Novella · Sofia, 1985
A Line Through Sofia
A Cold War Espionage Novella
Sofia, 1985. The Cold War is still very much alive.
Nikolai Stoikov is an officer of Bulgaria’s feared State Security service, trained to identify enemies of the communist regime and conduct intelligence operations against the West. But after witnessing the lengths to which his government will go to silence its opponents, Nikolai begins to question where his loyalty truly belongs.
While assigned to the Bulgarian Embassy in Athens, he makes a decision that could cost him his career, his freedom, and his life: he secretly volunteers to spy for the CIA.
When Nikolai is transferred back to Sofia, the relationship must continue in one of the Cold War’s most difficult operational environments. Under the constant threat of surveillance, he and the CIA communicate without ever meeting, using clandestine signals, secret writing, and dead drops while Bulgarian counterintelligence searches for enemies within its own ranks.
Then Nikolai learns that State Security is preparing to kill another Bulgarian dissident abroad. This time, he has a chance to stop it.
But doing so may reveal that the betrayal Bulgaria’s security service fears most is coming from one of its own officers.
A Line Through Sofia is a Cold War espionage novella about loyalty, conscience, and the invisible connection between an intelligence officer trapped behind the Iron Curtain and the Americans determined to keep him alive.
