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Zoo Station | 
 enlarge | Author: David Downing
Publisher: Old Street Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: £10.99
Buy New: £3.55
You Save: £7.44 (68%)
New (24) Used (8) from £2.49
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 5522
Media: Paperback
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 1905847084
EAN: 9781905847082
ASIN: 1905847084
Publication Date: March 20, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Pre WWII Berlin tension December 6, 2008
Blyth (Northumberland, England)
I thought this was one of the best books I've read lately. I found the description of inter war Germany pretty scary and was thoroughly involved with the characters.
This is the first book I have read by this writer. I will look for others.
A Pre-WWII Spy thriller - Zoo Station by Author David Downing November 22, 2008
Andrea Bowhill (England)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Set in Germany Pre WWII, Englishman John Russell was working as a free lance journalist he had already been a long term resident for fifteen years and given that reason had been granted a full accreditation from the Ministry of Propaganda in Berlin. Unlike many of his press corp. colleagues who were now eager to get out, Russell wished to remain in Reich for as long as possible. Most importantly to be with his eleven year old son Paul by his German ex-wife; who lived else where in the city and secondly to stay near his current girlfriend Effi, a beautiful German actress.
New Year's Day 1939 in the early hours, Russell had been approached by an Old Russian communist acquaintance named Shchepkin. He wished to hire Russell's writing skills and make him an offer for extra money with a plan guaranteed to let Russell remain as long as possible in Germany. But this plan of course had more a return favour attached, secret spy work for the Soviets; his cover would be to write positive aspect articles of Nazi achievements for the Russian Newspapers.
Russell had doubts could he trust his old friend or had things changed between them as many years had passed. Russell already found Nazi lives despicable; Geobbles latest Speech on the vibrancy of modern German Culture could not cover the true Nazi reality, Russell already believed war was on its way. Then during early January 1939 the Nazis had brought out more anti-Jewish laws making it so hard now for any to leave. Being a spy didn't seem so unappealing a forced decision was finally made from threats and certain financial needs, but the web of espionage was bigger than he ever anticipated. Russell finds himself caught up in a plot to fight German tactics; a spy for the Russian's and then for the British as for Russell he was just trying to survive all dangers thrown his way these were uncertain times.
This would be my first novel by David Downing and it's a wonderful piece of fiction a quiet spy thriller. Four stars; deducting one because I felt some things were a little bit to convenient for Russell in places. Overall it remains an incredibly well written piece and very well researched. Detailed news stories just months before the war which are mentioned in passing, giving it authenticity. Downing has also kept to the boundaries of historical possibility in writing this and successful shows the pre war glitter and darkness of Berlin on the eve of WWII. Characterisations are shown very strong throughout; Russell and Effi both characters are well written Russell is loaded to the brim cynically but remains likeable. What I thought was fantastic was the conversations between Russell and other Foreign Correspondents, full of insightfulness; with lots of witty comments thrown in.
This first book was certainly written to lead you into the next, congratulations David Downing, I will be moving onto the second in the series Silesian Station.
Recommended Reading.
Andrea Bowhill
Intelligent, gripping and atmospheric July 13, 2008
Jonathan Posner (LONDON, England United Kingdom)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The seeker of espionage thrills and spills may need to look elsewhere. But where this writer excels is in creating the daily atmosphere of pre-war Germany, and especially Berlin, which serves to grip entirely on its own. I doubt if any modern writer has combined the chilling with the everyday as effectively as David Downing, whether it be the smiling blonde receptionist at Gestapo headquarters or the innocent roadside signposts to the the local concentration camp, devoid of any meaning to ordinary Berliners.
As for the story itself I found it beautifully constructed, the 'in-too-deep' clamminess of its protagonist, John Russell, a domiciled English journalist, all too believable. It's also enhanced by the relationship with his delightful girlfriend, as well as the obvious devotion to his German-born son. In fact Russell's slight unease with his son's Nazi-youth activities is perfectly pitched and Downing rightly resists any grandstanding from the vantage-point of hindsight. On the other hand, Russell is completely aware of the impending catastrophe for Germany's Jews, with each new 'law' inevitably bringing the attempted extermination ever closer. Downing doesn't miss a trick here either; the two Jewish girls that Russell has been teaching delightedly rush out to buy a box of cream cakes from a baker's "that still sold to Jews".
This is a fine and atmospheric thriller from a sensitive and thoughtful writer. How far away it all is from the turgidness of Joseph Kanon's 'The Good German' (see my other review). But it was almost worth enduring that book to get to this one. Carry on, David Downing, because this is how it should be done.
Very very good read May 14, 2008
lmhh (UK)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I bought this book on a 2 for 3 in Waterstones (so if it was rubbish it hadn't cost me anything) impulse and enjoyed it so much I have just been out and bought the second instalment of what is going to be a trilogy.
It is a mixture of spy novel and exploration of what it must have felt like to be a non-German living in Germany in the immediate run-up to the Second World War. The main character is a journalist with a foreign passport - so the means to escape the Nazis - being simultaneously sought as a spy by Germany, Britain and Russia. He is also, however, a compassionate individual dealing with all sides of the situation and sometimes compromising his ideals to both protect those he cares about and resist the impending crisis he can see looming.
Downing manages through the eyes of this character - an Englishman called John Russell - to create a powerful sense of disorientation and of a shifting moral landscape - while at the same time telling a story which keeps you turning the pages.
Excellent read - highly recommended to both fans of spy novels and those with an interest in how the Nazi (or any other repressive state) could come into being.
 lots of period research, but little or no tension May 10, 2008
George Rodger
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
As some other reviewers have noted, there's a wealth of period detail - you almost get a street-by-street, shop-by-shop description of journalist hero Russell's walks through Berlin at times - which is all well and good, but it does feel a little overdone, and there's a distinct lack of tension : it's no thriller.
And considering that Russell gets recruited by the NKVD, the SD and MI6 within the space of a few days, there should have been ample scope to ratchet up the tension, but it never does, and you never feel that the hero's in any danger at any time - even when he's meeting his NKVD contact, smuggling plans across borders, or trying to save the standard Jewish family in danger from the standard nasty Nazis... (I wonder if any writer will ever break the mould and include a Jewish family in danger that isn't wonderfully decent and admirably brave? How about an obnoxious and imperfect one for a change?)
Despite the lack of thrills, bland characterisation and slow pacing it would still satisfy the reader with an interest in the period, but it's no challenge to Alan Furst, Robert Harris or Philip Kerr.
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