Stettin Station

Written by David Downing

Narrated by Simon Prebble

In the fall of 1941, two years into World War II, British journalist John Russell is still living in Berlin with his fourteen-year-old son, Paul, and his longtime girlfriend, Effi, a German movie star. One of a handful of much-censored foreign journalists,
Russell is investigating a story that he can’t publish from inside Germany: What’s happening to the Berlin Jews who are being shipped east? His search for the answer brings him into proximity with the local communist underground and involves him in a celebrity murder.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: May 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705035740

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.

Reviews for Stettin Station

[tmph_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I like these books, like the characters, like the history. Small suggestion - read them in order. I read 1,2,4,3. In order would've been a little better. But, anyway, it's all a fascinating view and mixture of view with US, Soviet, and German perspective. However, and this is a big spoiler (for me), I saw an uninspired author talk with Downing from 2014 at DC's Politics and Prose wherein he confesses to never having been in Berlin, because, he says, he didn't want to confuse it with the 1930s, 40s Berlin. I call bullshit. I was in the middle of "Stettin Station" and the next scenes I read after having listened to the talk included an ambulatory narrative that immediately felt fake and forced. Ah, well. I'll certainly finish the series and may even read #4 again first before continuing with 5, 6.

[rbeffa_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the third novel of a six book series that I have really been enjoying. Stettin Station begins about 2 years after the prior novel in the series, a jump in time that unbalanced me a little. This story covers a short period of time in Berlin, from November 17, 1941 until the end of the year. Roughly six weeks. The reasons I like this series are here, the detailed look at life in Berlin under the Nazi regime, visits to nearby areas I am unfamiliar with (it helps to be s slight geography geek) and the cast of characters. Perhaps a few too many to keep track of I decided as I read. The plot here is rather minimal compared to the earlier books and since we know what is going to happen 3 weeks after the story opens our main worry is what is going to happen to the people we care about when Japan attacks America and Germany soon thereafter declares war against America. When one sees how bad things are for the average German in November 1941 it is hard to imagine how Hitler and associates thought a bigger war would be better. (Hitler had apparently been advised to not go to war with America but decided almost on a whim a few days after Pearl Harbor to declare war on the US. One of the biggest mistakes he ever made.)I think this novel is a little weaker than the earlier entries but it does have moments of excitement, especially when the story kicks into a higher gear midway through, and I am very eager to continue the series and read the next book, Potsdam Station. I would recommend that anyone interested in these books start with the first novel, Zoo Station, and read them in order. Downing does a good job of refreshing the reader's memory of people and events from prior books, and this could certainly be read as a standalone, but the reader would then miss out on a lot of the backstory that informs this novel.

[jimgysin_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A decent entry in the "Station" series, but much of it is largely indistinguishable from what's been offered in previous outings. In addition, there is very little in the way of significant plot development beyond slowly moving the protagonist and his long-time girlfriend toward the next big change in their lives, which occurs rather abruptly near the end of the book. Characterizations are good, however, and Downing does his usual good job with setting scenes and evoking war-torn Berlin, but for some reason this one just didn't grab me and hold on. I'm still very much a fan of John and Effi, though, so I will be checking out the next book in the series, but it's just not going to be rushed to the top of the list anytime soon.

[edwardsgt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another excellent story in the John Russell series, this period covers around 1941 up until the USA enters the war in December 1941. Unlike many stories covering the period, this series records the life of the average German under Hitler in a sympathetic light and illustrates many didn't really support him but were cowed by the police state that existed. The main character, John Russell is trying to balance the demands of his various intelligence masters, the SD, Abwehr, NKVD and the Americans without giving away his real allegiances. Once the US enters the war, as a US citizen, Russell will no longer be able to operate as a freelance journalist and spy, so needs to carefully plan his escape and be ready to move with his girlfriend, Effi Koenen quickly. As always things don't go quite to plan and Russelll finds himself having to make a dangerous trip to Prague. Highly recommended.

