A Spy in Plain Sight Audiobook By Lis Wiehl cover art

A Spy in Plain Sight

The Inside Story of the FBI and Robert Hanssen—America’s Most Damaging Russian Spy

Preview
Try for $0.00
Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

A Spy in Plain Sight

By: Lis Wiehl
Narrated by: Lis Wiehl
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $13.97

Buy for $13.97

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

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.

©2022 Lis Wiehl (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing
Americas Con Artists, Hoaxes & Deceptions Espionage True Crime United States
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup
Fascinating Story • Well-researched Details • Compelling Narration • Intriguing Storyline
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
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.

Great but sometimes too much editorializing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The narration by the author ruined this book for me . I couldn’t follow the story because it felt like the entire book was one run-on sentence .
Did the publisher ask the author to avoid paying a professional narrator? Bad idea

Narration is terrible

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Intriguing from beginning to end. Hope the USA can prevent this from happening again to this magnitude.

The insight into the operations of the CIA and FBI.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

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.

Story is good but overshadowed by a lackluster performance.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

As a DC resident at the time of Hanson’s arrest, I followed the initial reporting about the case, After he died recently I was curious to learn more details now that so much time has passed, and that’s how I found this book. It was factual, insightful, and fascinating. I don’t understand the other reviewers’ criticisms of the author’s voice. She reports thoroughly, and she speaks like a professional. I recommend it.

Well done

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The story is pretty brief but is so well written, she provides a lot of detail and insight. We loved it.

Well told

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

If we learn anything it’s that fact matter and ignoring them can cause great harm to our country and democracy.

Well written and and interesting lessons learned about the perils of not paying attention to facts.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I was riveted. Reads like a thriller. Highly recommend. You will not be disappointed. Don’t hesitate.

Thorough!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

It was engaging enough such that I finished it. Last 3 hours were solid. Before that it dragged at times. Would rather have had another narrator besides the author but she was tolerable. Seemed like good factual research and a relatively compelling narrative. Glad I finished it but it took me awhile.

Decent book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This story is extremely interesting and important. Thoroughly recommend this book. I was shocked at how much was ignored and how often the clues were revealed as to what the problem was and who the spy was. Pretty amazing stuff.

Holy moly

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews