This true spy story from a former FBI operative provides an insider’s account of how espionage agents actually work. Tapped in 2000 to trap a suspected senior member of the FBI who was selling confidential information to the KGB over many years, he was chosen to work with the suspect and collect the crucial evidence because he was junior in the spy world and would never be suspected as a mole, by the culprit. The archaic methods of the FBI at that time with respect to internal security are almost laughable if the consequences had not been so dangerous. The actual culprit’s motives for selling top secret documents to the Russians are still unclear. In every respect he seemed outwardly to be a patriotic American, and was a devout Catholic member of the Opus Dei branch and a crusty humourless fanatic who tried to convert the author to his radical brand of Catholicism, and was hoping to coerce him into also working covertly for the KGB. He is now behind bars for the rest of his life-and collecting an FBI pension!
There were several times when the plan to trap the suspect came dangerously close to becoming completely unravelled. Although the risks of undercover work may be embellished a bit, the devious methods and secrecy of all parties are fun to read about. But it takes a terrible toll on relationships and families when they are constantly lied to, and kept in the dark about the actual work. Spies, and to a lesser extent, cops, are trained to trust no one, suspect everyone, and, if necessary, blatantly lie about what they actually do on the job. It probably takes a certain personality bordering on paranoia to do well in this field, and an outlook that sees everyone as flawed, secretive, suspect, and dishonest. I may be overly trusting of relatives, friends and strangers alike, and I could never adopt the world view of a spy. A recent social sciences controlled trial reviewed in The Economist concluded that, around the world, more people are honest than population surveys thinks are.
The writing style is a bit prosaic, and there may be some minor elements of hyperbole and self-congratulatory smugness, but the author seems like the kind of fellow that would make a great neighbour to share a beer with in the back yard. The last few pages outlining the shift of counterintelligence and spying to the cyberworld are instructive but not really part of the main story.
An engaging true story about how spies actually work, better than most James Bond-type spy fiction.
The Passionate Reader 