Masaryk Station

This is the sixth and final novel in the John Russell/Effi Koenen series set around the second world war. This has been a superbly written series, full of a sense of time and place, and richly textured. Most of the novels have meandered a bit along the way, but in hindsight I now see this as part of their appeal, rather than a drawback. In this final novel the action moves forward three years to 1948 at a time when the cold war is hotting up: the former wartime allies are at loggerheads in Berlin; the Communists have taken over in Czechoslovakia; and in Yugoslavia Stalin's hegemony is being challenged by Tito's alternative approach to socialism. John Russell is as usual playing the sides off against each other and here must pull one show more final daring feat that will give him leverage to remove himself from both rival sides of his double agent role. One of the most interesting characters was the German communist Kurt Strohm, a loyal, hardworking and sincere believer in his cause, but whose disillusionment grows as the Soviet grip on East Berlin grows and he comes to realise he and his comrades will not be allowed to chart their own socialist path. I'm quite sorry this series has ended now. show less

Masaryk Station is a powerful and fitting conclusion to David Downing's 'Station' series. Intelligent and complex plotting, rich and atmospheric detail and historically accurate settings across post war Europe make this an engrossing and convincing read. Allied Forces occupy an increasingly isolated Berlin. Downing's writing seems understated but he skilfully creates a sense of division and oppression. The Cold War American/Russian power struggle has started and our hero, John Russell, is right in the thick of it a foot in both murky camps working as a double agent.

Right from Zoo Station, the first book of the series, I've found Russell well rounded, complex and totally plausible as a protagonist. He's now a family man looking to the show more future. But with a conscience. His moral ambiguity means choices. Which is the right one and why?

The opening scene is brutal but believable. The pace thereafter varies as the story moves across Europe, deftly weaving together a number of threads to the main and sub plots. Then it races to a well rounded conclusion. Although fiction, the grubby cat and mouse world of espionage and duplicity is exposed with honesty and truth. It's a glorious slow burn which kept me enthralled. show less

Some of the earlier volumes were a little wobbly but this one winds up the series in style. It is nominally a period spy novel / thriller but it is far more a character study as the author sums up several of his main POV characters coming to terms with the new Cold War world and a divided Europe. For people of the left [the author's sympathies as well as those of his characters are obvious] the choice of brash Yank cowboys [mostly in bed with ex- Nazis for their anti-Communist crusade] and dour Stalinists [who crush the life out of any concept of justice or liberty] is a sad end to the great crusade against the Nazi regime. The West is better only in that it offers a space for dissent and personal conscience. This all sounds trite but show more is quite well handled including vignettes in Tito's Yugoslavia, occupied Trieste, Italy, Austria and newly Communist Prague. A fun read if period fiction is your thing. show less

I have only read one book in this series, the first one. I enjoyed it, but it did not make me thirst for more. But this is an excellent espionage thriller, set in Berlin at the time leading up to the blockade. There is an awful lot going on in the background as well as the struggles over Berlin and between the "allies", with the escape route for former Nazis, the growing grip of Russia on the new Iron Curtain states and the split between Russia and Yugoslavia all playing a role in complicating the plot. The central relationships between John Russell and his film star wife and between him and his control / agent [it is quite difficult at times to work out who is giving what information through who to who] are very well drawn and the pace show more of the book is relentless. Thankfully there is relatively little "thrilling" action. I enjoyed it at lot, but I doubt that I will now go backwards and pick up what I had missed. show less

Lots of plot: spies lie, double cross, cheat, kill, and steal. Oodles of atmosphere: funky hotels, great hotels, train stations, restaurants, Prague, Vienna, Berlin. Rampant cynicism : US mollycoddling Nazi murders and sadists, earnest justice seekers finding lazy intelligence workers and chewing gum Americans, good German socialists having to deal with with Beria and Stalin. Many relationships: couples, adopted children, abandoned children, lovers, haters, and murderers. History: the blockade, Czech defenestration, Yugoslav recalcitrance. But wooden people--the ideas in their heads are simple, unbelievable, but easy to write. This could have been a good book, but Downing needed to do more than wham-bam spy mongering.

A very satisfying end to the series, although still leaving me with a wish for a more detailed epilogue that told us more about the rest of the cast's lives.

As with the others there is a lot of history being told here, Downing does his research and then puts it on the page. Although one obvious lack was the bit about copying a film where the story goes straight from copying to playback without going through the development process. This is in an era where chemical processing was needed to view pictures on film after they'd been shot. Given the rest of the research I'd have thought that was known to Downing.

I did enjoy this though, and there were a number of different angles. My favourite was Strohm, who we met in Stettin Station as show more the railway worker that was tipping off Russell when the Jewish transports were leaving so that he could witness them. By this story he's a senior member of the East German communist party (although not quite East Germany yet). He's on the inside track of what the Soviets are planning and he's also losing his faith in the Soviet control of the German Communist Party. Everything he's asked to do goes against his inner principles and belief in socialism. This was a common part of the KPD survivors and most of those where finally repressed after the June 1953 uprising.

This is the last of the series, Russell has got his out from the blackmail that made him work for the Soviets. Although I wouldn't be too surprised to find that there is a later book. Russell's leverage with the soviets will eventually expire, and he'll also have trouble working in the USA when the McCarthyites get going. show less

Berlin, Prague and Belgrade are not a lot of fun to live in after WWII! John Russell, double agent working for the Soviets and the Americans, spends most of his time trying to figure out how to accomplish his missions for both of them and extricate himself from working for either of them. He just wants to keep his wife and his daughter safe.

I have not read the earlier books in this series and I do think that would have helped with understanding the relationships between the characters but I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller anyway. Having spent a little time in Eastern Europe, this felt very realistic. If you're a student of WWII or the Cold War, this book is an interesting novel about the time as those two are intersecting.

The settings show more feel real, the characters' dilemmas and emotions feel real, the secret agencies on both sides feel real. I would place David Downing in the top rank of spy novel writers and he became one of my favorites with this book. Plenty of cloak and dagger action in this one!

This received this book through Goodreads giveaways and I was excited to have the opportunity to read it. show less