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    Silesian Station
    Potsdam Station
    Zoo Station
    Audiobook series6 titles

    John Russell WWII Spy Series

    Written by David Downing

    Narrated by Simon Prebble and Simon Vance

    4/5

    ()

    About this series

    John Russell, an English journalist who specializes in human-interest pieces, had always been a reluctant spy. It’s a dangerous life—especially when you are tasked with being a double agent for Soviet and American intelligence, in a city as fraught with hazard as Nazi-occupied Berlin. But it’s been years, now, since Russell was finally able to extricate himself from his life of espionage—through a shady deal with a high-ranking Soviet official.

    Now it’s 1953, and Russell and his family—his long-time partner, Effi Koenen, a burgeoning star on an American sitcom, and their daughter, Rosa, a young artist on the cusp of adulthood—live a life of relative comfort in Los Angeles. Feeling somewhat adrift, Russell has just begun work on a book investigating American
    firms that continued doing business with Germany during Nazi occupation. Then he notices someone is tailing him around Los Angeles. Has someone not taken kindly to his research? Or could it be that the deal Russell struck all those years ago has left him with unfinished business?

    The answer may lie in Berlin, where John and Effi decide to return for the Third Annual Berlin International Film Festival. Braving the political disorder of a city that was once their home, the two are thrust into a perilous mission to protect the life—and safety—they worked so hard to build.

    “Ambitious, layered, and expertly crafted, Union Station is a compelling dive into the world of McCarthy-era Los Angeles, illuminating themes that powerfully resonate with today.”—Sarah James, internationally bestselling author of The Woman with Two Shadows
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateApr 20, 2021
    Silesian Station
    Potsdam Station
    Zoo Station

    Titles in the series (6)

    • 1

      Zoo Station
      Zoo Station

      Zoo Station

      David Downing
      4/5 - 36 ratings
      4/5 - 36 ratings

      As the Nazi hold tightens over Germany in 1939, British journalist John Russell is living in Berlin, where he has spent fifteen years working as a freelancer. Despite his hatred for fascism and the signs of coming war, Russell is determined to stay in Berlin to be near his son, Paul, and his long-time girlfriend, the German film actress Effi Koenen. For paying work, which has become hard to find, Russell agrees to take on jobs that take him increasingly deeper into a web of espionage. When British, Soviet, and Nazi intelligence all attempt to recruit him, Russell is dragged into the murky world of warring intelligence services.

      As the Nazi hold tightens over Germany in 1939, British journalist John Russell is living in Berlin, where he has spent fifteen years working as a freelancer. Despite his hatred for fascism and the signs of coming war, Russell is determined to stay in Berlin to be near his son, Paul, and his long-time girlfriend, the German film actress Effi Koenen. For paying work, which has become hard to find, Russell agrees to take on jobs that take him increasingly deeper into a web of espionage. When British, Soviet, and Nazi intelligence all attempt to recruit him, Russell is dragged into the murky world of warring intelligence services.

    • 2

      Silesian Station
      Silesian Station

      Silesian Station

      David Downing
      4/5 - 22 ratings
      4/5 - 22 ratings

      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?

      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?

    • 4

      Potsdam Station
      Potsdam Station

      Potsdam Station

      David Downing
      4/5 - 18 ratings
      4/5 - 18 ratings

      In April 1945, Hitler's Reich is on the verge of extinction. Assaulted by Allied bombs and Soviet shells, ruled by Nazis with nothing to lose, Berlin has become the most dangerous place on earth. John Russell's son Paul is stationed on the Eastern Front with the German Army, awaiting the Soviets' final onslaught. In Berlin, Russell's girlfriend Effi has been living in disguise, helping fugitives to escape from Germany. With a Jewish orphan to care for, she's trying to outlast the Nazis. Russell hasn't heard from either of them since fleeing Germany in 1941. He is desperate to find out if they're alive and to protect them from the advancing Red Army. He flies to Moscow, seeking permission to enter Berlin with the Red Army as a journalist, but when the Soviet's arrest him as a spy, things look bleak-until they find a use for him that has him parachuting into Berlin behind German lines.

      In April 1945, Hitler's Reich is on the verge of extinction. Assaulted by Allied bombs and Soviet shells, ruled by Nazis with nothing to lose, Berlin has become the most dangerous place on earth. John Russell's son Paul is stationed on the Eastern Front with the German Army, awaiting the Soviets' final onslaught. In Berlin, Russell's girlfriend Effi has been living in disguise, helping fugitives to escape from Germany. With a Jewish orphan to care for, she's trying to outlast the Nazis. Russell hasn't heard from either of them since fleeing Germany in 1941. He is desperate to find out if they're alive and to protect them from the advancing Red Army. He flies to Moscow, seeking permission to enter Berlin with the Red Army as a journalist, but when the Soviet's arrest him as a spy, things look bleak-until they find a use for him that has him parachuting into Berlin behind German lines.

