The Red Option

Metro 2035: The Red Option is the first novel by writer Sergei Nedorub, written as part of the Metro 2035 Universe and the Mystery of the Third Branch duology. It was released in March 2018.

Synopsis
What if fate, which allowed the catastrophe to happen, plays an even more cruel joke: it completely buries the largest branch of the Kiev metro under tons of rock, leaving the other two undamaged? What if the ghosts of the "red" branch remind us of themselves in every mystery and riddle of all the years that followed? It's inconceivable that anyone could survive there, but still...

The stalkers of Krest, the commonwealth of stations on both surviving branches near Kiev, find an unknown man in a badly worn protective suit on the surface during another shortage. He's a stranger in the world of the subway, and no one can tell who he is or where he came from, except a local girl with the damaged mind and psychology of a child. To get through to her memory requires the help of someone who can find a way to talk to her. Ion, a children's teacher, takes it upon himself to escort the girl to the other side of the Cross, through the remote and wilderness areas, to find her a doctor. However, someone tries to stop them, stopping at nothing. Someone still keeping the secrets of the "red" line.

Interesting Facts

 * The novel may remove War of Moles from the canon, depending on Sergei's decision to show his vision of the Red Branch.
 * "The Red Option" is a conspiracy theory that spreads in Krest, the community of the blue and green branches of the Kiev metro.
 * The second conspiracy theory, Page 34 of the Flora Textbook, is reflected on the cover.
 * The Cross, introduced in the novel, is one of the largest organizations in the post-nuclear subways described.
 * Of the books announced for April 2018, this is the only "Metro 2035 Universe" novel unfolding in the year 2035 and outside of Russia.
 * It has been translated into Polish.