Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In a brutally frank account of CIA traitor Aldrich Ames's career, Grimes, a 26-year veteran of the CIA's Clandestine Service, and Vertefeuille, a long-time CIA counterintelligence officer, pull back the curtain on the hunt for an American who spent years working for the KGB without being discovered. The now-retired authors focus on the CIA's crucial Soviet and East European (SE) Division, where efforts to recruit Soviet and East European officials snagged the U.S.'s highest-ranking Soviet spy, General Dmitriy Fedorovich Polyakov, who spent nearly two decades undetected. Ames's treason did particu-lar damage to the SE Division, leading to Polyakov's execution and to the exposure of several other key U.S. agents. Espionage buffs will love the details taken from previously classified CIA files, as well as a penetrating view of him as an "All-American boy" and spy. Well-researched and written in a clear, no-frills style, this fascinating Cold War saga will allow any American without a security clearance to better understand how Aldrich Ames could have become one of the most damaging moles in U.S. intelligence history. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by Library Journal Review
Here is the story of an intricate mole hunt straight from the source. Grimes and Vertefeuille are both veterans of the CIA's clandestine and counterintelligence operations, respectively, and were members of the small CIA-FBI team investigating the disastrous 1985 loss of so many Soviet assets. A CIA mole must have caused it. But who? In the early 1990s, they narrowed the list of suspects down to one: Aldrich Ames, an apparently average CIA counterintelligence officer with increasing financial needs, who sold to Moscow his knowledge about U.S. operations against Russia. The authors also recount their careers in a male-dominated organization, the CIA's corporate culture at the time, and debilitating Washington personality conflicts and turf battles. They honor those Russians who were arrested and executed as a result of Ames's betrayal. The key lessons they know well: keep good records, watch everyone, follow the money, and note that such American traitors seem often to be very narcissistic. Verdict A fascinating detective story for those interested in the spy scandals of the 1980s, the CIA's painstaking investigative techniques, and how bureaucratic intelligence agencies really operate.-Daniel Blewett, Coll. of DuPage Lib., Glen Ellyn, IL (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
