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A Spy in Plain Sight
- The Inside Story of the FBI and Robert Hanssen—America’s Most Damaging Russian Spy
- Narrated by: Lis Wiehl
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
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A Spy in Plain Sight
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Summary
A legal analyst for NPR, NBC, and CNN, delves into the facts surrounding what has been called the “worst intelligence disaster in US history”: the case of Robert Hanssen—a Russian spy who was embedded in the FBI for two decades.
As a federal prosecutor and the daughter of an FBI agent, Wiehl has an inside perspective. She brings her experience and the ingrained lessons of her upraising to bear on her remarkable exploration of the case, interviewing numerous FBI and CIA agents both past and present as well as the individuals closest to Hanssen. She speaks with his brother-in-law, his oldest and best friend, and even his psychiatrist.
In all her conversations, Wiehl is trying to figure out how he did it—and at what cost. But she also pursues questions urgently relevant to our national security today. Could there be another spy in the system? Could the presence of a spy be an even greater threat now than ever before, with the greater prominence cyber security has taken in recent years? Wiehl explores the mechanisms and politics of our national security apparatus and how they make us vulnerable to precisely this kind of threat.
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What listeners say about A Spy in Plain Sight
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- dubeagle uk
- 07-06-23
Fascinating
I downloaded this the day after news of Hanssen’s death was announced. I was not familiar with this story unlike that of
Ames. I found it very interesting and well read. I have marked it down as the final chapter with its anti Trumpian comments superfluous and detracted from the rest of the work (I am from the UK and no fan of Trump or Biden for that matter). Overall a recommended read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jane Harris
- 06-06-23
Gabbled narration
Such a shame as I think the book would be good, it was so difficult to follow as she ran on and on almost without breath. Not recommended.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- genevieve cooper
- 20-05-22
Terrible narration
This is quite interesting, but listening to it is very frustrating. I can't believe the wildly fluctuating quality of audible narrations. This is bottom of the barrel. So many missed consonants and she talks far too fast. Really ruined my enjoyment of a good book.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 19-07-22
You almost had me
I thought the book was good. Very good actually, right up until the last few minutes when she had to get all I Hate Trump. For once I would just love to learn amd read about something that people keep their damn politics out of. I did not need to hear her opinion about our last president, amd I certainly didn’t need to hear opinion about the last election. This was about the FBI, tarnished long before Trump and will be forever tarnished long after he’s gone. This was an actual story about an actual spy whose behavior had NOTHING to do with Trump, but somehow she just had to sneak it in there. Very very unnecessary, and very very disappointing!!! I guess some People just can’t help themselves. I will NOT be sharing this with my 10k followers. Sorry !!
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11 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- DARose
- 15-09-22
Average story of 99% public information
I thought that something new would be revealed in this new retelling of an old story. Aside from a few anecdotes and and everyone saying it wasn't their fault, there was not. The epilogue wasn't about Robert Phillip Hanssen but about Lis Wheals feelings about Donald Trump and the GOP. Disappointing.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Morkie Mom
- 14-05-23
Good till the ending
Bashes the FBI pointing out all it weaknesses, then at the end defends it by bashing Trump. Just stick to the story that’s why I brought it, not to hear someone’s political opinion.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Michael McDonough
- 26-04-23
Narrated has irritating voice
Great story. Poor narrator. Found her voice irritating. I really did try to like her.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ridgeback
- 12-02-23
Well told
The story is pretty brief but is so well written, she provides a lot of detail and insight. We loved it.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dominic Mangino
- 07-02-23
Great but sometimes too much editorializing
Great story with some awesome details from players involved. However sometimes it seems the author does too much retrospective recasting or editorializing of various actions and motivations.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Zuri
- 19-12-22
Story is good but overshadowed by a lackluster performance.
Good story and details we well researched. Presentation of some of the stories were slow or confusing due to too many name drops sequentially. Performance was lackluster. Pauses during the read as if she is thinking of how to emphasize the next word were constant and distracting. Sort of like if someone picked up a script for the first time and read you a part of it without knowing what it was or how it should be read.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tonuster
- 30-09-23
Great story full of amateurish psychoanalysis
Fascinating story but almost every paragraph is shaded by authors amateur psychoanalysis. It isn’t the place of a historian to try and analyze what others are thinking. Numerous times it’s hard to differentiate whether she’s telling you what happened or what she think’s happened. “Papa problems?” Many humans with “papa problems” don’t become traitorous spy’s. Lastly, it seems the religiously political dogmatic authors of the day have decided they don’t even have to hide their beliefs between the lines. Just look at which political hacks they’re willing to defend and attack and you know what church they go to. Very interesting how out of touch these folks are with the majority of the country. It’s hard to believe they’re so out of touch with the people of the US. You’d think they’d know traveling out of their big cities and becoming educated about the world would help them not sound so uneducated and ridiculous.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Frank
- 21-09-23
Wait... Where Did That Come From?
This was a fine book that appeared well researched, likely credible and reasonably well told...
...and then in the closing paragraphs comes a complete non sequitur. She fast forwards 20 years past the end of the Hanssen story to give a literary blow job to Joe Biden and Merrick Garland for their adherence to rule of law and refusal to prosecute political rivals. WTF?
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Elizabeth Goelz
- 26-08-23
A Good Book Ruined by A Partisan Rant to Finish the Book
I have huge respect for line FBI Agents and the work they do. The author’s partisan (Democrat) rant to finish the book in light of the current unprecedented actions by Garland and likely bribery by Biden is a disgrace, but not surprising give the FBI’s leadership bias towards the Democratic Party, as witnessed by the recent unveiling of years long suppressed evidence. And more blatant TDS Trump Derangement Syndrome.
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