While the term double agent implies contradiction, Adrian Havill's portrait of spymaster Robert Hanssen reveals a man truly driven by opposing demons. Hanssen was a consummate loner, "Walter Mitty squared," yet he approached the Soviets himself in quest of the thrill-filled life of a double agent. A staunch conservative and strict Catholic, he took money from communists--to give diamonds and Mercedes to strippers on one hand, and to send his six children to expensive Catholic schools on the other. Havill, a seasoned chronicler of criminals and celebrities, creates a taut and troubling portrait of a disturbed man who compromised the security of a nation. He also gives an inside look into the oft-inept FBI, the National Security Agency's futuristic surveillance systems, and the spy-versus-spy world of Russian intelligence. --Lesley Reed


From Publishers Weekly
FBI agent Robert Hanssen began spying for the Soviet Union in 1985. By the time he was arrested in February 2001, he'd received over $600,000 payment in cash and diamonds and turned over hundreds of pages of top secret documents. In the process, says Havill, Hanssen did as much damage to U.S. national security as "anyone since the Rosenbergs." But why did he do it? And how? Havill, a journalist and true-crime writer (While Innocents Slept), devotes most of his book to these two questions. Hanssen, Havill reports, had been fascinated by the romance of international espionage from an early age. When he was 14, he became obsessed with the memoir of a notorious British double agent; his favorite film was From Russia with Love. But after a decade of FBI service, Hanssen found himself unsatisfied, underappreciated and underpaid. And so, using the code name Ramon, Hanssen turned over his first packet of secret files to the KGB. Havill's chronicle of the Hanssen-KGB relationship reads like a John le Carr‚ novel, full of codes and secret signals. The notes between Hanssen and his Russian handers, excerpted extensively by Havill, are the most fascinating parts of the book. Frustratingly, Havill is unable to provide any details concerning the contents of the documents Hanssen turned over this is, of course, an unavoidable flaw in any book dealing with espionage and national secrets. Despite this, Havill's book remains an intriguing, unsettling portrait of a man whose poor finances and personal frustration drove him to betray his country.(Oct.) Forecast: Given the notoriety of this case, the book should receive reviews and media attention and generous sales.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
By all accounts, Robert Hanssen was an odd duck from the word go: a technologically savvy man with a photographic memory, he was quiet and dull, religious, and a good family man drawn to the secret side of society. He was just about to retire from the FBI when he was arrested at a dead drop in a Virginia park in February 2001. For at least 15 years, he had sold the Russians nuclear secrets and counterintelligence information an act that damaged American security and cost lives. As demonstrated by Havill (Deep Truth: The Lives of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein), Hanssen did not spy for ideological or blackmail reasons but for money to support his large family and for the thrill of the dangerous game. Havill lived close to Hanssen and, although they never met, their lives did brush against each other which certainly helped him write the book so quickly. The role of the extremely conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei in the life of Hanssen could have been explored even more, but this is still a good story suitable for the espionage collections of all libraries. (Photos and index not seen.) Daniel K. Blewett, Coll. of DuPage Lib., Glen Ellyn, IL Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Robert Hanssen was an obscure bureaucrat with the FBI who lived a double life as a conservative Catholic family man and a spy who leaked information to the Russians that cost dozens of lives and damaged national security. Havill interviewed hundreds of Hanssen's friends and family and offers an enthrallingly detailed look at a man obsessed with control and enamored with the mysterious life of a spy since boyhood. A brilliant but rigid man, Hanssen embarked on a plodding career as an FBI bureaucrat that failed to satiate his appetite for intrigue, so he volunteered his services to the Soviets. In his private life, he was indifferent to his faithful, frugal wife and infatuated with a stripper. In his professional life, Hanssen's arrogance and disdain for the FBI grew as the bureau's culture--a "gentleman's club" loathe to embarrass its members--helped Hanssen go undetected, not even administering a routine lie detector test during a career in counterintelligence that spanned 25 years. Hanssen managed to pass on some 6,000 pages of classified documents on everything from nuclear missiles to joint FBI-CIA operations. Havill also includes the fascinating correspondence between Hanssen and his KGB contacts, which evolves from tentativeness to admiration to friendliness, with inquiries about the family, commiseration on dead or captured colleagues, and wistful remarks as Mikhail Gorbachev began dismantling the Soviet Union. An incredible inside look at counterintelligence operations. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
"Compelling...[a] meticulous portrait."--The Washington Times

