Masaryk Station, David Downing
Masaryk Station, David Downing
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Masaryk Station

Author: David Downing

Narrator: Michael Healy

Unabridged: 10 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/18/2013

Synopsis

Berlin, early 1948. The city, still occupied by the four Allied powers, still largely in ruins, has become the cockpit of a new Cold War, and as spring unfolds its German inhabitants live in fear of the Soviets enforcing a Western withdrawal. Here, as elsewhere in Europe, the legacies of the War have become entangled in the new Soviet-American conflict, creating a world of bizarre and fleeting loyalties, a paradise for spies. John Russell works for both Stalin's NKVD and the newly created CIA. He does as little for either as he can safely get away with, and between the tawdry tasks they set him—assessing dubious defectors in Trieste, running a spy ring in a Berlin VD clinic, rescuing ex-Nazis who might prove useful from Czechoslovakia—he seeks a way to cut himself loose. His partner Effi Koenen has an easier time, starring in a popular radio series and looking after their adopted daughter Rosa, until a woman she helped save in the War turns up on her doorstep, and admits to a child she left behind all those years before, a child now trapped behind the new Iron Curtain.

About David Downing

David Downing grew up in suburban London. He is the author of the Jack McColl novels, the thriller The Red Eagles, and eight books in the John Russell espionage series, set in WWII Berlin.

About Michael Healy

Michael Healy has appeared off Broadway and on national television, most notably on Saturday Night Live for three years, as well as in several national commercials. He continues to hone his craft in Rhode Island, where he has won awards for acting. His audiobook recordings include Mr. Midshipman Easy by Frederick Marryat, The Collector of Lost Things by Jeremy Page, and The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Speesh on March 20, 2016

A superb end to a simply wonderful series. A marvellous end to the book. Happiness tinged with sadness. Tragedy and hope. It didn’t really feel like a ‘goodbye.’ An au revoir, hopefully. Though that’s probably me wishing it, rather than it actually being so. And yes, he saved the best for (the) last......more

Goodreads review by ManOfLaBook.com on August 30, 2013

Masaryk Sta­tion by David Down­ing is the last novel in the John Rus­sell series. The story takes place in the chaotic time in 1948 Berlin, when the city was divided in the post-war era. John Rus­sell is an Amer­i­can jour­nal­ist liv­ing in Berlin for a long time. Even though he was linked to the Co......more

Goodreads review by Mieczyslaw on December 12, 2013

This is the last in the "Station" series and I'm already thinking that I've been a bit harsh in only giving it three stars but I'm sticking to it for a number of small reasons that I shall explain later. In "Lehrter Station" David Downing painted a superb picture of post-War Berlin; a grubby world of......more

Goodreads review by Mark on September 07, 2013

I am so sorry to see this series end, but in the process, I have been impressed with David Downing's ability to create a continuing cast of characters who survived the Nazis and the Soviets (not to mention the Americans) as Berlin moved through WWII and emerged into the beginning of the Cold War. I w......more

Goodreads review by penny king on October 01, 2017

The last of this 'Station' series by David Downing. As enjoyable and informative as the preceding 5 stories. His writing style always appeals to me - I look forward to reading something else by Downing in the future.......more

Quotes

“Downing adroitly elucidates the morass that was post–World War II geopolitics without dumbing down…One can only marvel at his talent for infusing such a rangy cast of characters with nuance and soul.”     New York Times Book Review

“Downing’s outstanding evocation of the times (as masterly as that found in Alan Furst’s novels or Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther series), thematic complexity (as rich as that of John le Carré), and the wide assortment of fully rendered characters provide as much or more pleasure than the plot, where disparate threads are tied together in satisfying and unexpected ways.” Library Journal (starred review)

“Powerful historical novels.” New York Times Book Review, praise for the series

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