The Bureau and the Mole: The Unmasking of Robert Philip Hanssen, the Most Dangerous Double Agent in FBI History [Paperback]

David A. Vise (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2002

Called "a first-rate spy story" (Entertainment Weekly), The Bureau and the Mole is the sensational New York Times best-seller that tells the inside story of FBI counterintelligence agent Robert Philip Hanssen, a seemingly all-American boy who would become the perfect traitor, jeopardizing America's national security for over twenty years by selling top-secret information to the Russians. Drawing from a wide variety of sources in the FBI, the Justice Department, the White House, and the intelligence community, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David A. Vise tells the story of how Hanssen employed the very sources and methods his own nation had entrusted to him in a devious game of deceit -- simply because he had something to prove. Vise also interweaves the narrative of how FBI director Louis B. Freeh led the government's desperate search for its betrayer among its own ranks, from the false leads, to the near misses, to its ultimate, shocking conclusion. Fascinating, gripping, and provocative, The Bureau and the Mole is a harrowing tale of how one man's treachery rocked a fraternity built on fidelity, bravery, and integrity -- and how the dedicated perseverance of another brought him to justice. "Absorbing ... Vise's account of Mr. Hanssen's road to becoming a double agent is fascinating." -- Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times "Brisk, well documented ... a penetrating study of the villain and a gripping summary of the appalling evidence against him." -- Charles McCarry, The Wall Street Journal "A carefully researched and compelling account, with a startling bombshell." -- David W. Marston, The Baltimore Sun "Intelligent and well researched." -- Allen Weinstein, The Washington Post Book World

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

By the time fellow FBI agents arrested Robert Hanssen in February 2001, he'd been spying for the Russians off and on for two decades. Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post scribe Vise attempts to explain why Hanssen did it and how he got away with it in this comprehensive account. Hanssen, says Vise, was a highly intelligent but socially inept loner who felt "overlooked and underappreciated" by his colleagues at the Bureau. Determined to prove he was better than them and eager to profit from his superiority Hanssen decided to begin passing classified documents to his KGB counterparts in exchange for diamonds and hundreds of thousands of dollars. He also revealed the names of at least nine U.S. spies working in the KGB, several of whom were subsequently executed. But the FBI, Vise writes, was so blind to its own vulnerabilities that it ignored the warning signs even when Hanssen's brother-in-law (also an FBI agent) reported that Hanssen was hiding huge sums of cash at home. Vise adheres to a plain newspaper style in his account, which steals some of the excitement from Hanssen's dramatic spy craft; he also includes long, needless digressions on the career of FBI Director Louis Freeh. But Vise's research and reporting are first-rate and his sources (Hanssen's wife, mother and best friend, as well as other FBI agents and ex-KGB operatives) are excellent. This is a chilling portrait of a man who betrayed his country simply to see if he could. (Jan.) Forecast: This is one of a trio of books on Hanssen, including The Spy Who Stayed Out in the Cold (Forecasts, Oct. 1), one of which came in too late for review (see note, The Spy Next Door, page 59). The market may be too crowded for Atlantic's optimistic 50,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Washington Post, Vise cracks the code on a stellar FBI agent turned Russian informant. Sounds good, so don't wait for the film, due out from Jerry Bruckheimer.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press; First Trade Paper Edition edition (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802139515
• ISBN-13: 978-0802139511
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #762,930 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

96 of 100 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Let's rate all three, January 10, 2002

By 

Not Ramon Garcia (New York state) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bureau and the Mole: The Unmasking of Robert Philip Hanssen, the Most Dangerous Double Agent in FBI History (Hardcover)

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.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not Well Written, March 11, 2002

By 

Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bureau and the Mole: The Unmasking of Robert Philip Hanssen, the Most Dangerous Double Agent in FBI History (Hardcover)

Though readable, David A. Vise's "The Bureau and the Mole" is poorly written, poorly researched, gratuitous and just not well thought out. It's a shame since a spy as good as Robert Hanssen deserves a better chronicler. The first indictation that the book was rushed include a major factual error in the very first chapter (Vise refers to the "Daley Machine" in Chicago circa the late 1930s, even though the senior Daley was not elected Mayor until 1955). The book then becomes a dual biography of Hannsen and FBI Director Loius Freeh, but because the narrative is a brief 229 pages, neither party gets more than a superficial telling of his life story. The book also contains lengthy verbatim passeges of Hannsen's letters to the Soviets and his fantasy e-mails, which shorten the already inadequate narrative even more. The e-mails are particularly offensive in that they detail Hannsen's perverted sexual fantasies about his wife to the point where the book starts to read like a degrading peep show.

In documenting Freeh's story, Vise relates every major FBI success and mistake during his tenure so that each get a scant few sentences of mention. Another example of underreporting comes from the account of how Hannsen's brother-in-law reported his suspicions that Hannsen was spying in 1990 and the FBI dropped the ball. Vise reports the fact, but apparently never attempted to find out WHY nothing was done. Another poor decision was interviewing psychologists who never treated or even met Hanssen to get "psychological insight" into the man. This ploy strikes me as less than worthless. I should also mention that apperently no interviews were done with Hannsen's immediate family members for insight into how his spying impacted their lives.

Overall, this book is a shoddy rush job that never should have been released in its present condition...

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 1/2 of the story we wanted to read, November 26, 2002

By 

Paul Skinner (Manassas, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bureau and the Mole: The Unmasking of Robert Philip Hanssen, the Most Dangerous Double Agent in FBI History (Hardcover)

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.