To Catch a Spy

The Art of Counterintelligence

By: James M. Olson

Narrated by: John McLain

The United States is losing the counterintelligence war. Foreign intelligence services, particularly those of China, Russia, and Cuba, are recruiting spies in our midst and stealing our secrets and cutting-edge technologies.

In To Catch a Spy: The Art of Counterintelligence, James M. Olson, former chief of CIA counterintelligence, offers a wake-up call for the American public and also a guide for how our country can do a better job of protecting its national security and trade secrets. Olson takes the listener into the arcane world of counterintelligence as he lived it during his 30-year career in the CIA.

After an overview of what the Chinese, Russian, and Cuban spy services are doing to the United States, Olson explains the nitty-gritty of the principles and methods of counterintelligence. Listeners will learn about specific aspects of counterintelligence such as running double-agent operations and surveillance. The book also analyzes 12 actual case studies to illustrate why people spy against their country, the tradecraft of counterintelligence, and where counterintelligence breaks down or succeeds.

©2019 James M. Olson (P)2019 Tantor

Fantastic overview

I’m a fiction author with an ongoing Spy thriller x sci-fi series, (total fiction), but this book gives some great overviews about real counter-intelligence. I would highly recommend it as mandatory reading (listening) for any author!

Excellent background and tactics

Mr Olsen worked at an agency where family of mine worked. He is very interesting and intelligent. I enjoyed this and I encourage anyone working in internal affairs in any capacity to read this work.

Excelente.

Este es un buen libro para quien quiere conocer más sobre la labor de la contrainteligencia con casos reales y excelentes consejos.

A Good History of CI but a Little Too Repetitive

I think Olsen provided a good history of counterespionage in the Cold War and modern era, but he was a little too repetitive at times with pronouncements of what's good and bad tradecraft. A good editor would have made these passages more concise after introducing his general views about tradecraft, or could have reorganized the cases to fit under common themes. Additionally, Olsen could have devoted fewer sentences to expressing his disgust with traitors. We all agree that they are bad, no need to waste the reader's time with those assertions. So to sum up my review, Olsen wrote a good history of CI but should have made it more concise.

Learn about counterintelligence success and failures from an expert.

Ok, this book is not a how to manual on tradecraft, but if the subject of counterintelligence is of interest to you, you’ll enjoy it. The author begins with a brief survey of the counterintelligence threat. He then discusses his 10 commandments of counter intelligence. He next uses case studies (12 I think) based on real world spy cases to highlight the application of those commandments in action. He does this in a lessons learned fashion. Given the authors career in CI, the lessons of his book would be of interest to anyone considering service in the intelligence world. The book was well organized and the narration solid.

Interesting and practical

General observations backed up by real cases. It would be interesting to read an extension into the cyber era. Highly recommended book.

Great book

Very informative and I learned a lot about the field my husband was in. USMC

Informative, Educational, and Worrisome

I doubt that any reader drawn to this sort of book will be surprised by the concerning state of American counterintelligence, but by the time they get done listening to this, they'll be both appalled and worried. Our country's deepest secrets and the lives of our agents are basically in the hands of people with butterfingers. This book is somewhat dated, but I absolutely believe the concerns expressed by the author are not only still relevant, but most likely exponentially worse. If you are interested in American history, be it military, political, criminal, or espionage, this is an excellent book to illuminate some of the shady back corners of our country's recent past. Occasionally the author does come across a bit self-aggrandizing and this is magnified by the reader's somewhat arrogant intonations, but the information and case studies herein are fascinating.

Incredible story by a man with a big ego

I have the utmost respect for anyone in our military, Federal law enforcement and the CIA. They are putting their lives on the line every day for the USA. The stories in this book are proof. I also appreciate the author's expertise in the field of counterintelligence.

If you like this topic, even a little, you'll really enjoy this book. However, I couldn't give it 5 stars because of the author's braggadocio in the way he talks of his experiences. Half way through I was convinced that he thinks of himself as the greatest spy hunter who ever lived. That may or may not be true but I've listened to or read many books by people who were accomplished in their field and most of them present the material in a more, shall we say, humble manner. Their purpose was to inform. I think this author had the same purpose but also to stroke his own ego.

Listen or read it but know this going un so it is hopefully less distracting when it first happens and going forward.

Very accessible

This is a very accessible book that focuses on practical elements of CI work. The principles espoused herein are applicable outside the intelligence sector and could be used in organizations such as banks and IT firms. It was satisfying to observe that the 10 rules of Counterintelligence if applied properly would probably have averted some of the biggest cases of treachery in the United States. Full marks to Prof Olson.