Rating: 
Summary: A Great story about a "great" Spy
Review: The Bureau and the Mole not only tells the most amazing and unbelievable story of the most successful double agent in history but also creatively interweaves the subtle and unique differences and similarities between Hanssen and Louis Freeh, the head of the FBI and Hannsen's boss. Even if you're not an espionage or counterintelligence buff, what you learn about Hannsen and his escapades as well as how the FBI is managed will absolutely blow your mind. The contents page alone will motivate you to read this book.Here are a few reasons why I rated this book a 5. 1. I'm not a fast reader, but the story is so intriguing that it kept me turning the pages. The author's writing style is clear and easy to read. I appreciate books that are short, sweet and to the point. I finished the book over the weekend. 2. I have followed this fascinating story of Robert Hanssen very closely since the beginning and now having read the Bureau I see that the author has obviously done his homework. The author uncovered many new and fascinating facts about Hannsen's complex life and sordid personality. While I find most of Hannsen's acts terribly disturbing, I at least have a clear picture into why he did what he did and what motivated him to do it. Believe it or not money was not his driving force. Considering the relationship between Hanssen and his father you wonder how many other Hanssen's are out there. David Vise, the author tells of one particularly amazing discovery. Hanssen's brother-in-law a FBI agent as well, attempts to turn Hannsen in more then 10 years ago but does the FBI pay any attention? 3. I like the way Vise clearly lays out in the appendix the incredible secrets that were not only available to Hanssen but ones that he sold to the Russians. I also enjoyed reading all of Hanssen's emails as well as the Internet postings (albeit sexually explicit) Hanssen put out on the www for the world to see. All of this information is valuable to the reader to better understand what kind of individual or animal would and could do the things he did. It's simply amazing how any one person has the ability to 'compartmentalize' so many aspects of their lives, (actually not so different from a recent President) and for so many years to keep everyone at bay. What was Bonnie possibly thinking about? Certainly in the months and years to come new information will be uncovered, written about and scrutinized. But as far as I'm concerned to this date The Bureau and the Mole tells the real Hanssen story. I look forward to the movie!
Rating: 
Summary: Poor writing
Review: I expected a lot from this book and was disappointed. The book is a strong example of a great topic with a horrible delivery. Hanssen betrayed our country' secrets and the best the author can do is bore us with how Louis Freeh should be our hero. After finishing the book I was struck by the feeling that the author had not done much research, as there was little substantive information about Hanssen's spying. It would have been more aptly titled, "A short book in praise of Louis Freeh".
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre at best
Review: I was pretty much disappointed. Most of the book dealt with Hanssen's psychological problems, and the immediate political impact of his capture, rather than the historical or political implications on US intelligence. Was author David Vise pressed for time? Or was there simply limited information available? I can't believe a pulitzer prize winner was just lazy, but I saw lots of high school term-paper tricks: a small book with wide margins, extra line spacing, and long block quotes and appendices. Half the book was devoted to FBI director Louis Freeh-- a man I certainly find fascinating, but not germaine to the Hanssen case. Verbatim publication of Hanssen's explicit internet posts about his wife fail to titalate, though certainly they succeed in further humiliating her and her family. They don't shed any light that paraphrasing or summarizing doesn't. Basically, I see a man who lacked either time or unclassified information, and resorted to fluffing up the page count. It gets two stars only because what information it did have appeared accurate.
Rating: 
Summary: Good...but disappointing
Review: I had mixed feelings about this book. What was written was, in my opinion, written well and an interesting read, but this cannot make up for the fact that the book did not deliver what it promised: the story of how the FBI caught Hanssen. While the book promises to be an "unmasking of Hanssen", it really amounts to an unauthorized biography of Hanssen and Freeh. Only one chapter in the entire book actually discusses how the FBI caught on to Hanssen's spying, and that chapter pretty much glosses over most of the details. It is disappointing to find that so little attention has been paid to what the book has promised. If you come into this book expecting some amazing tale of spying and counter-spying, you'll definitely be left feeling bitter about it's coverage of the latter. A previous reviewer suggests that the book feels like it was written as a rush job, and I'd have to agree with that. But I am more frustrated by how the book has advertised something that it never really delivered. Whether that is the fault of the author for thinking there was more to his story than there really was, the publishers for wanting the book out before it was ready, or the marketing folks for misrepresenting the work, I don't know. But it doesn't really matter: in the end, it is the reader that is short-changed. Still, I think the material that is here is interesting enough on it's own, and is certainly worth a read, as long as your expectations are adjusted accordingly.
