Saturday, April 12, 2014

Potsdam Station

In this sequel to "Stettin Station", we find that John Russell has just flown into Moscow, while his girlfriend, Effie, remains in Berlin, where she is busy helping Jews escape to Sweden. Meantime his son, Paul, is fighting the advancing Russians on the Eastern Front.

Russell hopes to travel with the Soviet army and be with it when it enters Berlin.  However, not long after arriving in Moscow, he is arrested.  A group of Jews that Effie helped escape have been captured by the Gestapo, so she and her young protege must leave their home in search of safety.  Returning to Berlin with new identities, they are arrested and taken to a Jewish prison.

Back in the USSR, Russell is accepted by the NKVD to serve on a mission to gather up atomic bomb secrets in Berlin.  As he prepares to be dropped into Berlin, the Russia offensive begins, and Paul is caught up in it.  In the waning days of April, 1945 each of them wonders whether they will ever see one another again.

Author David Downing has provided the reader with an excellent thriller that outlines the final days of the battle for Berlin.  A real page turner, well worth the read.

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