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Rating: 
Summary: A good read, but is something missing?
Review: I enjoyed this fast paced view into the life of a turncoat. Some interesting introductions to Opus Dei too. However, I found one glaring inconsistency that makes me wonder if something is left unsaid...The fouth page into Chapter 17 (page 199 in my hardcover edition) the authors detail an investigation into a suspected spy at the FBI. Interviewing his children they "...seconded their father's assertion that his computer skills weren't remotely sufficient to have enabled him to encrypt messages to the KGB on diskettes." In my reading of the book this occurs before October 1999. This is a full year earlier than the November 2000 acquisition of the KGB files that contained the encrypted diskettes. At the time of the interview the intelligence services did not have the details of Hanssen's betrayal. They supposedly knew nothing about the diskettes. Did I miss something in the story? Or did the intelligence services know more about the betrayal before October 1999 than the book tells us? Anyone else find this curious?
Rating: 
Summary: The best by far!
Review: I just finished the two Hanssen books, this one and The Bureau and the Mole, and there is no comparison. I heard a lot from Vise on the radio, but his book is essentially a quickie padded with psychobabble guessing about Hanssen's thoughts and motives. Vise has a few sexy stories and fills around them with chapters of inexplicable praise for Louis Freeh, who must have helped Vise a lot to get such favorable treatment himself when he was being drummed out of the FBI. The Spy Next Door, on the other hand, is carefully researched and beautifully written. The authors work hard trying to explain why anyone with Hanssen's all-American background would commit such heinous crimes, but in the end, they refuse to speculate, laying out what they learned (a lot) and stopping before they go too far. It's a sad tale, but an important one. An easy read, too. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: What a great read!
Review: I loved every word. The Spy Next Door reads like the great spy book it is. Bob Hanssen is dissected with a scalpel by two skilled and meticulous writers who probe the traitor's life from childhood through his suspenseful and long-overdue capture by fellow FBI agents. After reading the book, I think I finally understand Hanssen well enough to know why he betrayed his country, but like any good mystery, there is no single, simple explanation. Shannon and Blackman explore every avenue and come up with some fascinating clues.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Story
Review: This book was a good read. It seemed to be more thoroughly researched(although there are still open questions) and was not simply rushed out by two greedy authors capitalizing on recent events. I understand that Bob and Bonnie Hansen's position was not represented in this book. I would've liked more concrete evidence rather than author speculation, but that is implausible in this case. With the amount of research and time that was invested in this book, I am reasonably satisfied with the result and give this book 4 stars
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