"Meticulous...intriguing."--The Baltimore Sun

"Fascinating...intriguing...Havill's chronicle of the Hanssen-KGB relationship reads like a John le Carre novel, full of codes and secret signals."--Publishers Weekly



Review
"Compelling...[a] meticulous portrait."--The Washington Times

"Meticulous...intriguing."--The Baltimore Sun

"Fascinating...intriguing...Havill's chronicle of the Hanssen-KGB relationship reads like a John le Carre novel, full of codes and secret signals."--Publishers Weekly



Book Description
Robert Philip Hansen thought he was smarter than the system. For decades, the quirky but respected counterintelligence expert, religious family man, and father of six, sold top secret information to agents of the Soviet Union and Russia. A self-taught computer expert, Hansen often encrypted his stolen files on wafer-thin disks. The data-some 6000 pages of highly classified documents-revealed precious nuclear secrets, outlined American espionage initiatives, and named names of agents-spies who covertly worked for both sides.

Soviet government leaders, and their successors in the Russian Federation, used the stolen information to undermine U.S. policies and to eliminate spies in their own ranks. Moscow did not allow their moles the luxury of a defense: at least two men named by Hanssen were executed; a third languished for years in a Siberian hard labor camp.

For more than twenty years, Bob Hanssen was the perfect spy. He personally collected at least $600,000 from his Russian handlers while another $800,000 was deposited in his name at a Moscow bank. Along with the cash came Rolex watches and cut diamonds. The money financed both his children's education at schools run by the elite and ultra-conservative Catholic organization, Opus Dei, and an inexplicably strange fling with a former Ohio "stripper of the year."

But he didn't just do it for the money; he did it for the thrill and for a mysterious third reason rooted in religious mysticism. He lacked the people skills to play office politics, and it seemed the aging FBI analyst faced a disappointing career mired in middle management. Instead, he chose to become one of the most dangerous spies in America's history. And no one suspected him until just weeks before his arrest.

Robert Philip Hanssen thought he was smarter than the system. And until February 18, 2001, he was right. That's when federal agents surrounded him while he was attempting to complete an exchange with his handlers at a Virginia park. When the G-men captured their mark, they catapulted the once innocuous bureaucrat onto the front pages of every newspaper in America. The most notorious spy since the Rosenbergs had finally become a victim of his own undoing.

Now, drawing on more than 100 interviews with Bob Hanssen's friends, colleagues, coworkers, and family members, and confidential sources, best-selling author Adrian Havill tells the entire story you haven't read as only he can. The Spy Who Stayed Out in the Cold tells not only how he did it, but why.



Download Description
"Written with compelling detail,WHILE INNOCENTS SLEPT plunges readers into[a]murky world... Havill's thoroughly written account is a scientific spellbinder...that is even more frightening because it is true."Pete Earley,Edgar Award winning author of CONFESSIONS OF A SPY and THE HOT HOUSE


About the Author
Adrian Havill is the author of While Innocents Slept and The Mother, The Son, And the Socialite: The True Story of a Mother-Son Crime. He has also written several biographies, including The Last Mogul: The Unauthorized Biography of Jack Kent Cooke, Deep Truth: The Lives of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Man of Steel: The Career and Courage of Christopher Reeve, and contributed to Juice: The O.J. Simpson Tragedy. He lives in Virginia with his wife, Georgiana. They have two children.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Have you ever wondered what the true lives of spies are like? For 15 years FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssen pulled off a fantastic charade while receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Soviet government, until an FBI sting operation brought him to justice in February 2001. Adrian Havill, author of While Innocents Slept, takes readers on a harrowing trip through the life and actions of the accused spy.

After interviewing hundreds of Hanssen's friends, family members, and former coworkers, Havill details Hanssen's childhood in Chicago, his college and graduate school years, his early career with the Chicago Police Department's secret C-5 Unit, his involvement with the Opus Dei religious movement, and his eventual employment with the FBI. Relying strictly on the facts, The Spy Who Stayed Out in the Cold peers into the psyche of Hanssen and aptly reveals how an FBI agent, supporting a family of eight on less than $40,000 a year, made the decision to turn against all that the FBI stands for and sell government secrets, first to the Soviet Union and, subsequently, to Russia.

