Rating: 
Summary: BUREAU MOLE STORY SHEDS LITTLE LIGHT
Review: As a student of history and international espionage, I was anxious to get this book about the latest spy scandal. I must
say I was sorely disappointed in this book. Its a thin book to
begin with, which is okay if the story is covered adequately.
However, that was not the case here. If anything, this book is
a biography of FBI Director Louis Freeh, not Robert Hanssen.
Chapter after chapter was about Freeh, his career and exploits,
and the highs and lows of his tenure as FBI Director. I was amazed at how little in this book was actually about Hanssen.
After reading it in just 2 nights, I still feel I know nothing
about Hanssen, his motivations, how he actually did what he
did, etc. The book is top heavy with what I call "filler", useless material lazy authors always include to make the book
look bigger. This book has way too much of that as well, filling
the pages with little information but lots of silly and irrelevant emails and letters that shed little light on anything.
If you're interested in this major spy case, wait until some
better writer puts out a real bio on Robert Hanssen. In my
opinion, this was $... wasted on a poor book.
Rating: 
Summary: A Major Disappointment
Review: I preordered this book based on its advance publicity. It was a major disappointment. Written in the style of an extended "People Magazine" article, it would have been better titled simply "Bob abd Louis."
It's reasonably well written, albeit in a breezy style, but you'll learn nothing more about Bob Hanssen, his character, or his motivations than you already know if you followed the news coverage of his arrest and conviction. You'll know more about Louis Freeh than you did before but most of it is "file and forget" trivia.
The author started out I think to write a definitive account of Hanssen's extended espionage but soon found out he didn't have enough material for a full book so he went to his word processor, dragged up his notes for a book about Freeh (a project which I suspect he had abandoned when Freeh's career went in the tank), and merged then together into a one book.
I felt I wasted my money buying it and, more importantly, my time reading it.
Rating: 
Summary: I've Read Enough About Robert Hanssen
Review: Having first read The Spy Who Stayed Out in the Cold by Adrian Havill I guess I've had my fill of Robert Hanssen. At times The Bureau and the Mole appears to be a dual biography of Robert Hanssen and F.B.I. Director, Louis Freeh. The reasons for Hanssen's spying appear to be a contempt for the F.B.I. after the death of J. Edgar Hoover and Hanssen's feelings of his abilities not being appreciated by the organization. Benedict Arnold's reason for treason was his belief that his efforts on behalf of the colonial army were not appreciated, also. Both Arnold and Hanssen were alike in this respect. Hanssen's complex personality is delved into, and although he received money for the classified information he provided, he appeared to enjoy the excitement his spying provided as opposed to his, in his mind, mundane work at the F.B.I. The Russians apparently understood Hanssen's need to have his ego stroked and did so in their correspondence with him. According to court documents and interviews Appendix I lists the various "contributions" Hanssen made towards his Russian colleagues. The list is quite impressive. This is a book of the downfall of two men: Louis Freeh the Director of the F.B.I. and F.B.I. agent Robert Hanssen.
Rating: 
Summary: Loved the book
Review: I found The Bureau and the Mole to be a great coverage of the story, it meets a great balance between being informative and exciting, and is written such that it can be enjoyed by people of varying levels of interest in "spycraft" and for those who are not so well versed in the workings of such conspiracies. I give it two thumbs up. [...]
Rating:
Summary: No Credibility Here
Review: Having had a background in a previous life, I bought this book and thought it would be interesting. On the first page of Chapter One (page 4), Mr. Vise writes, " One of Bob's favorite books was The Code Breakers by David Kahn, a thick volume about secret codes and intercepts that fueled his boyhood fascination with the technical aspects of intercepting confidential communications." Thus sets the stage for future behavior. Mr. Vise reveals that Bob Hanssen was born in 1944.
However, The Code Breakers, a classic updated and re-released in 1996, was originally published in 1967 (I own a copy), so Bob Hanssen was 23 years of age, at least, before he could possibly have read this - hardly boyhood. If Mr. Vise and his touted fact checkers could make such an egregious error (and possibly deliberate to make a point) on the first page, how many other "factual" errors are in the rest of the book as well.
I stopped reading a few page later when my anger made it difficult to concentrate. Because I paid good money for it, someday I will read this as escapist fiction, for now I'm too put off to finish.
Save your money and go buy a good Vince Flynn novel; he's a much better writer, and the reality level will be the same. If Mr. Vise as claimed ever "won" a Pulitzer Prize, there's hope for us all. Right now I just feel annoyed and cheated.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating read!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Can't believe it "happened" in Northern VA! Can't wait for the movie! Would like to see John Lithgow, Donald Sutherland, or Ed Harris in starring roles!
Rating: 
Summary: Let's rate all three
Review: Consider this to be a sort of consumer's guide to the three Hanssen books on the market, from one who's read them all . . .
1. THE BUREAU AND THE MOLE has a good photo section but no index or bibliography, both essential in my opinion. Half of it is a bio of Louis Freeh, who should hang his head in shame rather than be credited for uncovering Hanssen. The sex revelations are here, but unless you like pornography I advise you to skip the part about Hanssen's postings on the internet. Still, the information about Bonnie Hanssen's brother--an FBI agent--who suspected him and was ignored is almost worth the price of the book. Four stars.
2. THE SPY NEXT DOOR has an index but no photos and no bibliography. The writing is a little wooden and there are little mistakes like getting the the church where the Hanssen's were married wrong. They have some sex stuff too, but thankfully no internet ramblings. A workmanlike job that reads like a Time magazine cover story. Three stars.
3. THE SPY WHO STAYED OUT IN THE COLD has photos, a bibliography and an index. It's also about 30 pages longer than the other two. Alas, no sex though the chapter on the stripper runs for some 12 pages and is titillating. It's the most complete with it's biggest scoop being that Hanssen told friends he wanted to be a double agent long before he joined the FBI and thus should have never been hired. Four-and-a-half stars.
Rating:
Summary: What a novel!
Review: After completing this book, I would like to say it might have been the most fascinating and well written books I have ever read. The author, David Vise, did a magnificent job writing this book to teach us about Hanssen. This morning I happened to be watching the Today show where Vise was interviewed! He seems like a very nice and personable man. David Vise is a great author and I found this book unbelievable. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Wait for the paperback version
Review: Obviously a rushed to print book. It was heavy on "facts" - not always about the main subject - and would've been well suited for a magazine article. While it was interesting, I recommend you wait for the paperback.
Rating:
Summary: Sensationalism at the expense of the innocents
Review: This is a worthwhile book, obviously cobbled together in a rush to publication. This despicable yet flawed human being, Robert Hanssen, is portrayed in a jumbled, erratic portrait. Hurried as it may have been, disjointed as it is, the book tells us about the most heinous, traitorous acts in our history. The perpetrator is defined as what he is - - an amoral, obsequious, almost psychotic human being that is privy to our national secrets and blithely gives us away to the Russians. This is a tragedy in every sense of the word but the real tragedy in this book is at its end - - Appendix III. The author, in a an overt attempt at senstationalism, chose to post the entire sexual fantasies of Mr. Hanssen. For ten pages, the reader is subjected to the erotic ramblings of a traitorous, sick person. Whether it is fact or fantasy, it has no place in the book and totally demeans his innocent wife and children who are already devastated by his abhorrent behavior and total disregard for his family and his country. A reasonable effort fails in this arrogant attempt to pump up book sales.
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