Barry Broman, Former CIA Station Chief, on his newest historical novel: The Spy from Sukhumvit Road

Interview of Tuesday, 5 Aug 2025 of Barry Broman, author, producer, photographer. Former Marine, CIA Clandestine Service Officer, Station Chief, Diplomat, on his newest historical novel: The Spy from Sukhumvit Road.
Host and Interviewer: James Hughes, AFIO President, a former CIA Operations Officer and Former NSA Associate Deputy Director of Operations.
They discuss Barry's October 2024 novel: The Spy from Sukhumvit Road. "This latest historical novel continues the story from Broman’s first novel, "The Spy from Place Saint-Sulpice." Protagonist CIA Case Officer Richard “Rick” Blayne returns to Thailand to help support an anti-communist insurgency in Cambodia.
Blayne's activities mirror the life of Barry Broman who spent time in Asia as an AP photographer, later as a Marine, and then with the CIA. Anyone who lived in the fetid jungles of Vietnam and stalked the dark alleys of Phnom Penh will be transported back.
In Paris, Blayne just finished the successful recruitment of a Russian whose family connections have proven invaluable to servicing the Agency’s intelligence requirements. But nothing in the espionage business is straightforward, as the recruited agent is gay and his partner is the son of a Thai army general — a friend of Blayne with whom he must now work.
The games begin, as handling a Russian is never easy and to complicate matters Blayne must also support an insurgency while keeping the Thai general’s family sensibilities and trust intact.
Broman deftly and accurately details the intensity of what is known in the CIA as a “restricted” case file — communications are doubly secured and stove-piped to only a select few officers to keep the chance of a compromise low. A dangerous game told intricately through vignettes from Moscow, Paris, Bangkok, and the bush of Cambodia. It is not a straight arrow of a tale, but one that bobs and weaves through the viewpoints of a bounty of characters, never simple with plenty of the unexpected." -- summary (with thanks) by James Stejskal
The interview runs 15 minutes and includes several Q&As.
'"The Spy from Sukhumvit Road" may be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/Sukhumvit-Road...

BIOS:
BARRY MICHAEL BROMAN is a former CIA clandestine officer & DoS diplomat. He is a two-time CIA Chief of Station. Is also an author, producer, photographer. He is an expert on Southeast Asian affairs, military, espionage, intelligence, clandestine operations, political issues, international business, aerospace, military, warfare, combat, Cambodia war, Vietnam war. Joining the CIA after fighting in Vietnam as a Marine, Broman’s first posting was war-torn Cambodia. During his career, he was twice chief of station, once a deputy chief of station, and supervised an international paramilitary project in support of the Cambodian resistance to Vietnamese invaders. Barry was actively involved in several assignments in counternarcotics operations in Southeast Asia including a major “bust” that yielded 551 kilograms of high-grade heroin from a major drug trafficker. Barry is a sought-after speaker, an accomplished author and photographer, and he's produced nine documentary films.

JAMES R. HUGHES currently serves as the 17th President of AFIO. His service began January 2015. He had a career of US Government service spanning 37 years in numerous foreign countries with a particular focus in the Middle East. He started in U.S. Military Intelligence in the late 1960s and then joined the CIA’s Clandestine Service. He served overseas as a Chief of Station several times, and at CIA Headquarters in a number of senior management positions, including as Chief of the Near East and South Asia Division, in the Directorate of Operations [today’s National Clandestine Service]. He was also named the Associate Deputy Director of Operations (ADDO) at the National Security Agency, 1998-99. Following his retirement from the government in 2005, he joined EDS in Herndon, VA, as the Client Industry Executive for the U.S. Intelligence Community. After the HP acquisition of EDS, he continued to serve in a similar capacity until his retirement in 2012. His parents were missionaries in Turkey in the 1950s, where Jim spent his formative years. He is fluent in Arabic.

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