Customer Reviews

Odyssey of an Eavesdropper: My Life in Electronic Countermeasures and My Battle Against the FBI

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This is a classic American David and Goliath tale of the little guy who dares to confront the FBI and not only survive (at great cost) to tell his story, but also be vindicated by the truth.

Marty Kaiser was--and still is--a legend in the nation's electronic "black ops" community. Once regarded as the "Michaelangelo of Electronic Surveillance," he was the genius "go-to" guy for U.S. Intelligence services in the late l960s and 1970s. He was the electronics surveillance master who designed and created exotic transmitters the size of a fingernail that the FBI used to bug terrorists, politicians, innocent citizens and, among other things, gather dirt on a well-known civil rights leader and other political/social "heretics."

Then Kaiser made a huge mistake--he told the truth before a Congressional committee investigating his main employer, the FBI. The result was a scandal that rocked the Bureau and led to the dismissal or forced retirement of several high ranking FBI officials. The Bureau retaliated by blackballing Kaiser from the Intel community and nearly driving his private company into bankruptcy. Two years later they indicted him on charges of bugging two FBI agents, but he was acquitted. The two agents, with plenty of backing, then filed a civil suit that nearly ruined Kaiser with crushing legal fees and the torment of constant harassment.

Kaiser's story doesn't stop there. He also recounts illegal eavesdropping on American citizens by the NSA, FBI and CIA that's been going on for decades--all before the Patriot Act.

If you care about the high-handed violations of legitimate civil rights in America by those who think they are above our laws, this is a must read. To his credit, Kaiser doesn't demean all the unsung people in the intelligence services who are working hard and doing a good job. He's talking about those hiding in the higher echelons of power making black policy and intimidating anyone who wants to bring them into the light. His story is one of courage and hope, but it's also a sad reminder that the heroic days of the "Untouchables" have been replaced by the dark days of the "Unaccountables."

During the Summer of 1966 an electronics genius accidently stumbled into the intelligence business and virtually over night became a legend within the halls of the FBI, CIA, and intelligence agencies all over the globe. This book is the memoirs of Martin L. Kaiser, known also simply as "Marty". His little black boxes has brought down entire governments or administrations, and even almost 40 years in the business his products are as revered and sought after as Holy Relics. For the first time ever an insider who supplied classifed bugs for decades comes in from the cold, and exposes the soft underbelly of corruption within the CIA, NSA, and FBI. Hollywood has even produced two movies about this quiet genius without actually mentioning him by name. But now the governments secrets are out of the bag, and this book lays them bare. The book is filed from cover to cover with explicit details of how the intelligence agencies operate, how they buy their toys, how their little games are played, and what happens to people to expose corruption.

The author also discusses his consulting work for everal movies including "The Conversation" and "Enemy of the State", both of which are based on his life. We also get to share both his joy, and his pain in this book.

Our government has many patriotic symbols. For instance, the CIA seal signifies strength, alertness, defense and intelligence. Every color and symbol on the FBI seal also has a special significance, the dominant blue representing justice. When Michael German was an FBI agent and discovered the mishandling of a terror investigation going on in Florida, he reported it to his boss. Instead of using the information for the protection of our country, German was ridiculed and retaliated by the bureau. When Joseph Wilson reacted to the inaccurate sixteen words that President Bush incorporated in his State of the Union address, Wilson's Central Intelligent Agent wife, Valerie Plame, was outed--by who exactly is still being determined. After being with the FBI for twenty-four years, Jane Turner was escorted from her office for complaining about various wrongdoings of her agency. Of course these people knew the risk having this type of career, but it is unlikely that they thought their own government agency, characterized by the heraldry of the aforementioned seal, would be the one to turn against them.

Unlike the previous names, Martin Kaiser III was not an agent but a businessman who had a successful career in electronic surveillance. His clients included the CIA, DEA, Secret Service, Army, Navy, Air Force Intelligence and the FBI. Kaiser's business was lucrative until his 1975 testimony before the House of Representatives proved to nearly ruin his life and career.

In ODYSSEY OF AN EAVESDROPPER: My Life in Electronic Countermeasures and My Battle Against the FBI, (Carroll & Graf, January 10, 2006) Kaiser, along with co-author Robert S. Stokes, details how he was subjected to one court appearance after another with all sorts of harassments in between after he had exposed certain pricing invoice irregularities for his equipment and the services he provided for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. After his testimony, FBI agents attempted to get Kaiser to repudiate what he'd said under oath. There was also the sudden appearance of an auditor who interrogated Kaiser, making the timing seem less like a coincidence and more like instigation on someone's behalf. There were also unsuccessful attempts to set Kaiser up for violations of wiretapping.

Due to his knowledge of state-of-the-art gadgets, Kaiser served as a technical adviser for the movies The Conversation and Enemy of the State. That said, this fascinating memoir is filled with details in electronic surveillance that will certainly intrigue James Bond aficionados. However, unlike the resilient Ian Fleming character, even though he was vindicated, Kaiser, who was known in the industry as the Michelangelo of Electronic Surveillance, did suffer damage due to the vendetta against him. Besides having to spend years to clear his reputation, which drastically hurt his career, his family life also took some major hits. His story begs the question, how can this happen when the FBI's motto states: Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity?

