POTLUCK STATION

A Review of David Downing's POTSDAM STATION

 

POTSDAM STATION is the fourth of the six John Russell Berlin Noir thrillers by David Downing and it's typical of the three that precede it. The events of the three previous novels have resulted in Russell, his lover Effi and their son Paul being scattered to the four winds. Russell has fled Berlin for London, Effi fights the good right in the Berlin resistance and young Paul is a German soldier tasked with defending Berlin from the encroaching Soviet troops. Berlin lies in ruins, citizens starve, are executed by fanatics, and cower in desperate fear of what the Soviets will do to them once the city falls. Russell, seeing the coming doom, returns to Berlin to get Effi and Paul out of there before it's too late. In order to this, he has to agree to spy for the Russians... again.

What follows breaks no new ground in this series. Downing's novels are very talky and rely far too heavily on period details. When the details overshadow the plot, the book's got problems. And that's what happens with POTSDAM STATION. Don't get me wrong, the details ARE there and the hell-on-earth that was Berlin in the closing weeks of the war are accurately portrayed.

This is a three-pronged narrative. We get Russell's journey back to Berlin alongside Effi's work for the resistance and Paul's troubles in the rag-tag army trying to defend the city. The novel jumps around in these three storylines and none of them move terribly quickly. Russell is not an engaging lead. Rather he's annoying, whiny and ineffectual. Effi fares better but her storyline is improbable as she's a famous actress yet can move about and no one seems to recognize her. Endless details in each section bog the novel down as well. These descriptions, for the most part, are often all we get in a scene as nothing of any great consequence occurs. People travel to meet people (the trip agonizingly laid out), they talk, observe, muse and then it's on to the next setting. As in the other novels in the series, the ending is rushed, relying on coincidence and quick happenings to wrap things up. It's as if Downing runs out of period details from his research and figures enough is enough.

I consider POTSDAM STATION, along with the other Downing books, as middle of the road Berlin Noir. They aren't as bad as Rebecca Cantrell's offerings and don't come anywhere near the level of excellence of Kerr's Gunther series. If you're in the mood to revisit Berlin in the last days of the war, then I'd recommend this one. If you feel like and edge-of-your-seat thriller, look elsewhere.

CAT SCRATCH FEVER

A Review of Peter Quinn's HOUR OF THE CAT

HOUR OF THE CAT features one of the oddest "pairings" fiction has seen in a long time. The novel, covering the period between 1936-1938, splits its time between New York and Berlin. The New York section covers the efforts made by ex-con turned PI, Finton Dunne, while the Berlin sections give us the trials and tribulations of Admiral Wilhelm Canaris.

Dunne has been hired to help free a man falsely convicted of the brutal murder of a woman. Matters are hampered further when crooked cops want him to leave the matter alone and the doomed convict himself refuses to cooperate.

While all this is going on, Canaris has his hands full in Berlin. His Abwehr, the SS and the Gestapo are all keeping tabs on each other while Hitler and the Nazis go about genocide, implementing their eugenics programs and preparations for war. It's evil as usual in the Reich until Canaris gets wind of a coup in the works - a desperate attempt to stop Hitler before he drags Germany into another war.

What do the two plot lines have in common?

You'll have to read the book to find out.

And you're going to want to, believe me.

Now HOUR OF THE CAT does not barrel along like a freight train. If you're looking for a quick, edge of your seat read, look elsewhere. No, what Quinn does with this novel is give us some beautiful prose and well-rounded characters. This is fiction you wallow around in, savor, take your time with. Dunne is a complex character amongst a tableau where no one is quite who they seem to be. Canaris is man losing control of his work and his country. Both characters are well drawn and leap off the page. Their struggles grab the reader by the throat and keeps the pages turning.

Quinn also does a very admirable job of recreating the time period. Both sections

are peppered with real life historical figures and the settings themselves, New York and Berlin of the 1930s, is well rendered with just enough details to create a sense of place without bogging down the slow unraveling of the plot.

The result is an engaging read. Sure, it takes a long time for

the two plot lines to converge but Quinn's writing makes the journey worthwhile. HOUR OF THE CAT is a compelling novel. In the hands of a lesser writer, one might be tempted to give up on the book after the first 100 pages or so but Quinn is such a good wordsmith that this initial obstacle is easily overlooked. Something of a challenging novel, HOUR OF THE CAT makes for a fitting entry in the growing body of Berlin Noir fiction.

A ROSE BY MANY OTHER NAMES

A Review of Alan Moore's and Kevin O'Neill's THE ROSES OF BERLIN

It's a deceptively slim volume, telling a straightforward action story. But things are never what they seem in any of the classic LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN graphic novels from Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill. THE ROSES OF BERLIN is no exception.

First and foremost, if you've seen the movie starring Sean Connery and haven't read the novels, then please, you need to wipe your memory clean. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie as a great mash-up of classic literary characters - it's a wild ride. But the movie has about as much in common with the novels as Bernie Gunther has with Bambi.

Here's the thumbnail synopsis of THE ROSES OF BERLIN. It begins with Captain Nemo's pirate daughter, Janni, happily raiding German shipping. She learns that an airship carrying her daughter and her son-in-law has been shot down. The daughter went down with the ship and is assumed dead. Her husband is being tortured in Berlin. Janni, worthy of her birthright, is not someone you want to go up against and now the Germans have killed her daughter. She's going to Berlin to free her son-in-law and get revenge - big time!

And that's it. Even feasting your eyes on O'Neill's incredibly quirky artwork, it won't take you but half an hour or so to read this tight tale. Some great action, great dialogue and a... different Berlin. Nothing to it, right?

Wrong!

To read a LEAGUE novel, you have to slap on your fedora and become Indiana Jones because Moore packs an encyclopedia of pop culture and literary references into every volume. Don't let the size of THE ROSES OF BERLIN fool you. You'll need hours, days, maybe even weeks and months to get the full enjoyment out of it. Read on and you'll see what I mean.

The Berlin depicted here is Metropolis from the movie of the same name. It is ruled with an iron grip by the dictator from Chaplin's THE GREAT DICTATOR. Nemo and her associates are up against the robot, Maria, from Metropolis, Dr. Mabuse, Dr. Caligari and She from the Haggard novels. Along the way there are references to other Jules Verne characters, Godzilla, King Kong, The Man From U.N.C.L.E and James Bond. And those are just the biggies. Further references are made to obscure works of the time and from the 1800s. They all go in the meat grinder of Alan Moore's mind and come out in a captivating concoction that is a joy to read.

One does not read THE ROSES OF BERLIN, one excavates it! Panel by panel. If you're a pop culture junkie and just love delving into a great work with exacting precision, this new LEAGUE entry will scratch you right where you itch. If you're just in the mood for a fast-paced journey into an alternate Berlin, THE ROSES OF BERLIN will satisfy as well. Moore's strength is that the book can be read both ways. It's straight up adventure, or you can go long - you choose your level of immersion. You can also test your German reading comprehension as several pages featuring the German adversaries take authenticity to a new level and the dialogue is IN German with no subtitles.

 If you haven't read any of the LEAGUE books, then this is as good a place as any to start. THE ROSES OF BERLIN delivers. Some taut plotting and fantastic artwork - it's got everything a great comic should have. Don't miss it!