one except a few leaders wanted it is better than most of the non-fiction I have read on the era. The book briskly sweeps from a German liner returning from America to Berlin and onwards to occupied Prague, newly independent Slovakia, rural Silesia, Poland and Stalin's Moscow. The settings and secondary characters are deftly written and flow easily. The POV character however is unsympathetic and frequently quite lame. Yes he supposed to be an anti-hero caught up in events outside his control. However it does not advance the novel if the reader comes to hope the Gestapo or the KGB would finally kill him. The mystery/thriller aspects of the novel are the worst part. The author juggles too many threads, ties them up far too neatly and generally does not thrill or excite. So if your wish is for a mystery/thriller this series is not for you. However if you like period pieces and central Europe in that era interest you this is a must read.
    • 3/5
      The second book in the series begins with a bang. John Russell is just returning from a trip to the US with his son Paul. While there, John was able to secure an American passport in exchange for some work for the American intelligence services. En route back to Berlin, John discovers that his girlfriend, Effie, has been arrested by the Gestapo and is destined for Ravensbruck. In exchange for her release, John reluctantly agrees to do some spying for Germany, whose agents want to take advantage of his contacts with the Soviet Union. Unwilling to aid the Nazi's, John goes to the Soviet embassy and works out a deal to be a double agent in exchange for a promise of help should he and Effie ever need to leave Germany in a hurry.

      At the same time, a young Silesian Jew is on her way to her uncle in Berlin to escape the small-town persecution she has suffered. Unfortunately, something happens, and Miriam never makes it to her destination. With the help of a private investigator, John (and Effie) try to find the girl and help her return to the safety of her parents.

      What I liked best about this installment in the John Russell series is that Effie gains more depth as a character. Also, the story of Miriam is a sad reminder of one way in which Nazi propaganda and practice were at odds with one another. What I liked least was the plot device of John working for three (and sometimes four) intelligence services simultaneously. Really?
    • 4/5
      The second book in the John Russell series begins a few months after the first instalment, in the summer of 1939. Russell has just secured an American citizenship to ensure that he can stay in Germany and close to his son if the war erupts, when his girlfriend Effi is arrested and imprisoned by the Gestapo. The only way to have her released and ensure that she isn't thrown into a concentration camp is if John accepts to work for the Nazi regime. Meanwhile, a young Jewish girl on her way to Berlin from a small Silesian village has gone missing, and Russell's friend asks him to help him find her, since the police aren't willing to do anything. I didn't feel this story was quite as well put together as the first novel, which seemed to have better pacing and focus. But once the plot to rescue the young girl is put into motion, with Effi's newfound talents as a master of disguise put to good use, things became much more interesting. I've already secured the next in series, so obviously thought this one was pretty good. This series should definitely be read in order, though the author has filled in enough details to allow one to pick up this book without feeling lost.
    • 4/5
      A very well crafted plot, set against the growing horrors of Germany in the summer of 1939. John Russell, relatively secure by virtue of his American passport, is still able to travel around Germany (when he can find sufficient reserves of petrol), and uses this latitude to investigate the disappearance of Miriam Rosenthal, a Jewish girl who goes missing on her first trip to Berlin.
      This investigation is complicated by the fact that Russell is masquerading as an agent for the German Intelligence service and at their behest is pretending to be a double agent for the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, he is actually a genuine agent for the Americans.
      However, the author is master of his material and he never allows the confusing context to get in the way of a rattling good story.
      All in all very impressive.
    • 5/5
      Powerful story of an English-American journalist/father/spy in 1939 Berlin as Hitler drags Germany into another world war.
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