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Zoo Station By David Downing ( Soho Press )
Release Date: 2008-05-01
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List Price: $14.00
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Product Description
"The clever denouement will have readers clamoring for a sequel."-BookPage "Zoo Station is a beautifully crafted and compelling thriller with a heart-stopping ending as John Russell learns the personal faces of good and evil. An unforgettable read."-Charles Todd, author of the Inspector Ian Rutledge Series "A finely drawn portrait of the capital of a nation marching in step toward disaster."-St. Louis Post-Dispatch "[A] smooth, scary wartime thriller drenched in period atmosphere."-Kirkus Reviews "[A] suspenseful tale of an ordinary man living in a dangerous place during a dangerous time who finds within himself the strength to do heroic acts."-Booklist "If you like your tales spiced with morally ambiguous characters right out of Graham Greene, this is a train you need to be aboard. . . . A marvelous return to cerebral espionage."-January Magazine By 1939, Anglo-American journalist John Russell has spent fifteen years in Berlin, where his German-born son lives. He writes human-interest pieces for British and American papers, avoiding the investigative journalism that could get him deported. But as war approaches, he faces the prospect of having to leave his son and his longtime girlfriend. Then, an acquaintance from his communist days approaches him to do some work for the Soviets. Russell is reluctant but ultimately unable to resist. He becomes involved in other dangerous activities, helping a Jewish family and an idealistic American reporter. When the British and the Nazis notice his involvement with the Soviets, Russell is dragged into the world of warring intelligence services.
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Credible look at pre-WWII Germany ( blue20015 )
I read David Downing's excellent "Silesian Station" before taking on "Zoo Station," but the latter (being the first in the series so far), didn't suffer by comparison and there was nothing lost in continuity. "Zoo Station" is more of an ambling setup that establishes the political and social environment in Europe in the two years preceding the opening of WWII hostilities in September 1939. Author Downing appears to have done a gargantuan amount of research on the period, including details as minute as street crossings in provincial towns, but working on as grand a scale as the course of diplomatic relations between an increasingly aggressive Nazi Germany and its increasingly nervous, and ultimately unfortunate, neighbors.
Downing's protagonist. Anglo-American journalist, John Russell, is an appealing character trying to navigate a world that is becoming more dangerous for him and his German family every day. With the principal aim of establishing the environment of the period. Russell's day-to-day routine is spelled out in great detail in this story. It's an effective device that gives the reader a palpable sense of what Berlin, Cracow, Prague, etc. were like at the time as well as how ordinary Europeans were living their lives under mounting political and social threat.
There is an excellent plot line here as well. Protagonist Russell reluctantly becomes, after all, a spy and is pushed into some hairy situations that could cost him his head (literally) at the hands of a Nazi executioner. The action in "Zoo Station" is akin to that presented in Alan Furst's excellent books of the same period--building slowly and resolving through dialogue rather than violence. What violence there is in this book comes as background, basically as descriptions of what is happening to German Jews and other Nazi opponents that have been marked for elimination or exile.
Overall, I would give this book a four plus on the Amazon scale. Without a doubt, Downing's John Russell series is a most welcome addition to WWII genre fiction. He has a real talent for credible narrative. Let's hope that there is a sequel to "Zoo Station" and "Silesian Station" in the near future.
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 Zoo Station is the first in a wonderful new series ( pietzsch )
Zoo Station is the first in what I hope will be a long-lived series about a British journalist in Nazi Germany. I'm a great fan of Alan Furst, and David Downing's books (now including Silesian Station) are reminiscent of Furst's style and mood - but there are pleasant differences as well. There has been great character development, and also lot's of attention to detail. As someone who's fascinated by the history of pre-war and World War II Europe, and who's a frequent visitor to Germany, I've very quickly become a loyal fan of Downing and of his characters. What a tremendous effort!
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readable and atmospheric ( mirsy )
I found this to be a readable page-turner. Although it is not up there with the best of Furst, Silva, et.al., it is literate, full of interesting characters, and depicts the atmosphere of the Nazi period in Berlin. I thought the Russell character could have been better developed, especially the politics involved between father and son. The depiction of how young people were socialized in Hitler's Germany was fascinating but I thought that more could have been made of Russell's reactions to his son's education. That said, I very much enjoyed reading this and will read the sequel.
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 The Hardy Boys minus one ( walt2@bestweb.net )
The period is fascinating. The book is not. The characters are one dimensional. With all the talk of irony, that can justly suit a sixteen year old, most all of the humour is buried under ennui. One is led to believe the author bought maps of various European cities and decided to write a book. One has little care for the major characters and their cardboard problems. It is the writing that causes this to happen, not the original situations. I am left with the feeling that Downing was paid by the word. A tighter book by another author might have worked.
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Zoo Station ( sreismanreal )
I am a World War II genre fan. This is one of the best novels I have ever read in this historical fiction class. The plot is interesting and very plausible, the characters very attractive, the descriptions of wartime Europe riveting,the writing outstanding.
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