[jmkemp-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In the third of the series the focus widens to also include Effi Koenen, John Russell's film star girlfriend. She's been there in the first two as a strong supporting character, but she really comes into her own in this one.

This story starts in the Autumn of 1941 leading up to the entry of the Americans into the war. Having been largely left alone for a couple of years following the outbreak of the war by the Germans and the Soviets Russell has been working as a foreign correspondent for some American papers. On the side he's been doing some investigative reporting on the fate of the Jews he's known.

As the entry of the US to the war approaches the journalistic work becomes less worthwhile, only authorised despatches can be sent, so there is little value to add. However Russell again comes under pressure from the intelligence agencies of three countries, the Abwehr are using him, the Americans want him to establish contacts for later, and the Soviets re-appear as they get over the shock of the invasion.

As one might expect there are a number of dead ends and narrow escapes in this story. I think it is an improvement on the previous two, largely because the cast has broadened. We now see scenes from Effi's point of view as well as John's. This adds personality to both of them and also allows a much wider perspective on Europe at the end of the beginning of WW2.

There is a characteristic tour of Central and Eastern Europe in the early days of the war. The impact of restrictions and heightened security is all in there, but none of the devastation has happened. Berlin is still mostly intact with only the odd British bomber raid to interrupt normal life.

John & Effi are still living a reasonable life, she has the privileges of stardom and he is a foreign journalist and less subject to rationing than the locals. Despite this you can see their pre-war world has gone, and the descent has already started. The story is a struggle for a happy way out that doesn't lead to getting arrested by the nazis.

I'll avoid spoilers, but the fact that there are three more books after this one tells you that the story must continue somehow, although you can still feel some of the tension. There's also room for some of the wider supporting cast to fall.

[ecw0647 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I must say I have enjoyed this series (which I recommend reading in order) so far. This is the third and continues an examination of Germany during World War II as seen through the eyes of Russell, an American journalist, who is tied to Germany by his girlfriend, Effie, and his German-born son. You get a real sense of the claustrophobia people must felt as they became hemmed in by bombing and the repressiveness of the regime, constantly having to watch what you say, who you say it to, and who might overhear you.Downing is very skillful in showing elements of the Third Reich’s control. For example, Russell stops to purchase a copy of the Beobachter in which he reads that Ernst Udet, WW I ace and big Luftwaffe general had been killed testing a new fighter plane. Thinking that was a bit strange I utilized the wonderful feature of my Kindle and clicking on Udet’s name read the piece on Udet in the Wikipedia only to learn that Udet had committed suicide. So I figured Downing had erred. Just a few pages later, however, at a press briefing, he uses a question from another reporter to point to the suicide (“Does the administration have any comment on the rumor that Udet had committed suicide?”) The truth is outed as well as the ministry’s attempts to hide it. Russell is a journalist, after all, and in his attempts to discover what’s really happening on the eastern front, he cultivates a locomotive engineer. Some of the important detail that’s revealed I had not learned by reading the standard discussions of the Nazi failure in the Russian winter. For example, Russian tenders carried a larger supply of water, so their water tanks were further apart; the steam pipes were built around the boiler rather than on the outside as with German engines, so they didn’t freeze. These all provided clues for Russell as to why the war in the east had bogged down.Some people have complained about the ending. It’s a series. Get over it, people. I can’t wait to start the 4th. As I noted above, read them in order.

[john257hopper · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This third novel in the John Russell Effi Koenen series is much like the first two, with John trying to balance the obtaining and finding out of information from the competing sides in war torn Germany while trying to preserve his integrity, and the contrast between Effi's public life as a film star and her support for John in his endeavours. Again it struck me how vivid was the description of the atmosphere of Berlin and the well-rounded central characters. As before, it tends to meander slightly, but this novel ends on a cliffhanger, with John having got out to neutral Sweden while Effi has been unable to come with him.

[labfs39 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this third installment of the John Russell series, the plot skips ahead two years to 1941. John Russell and his journalist colleagues are unsure how to interpret the course of the war as Germany first seems to advance and then retreat in Russia and the progress of the war in North Africa is confusing even to the British. The only news of importance is that, with the help of Communist resistance fighters, John has learned that trainloads of Jews are being loaded onto trains in the middle of the night and disappearing East. The news that trickles back is not good.Then the Gestapo learns of John's espionage between the Abwehr, a competing branch of German intelligence, and the Americans. John is suddenly on the run, and Effie insists on accompanying him. Calling in his favor from the Soviets, John and Effie find themselves in the hands of German communists who cobble together an escape route. Nothing goes as planned, and the couple finds themselves making tough decisions about family loyalty, love, and survival.This third book in the Russell series is faster paced, and I liked the growing complexity of Effie's character. The conflict between John's desire to protect his son Paul and to tell him the truth is a dilemma that all parents face, but rarely with such dire consequences part of the equation.

[smiler69 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The third book in the John Russell WWII series takes place in 1941. The Nazis have started shipping trainloads of Jews to unknown parts, though Russell suspects it can't be anywhere good. Hitler's troops are fighting in Russia, but the best information he and the other foreign reporters can get is that the Germans are only willing to concede one victory after another. John's actress girlfriend Effi keeps being offered parts in movies with blatant propagandist scenarios and the latest script would have her interpreting the role of a deviant Jewish woman who cheats on her Nazi husband, but can she refuse it without offending Goebbels and getting in trouble? Finally, after one of his spying missions goes horribly wrong, John is forced to escape Berlin, and Effi surprises him with her foresight and resourcefulness, but will they managed to leave together unscathed? This was by far the most thrilling book in the series so far, and Downing plunges us into an entirely believable recreation of WWII Berlin, where the small pleasures of life can still be found even as the horrors of the war keep piling up. I mostly feel frustrated that I've let too much time go by since I finished listening to the audiobook, because the details have faded from memory and no wikipedia page means no memory aid, so I see I can't come close to doing justice to this great addition to an excellent series. Just start with Zoo Station and make your way to this one and I'm sure you'll be glad you did.

[orteacher · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

David Downing's Stettin Station continues the story of John Russell and his escapades in Berlin. It's now late November 1941, and the reporters in Berlin witness the rush of events leading up to the US entry into the war. John struggles to stay free of entanglements thrown by the Nazi's, Red's, and the US embassy. How can he remain close to his German born son and German actress sweetheart if the US is at war with Germany?The most exciting of the series, Downing writes a page-turner that leaves you hungry for the next installment. Highly recommended.

[ridgewaygirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The sign of a good series is that a new reader can pick up the latest one and not feel lost, while the faithful reader is not bored with long descriptions of events he has already witnessed. Stettin Station by David Downing is the third in a series of four books (so far) and I found it excellent, despite having never read the previous books.Historical fiction, and especially stories that take place in Hitler's Europe as this one does, often fall prey to several common pitfalls. One, the protagonist understands the long-term implications of current events or predicts with startling accuracy what will happen next. Another is the cardboard Nazi. People can be nuanced and complex creatures until they join the Nazi Party and become EEEEEVIL. And, finally, the tremendously noble hero. In contemporary thrillers the protagonist can be flawed, but when it comes to WWII, the main character is often altruistic to the point of idiocy, and that the author allows them to save beautiful Jewish girls from rapacious SS Officers on a regular basis while carrying important secret documents.Happily, Downing avoids all that. John Russell is an American of convenience, his British passport would no longer allow him to live and work in the Berlin of 1941. His connections and political sympathies lie far to the left and his only concern is getting his son, girlfriend and himself through the war and he's willing to do business with Nazis and to avoid helping the Americans to do so. He's not without principle and is trying to discover where the train loads of Jewish Berliners are going, but knowing who to trust and who is compromised is an impossible task.Downing weaves a complex story of conflicted loyalties in a vividly rendered wartime Berlin. I'm looking forward to reading the other books in this excellent series.