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A Spy in Plain Sight: The Inside Story of the FBI and Robert Hanssen—America's Most Damaging Russian Spy by Lis Wiehl

3.59 AVERAGE

lucym8's profile picture

lucym8's review against another edition

4.0
informative mysterious slow-paced
Illuminating. I’ve always been fascinated by Bob Hanssen because, on its surface, this was a guy unmotivated by ideology (or, at least, an Opus Dei Republican who once got so furious at hearing “America the Beautiful” being sung on the Prairie Home Companion — hosted by known Communist Garrison Keillor — that he turned the radio off in fury… so he was motivated by *that* kind of ideology) who got paid maybe a moderately successful dentist’s salary to be this major Russian asset for decades. This book makes a compelling case for psychopath/sex freak. A lot of his friends and associates come off the worse for ignoring some pretty aberrant behavior. 

Minus one star for leaving out important reporting that I, alone, have uncovered, which is that one of Hanssen’s kids is currently in the DC stand-up comedy circuit.

e_gracereads's review against another edition

3.25
dark informative reflective slow-paced
Informative, but long, repetitive, and confusing. It takes a moment for the book to become chronological, which makes it difficult to keep up with, and consistently repeats known information. A good look into FBI’s failures in counterintelligence, but a little preachy here and there.
grlong's profile picture

grlong's review against another edition

3.0
Lots of information. So much, in fact, that it is repetitive
kimham_bookstagram's profile picture

kimham_bookstagram's review against another edition

4.0
A Spy in Plain Sight by Lis Wiehl is an in-depth look at Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent who sold secrets to the  Russians for over two decades. Sadly, I had never heard of him! This occurred at that same time as the Aldrich Ames scandal, yet I missed this one completely.  
The book had a non-linear timeline at points, which caused some confusion. However, the narrative is engaging and meticulously researched, including eyewitness accounts and quotes from FBI and CIA agents involved in the investigation. 
Hanssen's betrayal shines a light on structural failures within our intelligence departments that allowed him to evade capture for so many years. 
I listened to the audiobook with Wiehl providing the narration herself which added an extra spark.

eweed's review against another edition

3.75
Tone was disparaging which was not pleasant to read, but the insight into the intelligence community was fascinating

momreads's review

3.75
challenging informative slow-paced
How easy is it to access and share top secret intelligence information?  This is the true story of the FBI and CIA trying to find the mole who has been tipping off the Russians for 20 years.  It explores a lot of issues within the bureau that allowed crimes of espionage to go unchecked and ignored.  The book was interesting  but the author's insertion of her own political opinions in the last chapter were unnecessary.  If she felt the need to point to ongoing corruption, she should have discussed both political parties.  

keleidoscope's review against another edition

5.0
mysterious medium-paced
Such an incredible book! You can tell that the author did a lot of research that rounded out this story well. 

senakasone's review against another edition

2.5
dark informative slow-paced

mbfox's review against another edition

3.75
informative medium-paced

maliffi's review against another edition

4.0
Thank you Edelweiss for the arc! Super interesting story, it was a little tough to read but I'm not much of a nonfiction reader. I do love how thorough the author was in the details and timeline of this story. She really built the full picture of Hanssen's betrayal. I had never learned about this case and I was really excited to read more into it. All in all, I would recommend especially to habitual non-fiction readers.