Silesian Station

by: David Downing

Published by: Soho Press, Inc.

Reviewed by Andrea Sisco

David Downing’s Silesian Station is the second in a series of spy thrillers. The setting is Nazi Germany.

John Russell is a naturalized American citizen (this will be helpful if/when war breaks out in Germany) and a journalist working in Berlin for a San Francisco newspaper. Russell returns to Germany in 1939. He had been in the United States with his son.

Russell discovers that his girlfriend Effi has been arrested by the Gestapo. He’s already working for American intelligence, but the Nazis want him to work for them. Effi’s freedom depends on Russell’s willingness to work with them. And it’s natural for him to be approached as he has Soviet connections.

So while Russell is juggling his job, and his spy activities, a friend requests his help. A young Jewish girl has disappeared. The police refuse to investigate the disappearance so Russell takes on the job of locating the girl who disappeared at the Silesian Station.

Silesian is an exciting thriller. Downing concentrates on the setting and time period and the result is great sleuthing rather than a “shoot-’em-up” novel. The characters are richly drawn, flawed (isn’t everyone?) people that respond exactly as one would expect people in the described circumstances to respond.

Silesian Station is also a well-written novel that will entertain, but also will evoke strong emotions and stay with the reader, long after the final pages are read.

Armchair Interviews says: For a good read, Silesian Station is it!