Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9781569474549
ISBN: 1569474540
Label: Soho Press
Manufacturer: Soho Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: 2007-05-01
Publisher: Soho Press
Studio: Soho Press

"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

Praise for previous books by David Downing:

"The author combines his erudition with an excellent political imagination. He writes well, clearly and has a nice wit."-The Sunday Times (London)

"An atmospheric thriller . . . furious pacing."-Booklist

"An elegant rapid-fire spy story."-The Virginian-Pilot

"Compulsive reading."-The Sunday Telegraph (London)

By 1939, Anglo-American journalist John Russell has spent over a decade in Berlin, where his son lives with his mother. He writes human-interest pieces for British and American papers, avoiding the investigative journalism that could get him deported. But as World War II approaches, he faces having to leave his son as well as his girlfriend of several years, a beautiful German starlet.

When an acquaintance from his old communist days approaches him to do some work for the Soviets, Russell is reluctant, but he is unable to resist the offer. He becomes involved in other dangerous activities, helping a Jewish family and a determined young American reporter. When the British and the Nazis notice his involvement with the Soviets, Russell is dragged into the murky world of warring intelligence services.

David Downing grew up in suburban London and is the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction for adults and children, including The Moscow Option, Russian Revolution 1985, and The Red Eagles. He lives with his wife, an American acupuncturist, in Guildford, England.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Credible look at pre-WWII Germany
Comment: 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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Customer Rating:
Summary: Zoo Station is the first in a wonderful new series
Comment: 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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Customer Rating:
Summary: readable and atmospheric
Comment: 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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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Hardy Boys minus one
Comment: 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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Customer Rating:
Summary: Zoo Station
Comment: 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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