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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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: ILLUMINATING
Review: One almost comical aspect of the continuing revelations concerning the network of spies and traitors operating deep within the bowels of the CIA and FBI is the way it belies our assumptions regarding security measures in this country. As is becoming clearer with recent announcements pertaining to the degree to which various had important information that might have helped to prevent the incidences occurring on September 11th, but either buried in their own files or refused to share with other agencies for a variety of self-serving purposes. We are neither well-organized nor well-disposed in regards to civil defense preparedness to guard against such terrorist acts. So too, this excellent biography of master spy Robert Philip Hanssen, a senior official within the headquarters staff of the FBI, shows how poorly we have managed and safeguarded our national secrets. Hanssen managed to hide in plain sight as a mole for the Russians, divulging sensitive and secret information gleaned from the files of the FBU, CIA, NSA, and the Executive Branch. His actions of betrayal undermined decades of work to protect such information regarding our national defense, and finally triggered one of the longest and most intense manhunts in modern history. His capture came after a long a tortuous cat and mouse game set into motion by FBI chief Louis Freeh, who quickly came to suspect a highly placed mole within the FBI soon after taking the reins of the agency. So it turns out, certain aspects of a secret life seemed to appeal to this bizarre but brilliant opportunist, who rose from relative poverty and obscurity after graduating from college. Yet, so dour and serious was his demeanor that he was nicknamed "Dr. Death' for his strait-laced dress style, which consisted exclusively of plain black suits, wingtips, and subdued ties. He had been questioned a number of times in connection with the suspected espionage, but was never taken seriously as a suspect until he was captured red-handed with a satchel-full of data at one of the Russian drop-spots. Author David Vise does a journeyman's job of revealing aspects of Hanssen's background, personality, and social circumstances that help the reader to better understand why and how such a man, so seemingly dedicated to the country could so handily betray it literally for decades, and all for nothing more than a fistful of money. To briefly summarize, this is an interesting book, and one that actively seeks to find some rationale for what Hanssen did and why he continued to do so for decades before being caught. While the author tends to fawn over Mr. Freeh and the FBI a bit much, the book is in fact well written and quite interesting and absorbing to experience. It is a quick and an enjoyable read. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: An extraordinary novel about an "extraordinary" spy
Review: The Bureau and the Mole tells about the most successful and as well the most dangerous spy in FBI history. The way the story is put together and how it intertwines Robert Hanssen and his boss, Louis Freeh, the director of the FBI is incredible. Even if you are not into the whole double agent and espionage thing, it doesn't matter because it talks aobut a little of everything. It discusses all of the CIA's top secret information, the Pizza Connection which is the bringing down of some of the top New York and Italian Mafia, the Atlanta Olympic Park bombing, and the Oklahoma City bombing. It doesn't just briefly explain it, it goes into great detail about how either Freeh or Hanssen was involved in it and how it all broken down. What I enjoyed the most was how the story starts off as just Hanssen and Freeh going their separate ways and throughout the story interweaves itself to where Freeh is cracking down on Hanssen.
I do not usually go out of my way to read a book in any specific ammount of time, but this one I couldn't put down. Whenever you thought that it was going to slow down or get worse, it just kept speeding up into a totally new story about another criminal that the FBI was out to capture. I look forward to the movie!
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