Havill's straightforward text pulls the reader from page to page in this spellbinding account of a traitor who fooled those closest to him into believing he was a pious Catholic, a devoted father of six, and a hardworking government employee. Hanssen's secret life as a double agent may be over, but the repercussions and ramifications of his actions will take years to settle. (Eric Zeman)

Eric Zeman lives in West Orange, New Jersey.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Robert Philip Hanssen thought he was smarter than the system. For decades the quirky but respected counterintelligence expert, religious family man, and father of six sold top-secret information to agents of the Soviet Union and Russia. A self-taught computer expert, Hanssen often encrypted his stolen files on wafer-thin disks. The data - some six thousand pages of highly classified documents - revealed precious nuclear secrets, outlined American espionage initiatives, and named names of agents - spies who covertly worked for both sides." "Soviet government leaders and their successors in the Russian Federation used the stolen information to undermine U.S. policies and to eliminate spies in their own ranks. Moscow did not allow their moles the luxury of a defense: at least two men named by Hanssen were executed; a third languished for years in a Siberian hard-labor camp." "For more than twenty years Bob Hanssen was the perfect spy. He personally collected at least $600,000 from his Russian handlers, while another $800,000 was deposited in his name at a Moscow bank. Along with the cash came Rolex watches and cut diamonds. The money financed both his children's education at schools run by the elite and ultra-conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei and an inexplicably strange fling with a former Ohio "stripper of the year."" "But he didn't just do it for the money; he did it for the thrill and for a mysterious third reason rooted in religious mysticism. He lacked the people skills to play office politics, and it seemed the aging FBI analyst faced a disappointing career mired in middle management. Instead he chose to become one of the most dangerous spies in America's history. And no one suspected him until just weeks before his arrest." "Robert Philip Hanssen thought he was smarter than the system. And until February 18, 2001, he was right. That's when federal agents surrounded him while he was attempting to complete an exchange with his handlers at a Virgini

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

FBI agent Robert Hanssen began spying for the Soviet Union in 1985. By the time he was arrested in February 2001, he'd received over $600,000 payment in cash and diamonds and turned over hundreds of pages of top secret documents. In the process, says Havill, Hanssen did as much damage to U.S. national security as "anyone since the Rosenbergs." But why did he do it? And how? Havill, a journalist and true-crime writer (While Innocents Slept), devotes most of his book to these two questions. Hanssen, Havill reports, had been fascinated by the romance of international espionage from an early age. When he was 14, he became obsessed with the memoir of a notorious British double agent; his favorite film was From Russia with Love. But after a decade of FBI service, Hanssen found himself unsatisfied, underappreciated and underpaid. And so, using the code name Ramon, Hanssen turned over his first packet of secret files to the KGB. Havill's chronicle of the Hanssen-KGB relationship reads like a John le Carr? novel, full of codes and secret signals. The notes between Hanssen and his Russian handers, excerpted extensively by Havill, are the most fascinating parts of the book. Frustratingly, Havill is unable to provide any details concerning the contents of the documents Hanssen turned over this is, of course, an unavoidable flaw in any book dealing with espionage and national secrets. Despite this, Havill's book remains an intriguing, unsettling portrait of a man whose poor finances and personal frustration drove him to betray his country.(Oct.) Forecast: Given the notoriety of this case, the book should receive reviews and media attention and generous sales. Copyright 2001 Cahners BusinessInformation.

Library Journal

By all accounts, Robert Hanssen was an odd duck from the word go: a technologically savvy man with a photographic memory, he was quiet and dull, religious, and a good family man drawn to the secret side of society. He was just about to retire from the FBI when he was arrested at a dead drop in a Virginia park in February 2001. For at least 15 years, he had sold the Russians nuclear secrets and counterintelligence information an act that damaged American security and cost lives. As demonstrated by Havill (Deep Truth: The Lives of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein), Hanssen did not spy for ideological or blackmail reasons but for money to support his large family and for the thrill of the dangerous game. Havill lived close to Hanssen and, although they never met, their lives did brush against each other which certainly helped him write the book so quickly. The role of the extremely conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei in the life of Hanssen could have been explored even more, but this is still a good story suitable for the espionage collections of all libraries. (Photos and index not seen.) Daniel K. Blewett, Coll. of DuPage Lib., Glen Ellyn, IL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews