Rating: 
Summary: Tales of a spy...
Review: This books attempts to recreate the life of FBI agent Robert Hanssen as he proceeded to sell out the intelligence secrets of the US. The book does a great job of introducing us to the character of Hanssen, as well as detailing as many of his spying activities as possible. Also, an attempt is made to illustrate instances in his childhood and upbringing which may have given him the psychological makeup to become a traitor. While the book is highly enjoyable and readable, I believe that far too much attention is paid to Hanssen's sex life. I'm not a prude, I just don't think that it added anything to the book. Regardless, this book is highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: I liked it better than the other.
Review: Should really be called "Freeh and Hanssen". I liked it better than "The Spy Next Door" because Vise bothered to insert pictures of the participants. It has about the same amount of chatroom sex as the other too. It's a more disjointed read than the other, but if you don't know a lot about the former FBI director, you kinda get his life thrown in for free (pun intended). I think there was a more wide-ranging analysis of Hanssen's motives, contrasting to the male-bashing in the other book. Vise shows more reporter's dispassion and I found this somehow more honest. Alternatively you could read the court documents free on the Web, and save money by not buying either book - you wouldn't miss much.
Rating: 
Summary: A Lazy Unmasking
Review: I was very disappointed in this book, especially after hearing the author on National Public Radio. I expected a much more detailed reporting of Robert Hanssen himself, with dates, times, etc. that would indicate the author had dug very deep and had gotten details from those involved with the case. It became very clear to me about 1/3 of the way into the book, that Mr. Vise really wanted to write a book about the FBI and Louis Freeh, not Robert Hanssen. Robert Hanssen was easy - just a sick, compartmentalizing person whose problems stemmed from parental abuse in childhood. The complexity of the workings of the FBI and Louis Freeh's direction of the agency were by far more intriguing to the author, and I think he was chomping at the bit to do a book on that, but instead gave in to a more provocative character.
Mr. Vise lost my respect very early on when he mishandled the details of an interview with Hanssen's mother, who apparently recalled Richard J. Daley as the mayor of Chicago in 1935. This was an impossibility, as Daley was not elected mayor until 1955. It was clear to me that the author either misquoted Mrs. Hanssen, or Mrs. Hanssen's recollection was skewed. If the latter, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter ought to have caught it and made a note.
I found the three appendixes redundant and pretty unnecessary, especially the one detailing his Internet postings regarding his sexual fantasies. Mr. Vise provided a rather clear description of that part of Mr. Hanssen's personality, making the appendix just more titillation. The lack of footnotes was disturbing, and nowhere could I find any discussion of how he verified the accuracy of the reports of life within Opus Dei.
By far, the most intriguing person in the whole book was Mrs. Bonnie Hanssen, and I would really have liked to have read more about what makes her tick, why for more than 20 years she stayed with a man she knew she could not trust. Just citing a strong Catholic faith does not explain it fully, nor adequately.
Rating:
Summary: Not good
Review: There are maybe 40 or 50 interesting pages in this book...70 if you like porn. David Vise really didn't have enough material to write a book about the topic, so he filled the rest with an inconsistent bio of former FBI Director Louis Freeh and some weak psychological explanations of why Bob Hanssen did what he did.What is most disappointing is that it reads like a series of newspaper articles and not like a book. Vise really doesn't tie the story together well and he has no point to make. Finally, a minor beef -- the whole 'Because he ratted out KGB moles who were later tried and executed, he committed the equivalent of mass murder...' line is BS. Those guys betrayed their country too. Just because it was a different country doesn't make their treason excusable.
Rating:
Summary: A disappointment
Review: This is a hastily written and sloppily edited book that tells little more than what has already appeared in the New York Times. A fast read, it is nonetheless a disappointment for those of us who wanted more than pop psychology to explain what made Hanssen tick, how he got away with treason for so long, and how his wife and children are possibly surviving the destruction and disgrace he inflicted on them.
Rating: 
Summary: The Bureau and the Mole
Review: This is a book seriously in search of an editor. It is a sophomoric tome which could easily be condensed into a three page article for the Reader's Digest. For such a serious subject, the text is completely unsubstantiated. The book is totally absent of footnotes or bibliographic notes. The "serious" statements in the text are heresay or opinion. The author never achieves any purpose. Why was this book written?
Rating: 
Summary: A dark, insidious, yet utterly compelling book
Review: The Bureau And The Mole: The Unmasking Of Robert Philip Hanssen, The Most Dangerous Double Agent In FBI History by "Washington Post" journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner David A. Vise is an compelling inside look at the gripping true story of Robert Philip Hanssen, the American Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who sold U.S. intelligence and secrets to Moscow, and of Louis J. Freeh, the FBI director who finally caught him. Deceit, machinations, secret deals, FBI blunders, and more are presented in this incredible and fascinating tale of Cold War espionage, and one so twisted that it seems like something expected only from the movies. A dark, insidious, yet utterly compelling book, The Bureau And The Mole is highly recommended reading.
Rating:
Summary: The Bureau and the Mole
Review: This has to be the worst book I have ever read. Unlike the book featuring John Walker, there is no new knowledge to be learned. The book reads as if the author's entire research was done by what was printed in the N.Y. Times and Washington Post. The book does not really explain how Hannsen got caught but continues to repeat over and over the same sexual fantasies Hanssen has of his wife. ...
Rating:
Summary: Violation Of Trust
Review: After reading this non-fiction account of Robert Hanssen, the high level FBI employee who divulged highly classified, top secret information to the Soviets, I again have realized how ignorant and helpless the common man really is. There is so much occuring of which the average U.S. citizen is unaware that trust continues to be the most vital yet vulnerable characteristic we possess. When that trust is violated, as it was by Robert Hanssen, I realize how important it is to have honorable men and women in positions of power. David Vise does a credible job of describing Hanssen's background and the psychological factors that contributed to Hanssen becoming a traitor. Vise describes the contradiction between Hanssen's religiosity and his proclivity for exhibitionism and aberrant sexual behavior. He also describes the way Hanssen contacted the Soviets and the spycraft he used to pass information to them. However, I didn't realize the depth and impact of Hanssen's betrayal until reading the appendix. It is there that his deeds are summarized and I realized what a dangerous and despicable man Robert Hanssen is. His arrogance and narcissism allowed him to film his wife during very private moments and then show their sexual expression of those moments to others. His deluded self-appraisal and need to feel important let him reveal Top Secret and high priority information which was potentially catastrophic to the United States. His violation of trust makes him one of the lowest forms of human. Unfortunately, I doubt Hanssen has the personal bricks and mortar necessary to self-reflect and fully realize the gravity of his misdeeds, to acknowledge and feel guilt, and seek forgiveness. I'm sure that most who read David Vise's book will be educated about a traitor and will have a strong reaction. If you are looking for something beyond pure entertainment and to shake you out of complacency, I think Bureau and the Mole will do it.
Rating:
Summary: Unfocused
Review: This book was unfocused and the authors' method of paralleling the careers Robert Hanssen and FBI Director Louis Freeh failed miserably. Robert Hanssen began spying for the Soviets long before Freeh became Director and the mistake is compounded by detailing the fued between Freeh and then-President Bill Clinton in excruciating detail. For a more detailed story look to other books.
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