David Downing biography, plus links to book reviews and book excerpts from books by David Downing.

David Downing Biography

David Downing grew up in suburban London. He is the author of numerous books for adults and children, including five novels featuring Anglo-American journalist John Russell. He lives with his wife, an American acupuncturist, in Guildford, England.

John Russell Series to Date

1. Zoo Station (2007): It's 1939, and Anglo-American journalist John Russell has spent over a decade in Berlin, where his son lives with his German mother. He writes human-interest pieces for British and American papers, avoiding the investigative journalism that could get him deported. But as World War II approaches, he faces having to leave his son as well as his girlfriend of several years, a beautiful German starlet.
   
2. Silesian Station (2008): Set mostly in Berlin in 1939, Russell gets involved in multiple intrigues while working as an amateur spy for the intelligence services of assorted major powers.
   
3. Stettin Station (2009): It's November 1941, and Russell has decided that he and Effi Koenen need to leave Berlin while they still can, but given Koenen's high public profile, he must find an illegal way to do so. His planning coincides with the escalation of tensions between the U.S. and Japan as well as growing evidence that the Nazis have begun carrying out the Final Solution with the forced transport of Berlin's Jewish community.
4. Potsdam Station (2010): 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.
5. Lehrter Station (2012): Set in Paris, in the winter of 1945
6. Masaryk Station (2013): Berlin, 1948. Still occupied by the four Allied powers and largely in ruins, the city has become the cockpit of a new Cold War. John Russell works for both Stalin's NKVD and the newly created CIA, trying his best to cut himself loose from both before his double-agency is discovered by either. As tensions between the great powers escalate, each passing day makes Russell's position more treacherous. He and his Soviet liaison, Shchepkin, seek out one final operation—one piece of intelligence so damning it could silence the wrath of one nation and solicit the protection of the other.

This biography was last updated on 05/17/2012.

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