Comrade J and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more

List Price: $24.99
Save: $2.50 (10%)

FREE Shipping on orders over $35.

Only 2 left in stock (more on the way).

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Gift-wrap available.

Sign in to turn on 1-click ordering

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

Comrade J: The Untold Secrets of Russia's Master Spy in America After the End of the Cold War MP3 CD – Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged

by Pete Earley (Author), Michael Prichard (Narrator)

48 customer reviews

See all 13 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Amazon Price New from Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$12.24

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

—

$3.65

$0.01

Paperback

"Please retry"

$12.88

$2.38

$2.14

Audiobook Download, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$17.95

or Free with Audible 30-day free trial

MP3 CD, Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$22.49

$14.06

$10.99

Spymaster, defector, double agent—the remarkable true story of the man who ran Russia's post–cold war spy program in America.

In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, the cold war ended, and a new world order began. We thought everything had changed. But one thing never changed: the spies.

From 1995 to 2000, a man known as "Comrade J" was the highest-ranking operative in the SVR—the successor agency to the KGB—in the United States. He directed all Russian spy action in New York City and personally oversaw every covert operation against the United States and its allies in the United Nations. He recruited spies, planted agents, penetrated security, manipulated intelligence, and influenced American policy, all under the direct leadership of Boris Yeltsin and then Vladimir Putin. He was a legend in the SVR, the man who kept the secrets.

Then, in 2000, he defected—and it turned out he had one more secret. For the previous two years, he had also been a double agent for the FBI: "By far the most important Russian spy that our side has had in decades." He has never granted a public interview. The FBI and CIA have refused to answer all media questions about him. He has remained in hiding. He has never revealed his secrets.

Until now.

Comrade J, written by the bestselling author of Family of Spies and The Hot House, is his story, a direct account of what he did in the United States after we all assumed the spying was over and of what Putin and Russia continue to do today. The revelations are stunning. It is also the story of growing up in a family of agents dating back to the revolution; of how Russia molded him into one of its most high-flying operatives; of the day-to-day perils of living a double, then triple, life; and finally, of how his growing disquiet with the corruption and ambitions of the "new Russia" led him to take the most perilous step of all.

Many spies have told their stories. None has the astonishing immediacy, relevance, and cautionary warnings of Comrade J.

Special Offers and Product Promotions

Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start over

Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer - The…
Victor Cherkashin

66

Paperback
$15.46
The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive…
Christopher Andrew

94

Paperback
$19.63
Spy: The Inside Story of How the FBI's Robert…
David Wise

92

Paperback
$13.13
early 1900s photo Houses destroyed by hand grenades, Lerdo Vintage Black & Wh g5
$12.99
Circle of Treason: A CIA Account of Traitor…
Sandra Grimes

145

Paperback
$16.04
The Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the…
Milton Bearden

63

Mass Market Paperback
$7.99

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Start reading Comrade J on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Product Details

MP3 CD
Publisher: Tantor Audio; MP3 - Unabridged CD edition (February 7, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1400155525
ISBN-13: 978-1400155521
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.6 x 7.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,959,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Would you like to update product info, give feedback on images, or tell us about a lower price?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Prichard's voice provides the ideal narration.... [It] never tires and never changes. Both his oldest and newest fans will enjoy this dark journey into Soviet espionage." ---AudioFile

About the Author

Pete Earley, a former reporter for The Washington Post, is the author of eight works of nonfiction, including the bestsellers The Hot House and Family of Spies and the multi-award-winning Circumstantial Evidence.

Michael Prichard is a professional narrator and stage and film actor who has played several thousand characters during his career. An Audie Award winner, he has recorded well over five hundred books and has earned several AudioFile Earphones Awards. Michael was also named a Top Ten Golden Voice by SmartMoney magazine.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

(48)

4.4 out of 5 stars

5 star		30
4 star		11
3 star		5
2 star		1
1 star		1

See all 48 customer reviews

The book generally has good flow and adequate depth of coverage.

Plasma Man

At best, it's their side of the story, told how they want to tell it, and relating how much they're willing to give you.

Lou Novacheck

The book reads much like a cliffhanger spy novel, though its nonfiction and its information is true and disturbing.

Dr. Miguel Faria

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

The Spy Who Came in from the Post-Cold War Thaw

By Bruce Trinque VINE VOICE on February 20, 2008

Format: Hardcover

Peter Earley's "Comrade J" details in commendable detail the career of the Soviet/Russian intelligence officer Sergei Tretyakov, who became the senior Russian operative in New York City in the 1990s. While being a CIA-controlled source. Due to legal restrictions, even the barest details of Tretyakov's defection to (or recruitment by) American Intelligence are absent from the book. Instead, Earley's account concentrates upon Tetrakov's intelligence activities that reached a peak after the end of the Cold War. This is a book that names names and points fingers at persons who, wittingly or not, became resources in the Soviet/Russian battle against American interests. The book is not particularly heavy in the day-to-day detail of how espionage operations are conducted (although there are nonetheless some interesting bits and pieces) but does provide a tolerably comprehensive picture of the scope of Russian Intelligence activities against the US even after the two nations theoretically were no longer enemeies.