One of the more alarming elements in Odyssey of an Eavesdropper is the final chapter titled The Future of Privacy in America-Or What's Left of It. Kaiser warns that we need to look more closely at some of the technological wonders that can palliate some of life's everyday annoyances. Perhaps we should be more concerned and less amazed that a security system miles away is able to open a locked car door. And, even though those identification tags that are embedded in clothing can track the shipment, they may also be able to track the person eventually wearing the garment. With these ostensible conveniences, we are rapidly forfeiting our privacy. Granted, we are long past 1984, but Orwell's protagonist, Winston Smith with his fear of Big Brother, is no longer just a cautionary tale. There's really no turning back in today's computer age, and Kaiser's very real account should be the reminder.

Michael German resigned from the FBI in June 2004. Valerie Plame, who recently retired from the CIA, is now a household name. And Jane Turner has taken legal action to make the FBI accountable for its misconduct. Martin Kaiser is now the president of his own electronics company, as well as the author of an extremely relevant memoir, published by Carroll & Graf, which also happened to be the publisher for Joseph Wilson's The Politics of Truth. Bravo for bringing these stories to print, but the questions remain: Is it because of these patriotic symbols that our own court system is hesitant to protect the whistleblowers? If so, will it be only a matter of time when these stories are kept from publication due to so-called lack of patriotism?

Excellent reading,Marty has always produced a quality product electronically,and now in print.Reading the story of an icon in the electronic surveillance and electronic countermeasures community was informative and enjoyable.Sometimes we hear little of those working behind the scenes that make a positive difference in todays society.
Two thumbs up!

This book is an excellent chronology of Marty Kaiser's involvement with electronics eavesdropping from the development and application of the devices.

Since Mr. Kaiser only produced the devices and explained how to use them, avoiding the participation in the use of them, the main title of the book somewhat misleading. Perhaps this was a publishers idea.

If you are looking for a layperson approach to the technical side of the electronics and would like to know the darker side of government clandestine operations this book is for you. I found it very hard to put down.

In the end you will probably come to the same conclusion that I did: America needs more patriots like Martin L. Kaiser.

Highly recommended.

An excellent read for anybody wanting to know more about the field of Audio Surveillance & Countermeasures.

The book goes into detail about the work of Audio Surveillance & Countermeasures and captures some fine technical aspects, while the author reveals his extreme difficulties with some authoritive clients.

There is an appendix towards the end of book that is 38 pages in total, which describes Audio Surveillance & Countermeasures in a nutshell that I found to be the most enjoyable section of the book, to top off a fantastic read.

I haven't read a book this good for a good few years. I am involved in this industry that makes it all the more interesting.

Value for money indeed. Thank you Martin L. Kaiser

Kind regards,

Peter Lynch
Director
Lynch Investigations & Countermeasures Pty Ltd

Website:[...]

Mr. Kaiser walks it like he talks it, and he doesn't write any stuff that he can't back up in this book. I've read this book over six times and each time I get more out of.
Mr. Kaiser gives us a glimpse of the operations of the "beltway bandits". Small electronic manufacturers that exist almost solely to and are vital to fulfill our government's special needs.
Also you get a view of the import export dance. The who gets what this week. If you google some of the names you meet in this book you'll see some nasty characters, some famous and infamous. This book is way better than a spy fiction book because it is real.
An interesting portion of this tome deals with Mr. Kaiser's battle with the government and privacy. The cold war, spook stuff is more interesting, but it's all good.
There's stuff in here you won't find written about anywhere else.
The people who gave this book a bad review didn't read it and or had a bone to pick with Mr. Kaiser. Succinctly put, this book rocks!

Combining historical fact, a history of a part of the "bugging" industry, this work brings the reader a true story (and a bit of a rant against the FBI, though well justified)of a man and the developments he pioneered in what we today call the covert surveillance industry -- better known in conversations around the water fountain as "bugging." Even if you know nothing about technology, this one-man's creative inventions and his lengthy and expensive fight against the FBI's attempt to damage him after he gave true and accurate testimony to Congress about his dealings with the FBI make for a truly excellent read!

Wow, this Book is awesome and highly recommended to all TSCM. As a private detective and certified TSCM I found this book very informative, educational and profoundly interesting. Well written and documented with all the methodologies of the cover-ops of the Agencies. The book is also detailed with awesome technical knowledge of Eavesdroppers and Countermeasure applications. The present state of affairs in obtaining business intelligence has become a routine by companies in order to intercept competitors data and this book discloses all the clandestine methods and applications!

After reading just a few chapters, it's apparent that Marty is one of those arrogant people who believe they are never the problem, it's always everybody else! Being familiar with some mentioned in Marty's 'story', it's imperative that readers know that this tale is NOT an accurate portrayl of events! The only constant in this book is that everyone is always doubting him, his wife, his attorney's, the government, his friends, and when Marty could hold no ground with his petty counter-suit against the agents, HIS OWN representation settled! Against "his wishes" of course. Nobody has doubted Marty's technical ability, it's his character that's always and will always, be in question.