Rating: 
Summary: Very well written
Review: I personally enjoyed this book. Why did I enjoy it? Here's why- 1. It provides a very provacative way to look at the inside of an outsider.
2. We can all relate to it one way or another (even though we are ashamed to admit it).
3. You get to see to men fighting their own battles but it a similar way. The reason I docked it down a star is because the author could have gone into more in depth descriptions on somethings but at the same time not could have been as descriptive on other topics (especially the sexual related areas) In Conclusion, If you enjoy a spy/biographical account of one of the most notorious spies ever recorded, this is the way to go.
Rating:
Summary: Not What You Might Expect
Review: I bought this book expecting to read about how the FBI investigated Robert Hannsen, as well as the "cloak and dagger" aspects like the tradecraft he used and his interactions with his KGB handlers. Instead I found that about half of the book is about Louis Freeh and his ascention to the Directorship, and his accomplishments and failures along the way. Don't waste your money, borrow it from the library.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: I bought this as a used book with the author's signature. It is a very easy read and I would make this a real movie, not a made for TV job which has been done. In the real movie, I could see Kevin Spacey in the title role.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money.
Review: In the beginning I found this book interesting but in the later chapters Mr Vise began to drift away from the crux of the book.
In one chapter, he devotes 16 pages to then FBI Director Louis Freeh and his clash with former President Clinton. He touches on the bombings of the Khobar Towers, Oklahoma City, the Atlantic Olympic Park in 1996, and the investigation of Wen Ho Lee, the mathematician at Los Alamos National Lab. What has this have to do with Robert P. Hanssen? I suggest that if you really want to read this book go to your local [store] and spend a few hours there to peruse it rather than purchase it. I was very dissapointed in the author to add pages of useless information in an effort to boost the price of this book.
Rating:
Summary: 1/2 of the story we wanted to read
Review: I expected a book about Robert Hanssen - how he spied and what made him tick. That came across in about half of the book. Unfortunately, Mr Vise didn't have enough material to write a book of reasonable length, so he improvised with a lot of uninteresting material on the life of FBI director Louis Freeh, and way too much rehash of the Aldrich Ames and Timothy McVeigh stories. Although a lot of interesting details emerged on Hanssen, I still don't understand the man. Several aspects of his life appear to contradict each other, and the psychiatrist explanations left me unfulfilled. This book in no way approaches the "Betrayal" book on Ames by Weiner, Johnston and Lewis.
Rating: 
Summary: Misleading...
Review: Initial reading of the book claims that it details the spy work of Robert Hanssen and how he was captured. Totally wrong as you flip through the book. This explains both the lives of Hanssen and Freeh(FBI director) and in one chapter it details how Hanssen was captured. The rest of the pages details how Freeh went up the ladder of the law enforcement and how Hanssen wasted his life. To start with, I don't give a damn about Hanssen's childhood, all I care is how he put the entire country in danger(which has been detailed in Appendix and not in the main book!!). The author painstakingly explains his childhood which dampens the entire book. Next is Hanssen's personal life. Should we care about that when the Russians are deciphering the FBI and CIA's codes with the data Hanssen provided to them? The author explains that in 1 chapter and in one of appendix he delivers the entire porn letter Hanssen wrote about his wife, as if doing the service to his wife who is already shattered because of her husband. The author may want to read Frederick Forsyth's "Icon"(fiction) about how Ames damaged the secret service and how that account was on target than this book about Hanssen. The book goes through all the disasters happened in US during the time Hanssen was in FBI, including Okhlahoma city bombing. What on earth this is related to the capture of Hanssen? I couldn't believe the author is a Pulitzer Prize winner who took a very good subject of unmasking a traitor and fell flat.
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