    • 3

      Stettin Station
      Stettin Station

      Stettin Station

      David Downing
      4/5 - 18 ratings
      4/5 - 18 ratings

      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.

      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.

    • 7

      Wedding Station
      Wedding Station

      Wedding Station

      David Downing
      4/5 - 5 ratings
      4/5 - 5 ratings

      February 27, 1933. In this stunning prequel to the John Russell espionage novels, the Reichstag parliament building in Berlin is set ablaze. It’s just a month after Hitler’s inauguration as Chancellor of Germany, and the Nazis use the torching to justify a campaign of terror against their political opponents. John Russell’s recent separation from his wife threatens his right to reside in Germany and any meaningful relationship with his six-year-old son, Paul. He has just secured work as a crime reporter for a Berlin newspaper, and the crimes which he has to report—the gruesome murder of a rent boy, the hit-and-run death of a professional genealogist, the suspicious disappearance of a Nazi supporting celebrity fortune-teller—are increasingly entangled in the wider nightmare engulfing Germany. Each new investigation carries the risk of Russell’s falling foul of the authorities, at a time when the rule of law has completely vanished, and the Nazis are running scores of pop-up detention centers, complete with torture chambers, in every corner of Berlin.

      February 27, 1933. In this stunning prequel to the John Russell espionage novels, the Reichstag parliament building in Berlin is set ablaze. It’s just a month after Hitler’s inauguration as Chancellor of Germany, and the Nazis use the torching to justify a campaign of terror against their political opponents. John Russell’s recent separation from his wife threatens his right to reside in Germany and any meaningful relationship with his six-year-old son, Paul. He has just secured work as a crime reporter for a Berlin newspaper, and the crimes which he has to report—the gruesome murder of a rent boy, the hit-and-run death of a professional genealogist, the suspicious disappearance of a Nazi supporting celebrity fortune-teller—are increasingly entangled in the wider nightmare engulfing Germany. Each new investigation carries the risk of Russell’s falling foul of the authorities, at a time when the rule of law has completely vanished, and the Nazis are running scores of pop-up detention centers, complete with torture chambers, in every corner of Berlin.

    • 8

      Union Station
      Union Station

      Union Station

      David Downing
      0 ratings
      0 ratings

      John Russell, an English journalist who specializes in human-interest pieces, had always been a reluctant spy. It’s a dangerous life—especially when you are tasked with being a double agent for Soviet and American intelligence, in a city as fraught with hazard as Nazi-occupied Berlin. But it’s been years, now, since Russell was finally able to extricate himself from his life of espionage—through a shady deal with a high-ranking Soviet official. Now it’s 1953, and Russell and his family—his long-time partner, Effi Koenen, a burgeoning star on an American sitcom, and their daughter, Rosa, a young artist on the cusp of adulthood—live a life of relative comfort in Los Angeles. Feeling somewhat adrift, Russell has just begun work on a book investigating American firms that continued doing business with Germany during Nazi occupation. Then he notices someone is tailing him around Los Angeles. Has someone not taken kindly to his research? Or could it be that the deal Russell struck all those years ago has left him with unfinished business? The answer may lie in Berlin, where John and Effi decide to return for the Third Annual Berlin International Film Festival. Braving the political disorder of a city that was once their home, the two are thrust into a perilous mission to protect the life—and safety—they worked so hard to build. “Ambitious, layered, and expertly crafted, Union Station is a compelling dive into the world of McCarthy-era Los Angeles, illuminating themes that powerfully resonate with today.”—Sarah James, internationally bestselling author of The Woman with Two Shadows

      John Russell, an English journalist who specializes in human-interest pieces, had always been a reluctant spy. It’s a dangerous life—especially when you are tasked with being a double agent for Soviet and American intelligence, in a city as fraught with hazard as Nazi-occupied Berlin. But it’s been years, now, since Russell was finally able to extricate himself from his life of espionage—through a shady deal with a high-ranking Soviet official. Now it’s 1953, and Russell and his family—his long-time partner, Effi Koenen, a burgeoning star on an American sitcom, and their daughter, Rosa, a young artist on the cusp of adulthood—live a life of relative comfort in Los Angeles. Feeling somewhat adrift, Russell has just begun work on a book investigating American firms that continued doing business with Germany during Nazi occupation. Then he notices someone is tailing him around Los Angeles. Has someone not taken kindly to his research? Or could it be that the deal Russell struck all those years ago has left him with unfinished business? The answer may lie in Berlin, where John and Effi decide to return for the Third Annual Berlin International Film Festival. Braving the political disorder of a city that was once their home, the two are thrust into a perilous mission to protect the life—and safety—they worked so hard to build. “Ambitious, layered, and expertly crafted, Union Station is a compelling dive into the world of McCarthy-era Los Angeles, illuminating themes that powerfully resonate with today.”—Sarah James, internationally bestselling author of The Woman with Two Shadows

    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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    • 4/5
      A very enjoyable installment in a compelling series with superb pithy parallels drawn to current political factions.