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The Berlin Truce
A COLD WAR THRILLER BY THE FORMER LEGAL DIRECTOR OF MI5 AND MI6.
HOW MUCH OF IT IS TRUE?
THAT IS SOMETHING YOU WILL HAVE TO DECIDE FOR YOURSELF.
THE COLD WAR HAS RULES.
SOMEONE HAS JUST BROKEN THEM.
BERLIN. CHRISTMAS 1979.Mike Peterson crosses into East Germany at night and sees what no American was meant to Soviet tanks gutted for parts, weeks before Moscow invades Afghanistan.
Within hours, he is marked. His Soviet counterpart, Lev Leviaski, guards the same secret but needs it exposed. Neither can trust his own side. Both know what awaits captured concrete rooms, bright lights and the KGB.
CROSS THE WRONG LINE IN BERLIN, AND THERE IS NO COMING BACK.
The hunt closes in. Friends vanish. Interrogation becomes torture. One wrong word means a bullet in a Soviet cell.
Enemies by training and traitors by necessity, Mike and Lev have one card left to the one thing spies must never do.
Trust each other.
From David Bickford, former Legal Director of MI5 & MI6 and former legal adviser to the British Military Government in Berlin.
A Cold War thriller informed by a world he knew from the inside.
“A CHILLINGLY CONVINCING TALE OF TRUST AND TREACHERY”
— Charles Cumming, Sunday Times & New York Times bestselling author
“RUSSIAN TANKS, CLANDESTINE MEETINGS, FORBIDDEN LOVE, AND TWO COLD WARRIORS GAMBLING WITH HISTORY ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE BERLIN WALL. WITH ECHOES OF JOHN LE CARRÉ, THE BERLIN TRUCE IS INTELLIGENT, ATMOSPHERIC, AND UNMISTAKABLY AUTHENTIC—A PROPER ESPIONAGE THRILLER WRITTEN BY A MAN WHO KNOWS THE SECRET WORLD FROM THE INSIDE.”
— Jack MacTavish, author of Royal Diamonds and Tales from the Caribbean
“THE GRIPPING COLD WAR ATMOSPHERE, LEV’S SACRIFICE, AND THE FINAL SILENT ACKNOWLEDGMENT BETWEEN LEV AND MIKE PETERSON LEFT US EMOTIONALLY DEVASTATED. THE AFGHANISTAN TWIST, BERLIN POLITICS, ESPIONAGE MANEUVERING, AND THE PARALLEL LOVE STORY WERE ALL COMPELLING AND SKILLFULLY WOVEN TOGETHER.”
— Bookshelf Bliss
HOW MUCH OF IT IS TRUE?
THAT IS SOMETHING YOU WILL HAVE TO DECIDE FOR YOURSELF.
THE COLD WAR HAS RULES.
SOMEONE HAS JUST BROKEN THEM.
BERLIN. CHRISTMAS 1979.Mike Peterson crosses into East Germany at night and sees what no American was meant to Soviet tanks gutted for parts, weeks before Moscow invades Afghanistan.
Within hours, he is marked. His Soviet counterpart, Lev Leviaski, guards the same secret but needs it exposed. Neither can trust his own side. Both know what awaits captured concrete rooms, bright lights and the KGB.
CROSS THE WRONG LINE IN BERLIN, AND THERE IS NO COMING BACK.
The hunt closes in. Friends vanish. Interrogation becomes torture. One wrong word means a bullet in a Soviet cell.
Enemies by training and traitors by necessity, Mike and Lev have one card left to the one thing spies must never do.
Trust each other.
From David Bickford, former Legal Director of MI5 & MI6 and former legal adviser to the British Military Government in Berlin.
A Cold War thriller informed by a world he knew from the inside.
“A CHILLINGLY CONVINCING TALE OF TRUST AND TREACHERY”
— Charles Cumming, Sunday Times & New York Times bestselling author
“RUSSIAN TANKS, CLANDESTINE MEETINGS, FORBIDDEN LOVE, AND TWO COLD WARRIORS GAMBLING WITH HISTORY ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE BERLIN WALL. WITH ECHOES OF JOHN LE CARRÉ, THE BERLIN TRUCE IS INTELLIGENT, ATMOSPHERIC, AND UNMISTAKABLY AUTHENTIC—A PROPER ESPIONAGE THRILLER WRITTEN BY A MAN WHO KNOWS THE SECRET WORLD FROM THE INSIDE.”
— Jack MacTavish, author of Royal Diamonds and Tales from the Caribbean
“THE GRIPPING COLD WAR ATMOSPHERE, LEV’S SACRIFICE, AND THE FINAL SILENT ACKNOWLEDGMENT BETWEEN LEV AND MIKE PETERSON LEFT US EMOTIONALLY DEVASTATED. THE AFGHANISTAN TWIST, BERLIN POLITICS, ESPIONAGE MANEUVERING, AND THE PARALLEL LOVE STORY WERE ALL COMPELLING AND SKILLFULLY WOVEN TOGETHER.”
— Bookshelf Bliss
304 pages, Paperback
Published September 30, 2026
About the author
David Bickford
8 books31 followersDavid Bickford CB is a former Legal Director to MI5 and MI6 and author of Cold War espionage thrillers including the Katya series and the forthcoming Cold Protocol.
Drawing on decades inside intelligence and government, his fiction explores surveillance, state power and the hidden mechanics of espionage.
Drawing on decades inside intelligence and government, his fiction explores surveillance, state power and the hidden mechanics of espionage.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
November 12, 2026
Very enjoyable and well-written cold war adventure, full of small tradecraft details and fascinating premise.
A stylish combination of Archer & le Carre influence and well defined characters.
Excellent
A stylish combination of Archer & le Carre influence and well defined characters.
Excellent
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review