Rating: 
Summary: True story that reads like a novel
Review: This compilation of the lives of both Robert Hanssen, FBI agent turned soviet spy, and Louis Freech, former head of the FBI, is a true story of their backgrounds and how their lives ultimately intersect leading to Hanssen's arrest.
Vise's book is fast paced and well written. He explores each individual's background and explains how they both arrive in the FBI. His writing contrasts the differences between Freech and Hanssen and shows how they come together with Freech overseeing the operation that brings Hanssen's spying days to and end.
This is a great book for those that are interested in the FBI, spys, and true crime, but yet is not overly detailed to the point where it could become boring.
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: Not What You Might Expect
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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