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

41 of 51 people found the following review helpful

superb

By Harriet Klausner #1 HALL OF FAME on January 26, 2008

Format: Hardcover

The Wall and the Curtain are down as the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union break apart. However, Russia continued its espionage efforts in America even as Yeltsin and the West became allies of a sort. Pete Early (author of true espionages like FAMILY OF SPIES) provides the biography of Russian spy Sergei Tretyakov, code-named Comrade J, who ultimately defected to the West in 2000. In the late 1990s until he defected Tretyakov was assigned to the Russian embassy in New York; from there he led covert operations across the United States, but became disenchanted with Yeltsin and Putin, who he blames for saddling him with inept political cronies (sounds familiar) and a "corrupt political system" that made Communism seem pure. He also had a personal selfish rationale; desiring a better life for his daughter. Tretyakov became an American double agent before finally publicly defecting. The fascination with this memoir is with the more questionable allegations that Tretyakov makes in his numerous interviews with Pete Earley including accusations inside the State Department that probably brings smiles to Nixon and McCarthy; many as far as this reviewer knows have been verified by an independent third party. Well written and entreating with no shockers as Tretyakov's message is that Putin, after looking into the eyes of Bush to see his soul, believes America is no friend of Russia and reacts accordingly.

Harriet Klausner

3 Comments Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful

A good, true spy yarn

By Lou Novacheck on April 11, 2008

Format: Hardcover

Just about any average adult in the United States now knows that the only time politicians lie is when their lips are moving. The average adult also knows that a large portion of both private business and government, particularly those who speak to the press, often give, shall we say, misleading, incomplete, or not quite true summaries of whatever it is on the news that particular day. At best, it's their side of the story, told how they want to tell it, and relating how much they're willing to give you. In many cases, they're giving you disinformation. Disinformation is what ordinary people call lies.

All that said, I -- having spent many years working for various U.S. Government intelligence agencies, including NSA, both overseas and in the U.S. -- found Pete Earley's Comrade J: The Untold Secrets of Russia's Master Spy in America After the End of the Cold War to be very informative and revealing. In some cases, irritating and exasperating. Not with the facts as presented, not with the author, and not with the subject of the book -- Russian spymaster, defector, and double agent Sergei Tretyakov -- but with what the author and Tretyakov, code-named Comrade J, tell us about the sorry state of affairs within our own government.

Now for some specifics. First, an example of sorting out the truth. Early in the book, Tretyakov says, according to the author, "... Russian intelligence targeted President Clinton's deputy secretary of state, Strobe Talbott, and ran a carefully calculated campaign designed to manipulate him." Talbott, in a written reply, said, "... he knew that Mamedov was relaying all of their conversations ..." back to Russian intelligence.

The following paragraph says, "Just the same, the FBI took the accusations about Talbott seriously ...Read more ›

1 Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful

Wake-Up Call---Russian Espionage in America!

By Dr. Miguel Faria on July 5, 2010

Format: Paperback

This is the second time I have read and perused this magnificent book---and what a momentous and timely book it is! The book reads much like a cliffhanger spy novel, though its nonfiction and its information is true and disturbing. The message is as timely today as it was in 2007 when it was first published.

After World War II, it took the valiant efforts of the Russian defector, code clerk Igor Gozenko, to awaken America and her allies to the fact that Uncle Joe, the greatest mass murderer in history, and our Russian communist friends were conducting serious, devastating espionage against the United States (e.g., atomic secrets among others) at the same time that we were providing the Soviets with vital economic and military aid during "The Great Patriotic War" against the Nazis.

The Berlin Wall comes crashing down in 1989 and the Soviet Union collapses in 1991. Again, the Russians were said to be our friends and allies in the war against (Islamic) terrorism. Even a professor wrote enthusiastically that we had reached the end of history, so humanity has to become reconciled to live peacefully under a soft blend of global socialism and capitalism. Now enters Russian master spy defector Sergei Tretyakov of the New York Rezidentura of the SVR ( the former First Chief Directorate of the KGB) to rain on this optimistically dystopic parade.

And Tretyakov is no ordinary spy of the Communist era. He is the first KGB/SVR officer, who was actively spying for the new Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, to defect to the USA. According to a senior FBI agent involved in the case, Sergei Tretyakov "has been by far the most important Russian Spy that our side has had in decades...I can tell you this man saved American lives.Read more ›

8 Comments Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

See all 48 customer reviews (newest first)

Write a customer review

Most Recent Customer Reviews

Five Stars

Gives an excellent account of the deep penetration of American society, government, and military by Russian espionage

Published 8 days ago by Richard Wilson

Five Stars

Excellent read. As you read it, it is difficult to believe that it isn't fiction.

Published 9 days ago by Greg S.

A good read that I had no trouble following

The story of a post-Soviet Russian spy. A good read that I had no trouble following. There are a lot of facts and context, but I did get bogged down and had to walk away from it a... Read more

Published 1 month ago by Matthew J. Brennan

No index or bibliography. Are you kidding? Both ...

No index or bibliography. Are you kidding?
Both items are mandatory pieces of the work, Mr. Earley. The omission is pure laziness.
Shame on you, sir.

Published 3 months ago by TruthSeeker

Five Stars

Excellent condition. Really good book.

Published 5 months ago by Gregory A. Posey

Very Informative!

Purchased this book recently via Amazon -- haven't read much of it yet; saving for vacation.......... Read more

Published 7 months ago by J. Thompson

interesting read

I wish our President had read it. He seemed to think the Russians were our friends, up until they started taking over other countries.

Published 9 months ago by Amazon Customer

Great spy book!!!

Great book!!! Good informations!!! Won't regret reading!!! Perfect to people interested in spying, Russia and USSR not over... Read it...

Published 9 months ago by Henrique G. A. Santos

True Account

This will open your eyes to the ease in which the Solveit's have penatrated our country and Canada. Makes you sick to know that we the American people are under the watchful eye of... Read more

Published 11 months ago by jimmon

Fantastic book that works perfectly as a leisure book for those into...

I'm not overly familiar with Russian history nor the KGB, however I do follow the U.N. and other international organisations. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Colin C. Docherty