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Code name Blue Wren : the true story of America's most dangerous female spy--and the sister she betrayed / Jim Popkin.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Toronto, Ontario, Canada : Hanover Square Press, [2023]Description: 351 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
  • still image
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781335449887
  • 1335449884
Other title:
  • Blue Wren : the true story of America's most dangerous female spy--and the sister she betrayed
  • True story of America's most dangerous female spy--and the sister she betrayed
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
The world's worst sorority -- Topeka -- The hothouse -- Stevie Wonder and chocolate chip cookies -- The cauldron -- "Our native land calls to us" -- "A sense of moral outrage" -- "A rich array of targets" -- Headed for a collision -- Destination Havana -- Miami vice -- A warrior monk deep within the bureaucracy -- Death of a green beret -- Surrounded -- A meteoric rise -- Spying gets lonely -- Royal flush -- The Kmart security guard -- The interview -- "One of the most damaging spies" -- Bottoming out -- "A limited capacity" -- The seventh floor -- La otra -- McCoy -- Warming up the ice queen -- Grip and grin -- Scott and Gator -- "We're going to war" -- Full field -- Confiding in Robert Hanssen -- Snuck in like ninjas -- A manatí farewell -- Out of time -- The immaculate confession -- Your sister is a spy -- "All the world is one country" -- Escape to Sweden -- "A psychological hell" -- "You are a coward" -- Release.
Summary: "Like spies Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen before her, Ana Montes blindsided her colleagues with brazen acts of treason. For nearly 17 years, Montes succeeded in two high-stress jobs. By day, she was one of the government's top Cuba experts, a buttoned-down GS-14 with shockingly easy access to classified documents. By night, she was on the clock for Fidel Castro, listening to coded messages over shortwave radio, passing US secrets to handlers in local restaurants, and slipping into Havana wearing a wig. In Code Name Blue Wren, investigative journalist Jim Popkin weaves the tale of two sisters who chose two very different paths, plus the unsung heroes who had to fight to bring Ana to justice"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 327.1272 P828 Available 33111010947923
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

*An Amazon Best Book of 2023*

*Apple Book of the Month for January*



The incredible true story of Ana Montes, the most damaging female spy in US history, drawing upon never-before-seen material and to be published upon her release from prison, for readers of Agent Sonya and A Woman of No Importance.



Just days after the 9-11 attacks, a senior Pentagon analyst eased her red Toyota Echo into traffic and headed to work. She never saw the undercover cars tracking her every turn. As she settled into her cubicle on the 6th floor of the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, FBI Agents and twitchy DIA officers were hiding in nearby offices. For this was the day that Ana Montes--the US Intelligence Community superstar who had just won a prestigious fellowship at the CIA--was to be arrested and publicly exposed as a secret agent for Cuba.



Like spies Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen before her, Ana Montes blindsided her colleagues with brazen acts of treason. For nearly 17 years, Montes succeeded in two high-stress jobs. By day, she was one of the government's top Cuba experts, a buttoned-down GS-14 with shockingly easy access to classified documents. By night, she was on the clock for Fidel Castro, listening to coded messages over shortwave radio, passing US secrets to handlers in local restaurants, and slipping into Havana wearing a wig.



Montes didn't just deceive her country. Her betrayal was intensely personal. Her mercurial father was a former US Army Colonel. Her brother and sister-in-law were FBI Special Agents. And her only sister, Lucy, also worked her entire career for the Bureau. The highlight of her distinguished 31 years as a Miami-based language specialist: Helping the FBI flush Cuban spies out of the United States. Little did Lucy or her family know that the greatest Cuban spy of all was sitting right next to them at Thanksgivings, baptisms, and weddings.



In Code Name Blue Wren, investigative journalist Jim Popkin weaves the tale of two sisters who chose two very different paths, plus the unsung heroes who had to fight to bring Ana to justice. With exclusive access to a "Secret" CIA behavioral profile of Ana, family memoirs, and Ana's incriminating letters from prison, Popkin reveals the making of a traitor--a woman labelled "one of the most damaging spies in U.S. history" by America's top counter-intelligence official.



After more than two decades in federal prison, Montes will be freed in January 2023. Code Name Blue Wren is a thrilling detective tale, an insider's look at the clandestine world of espionage, and an intimate exploration of the dark side of betrayal.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-337) and index.

The world's worst sorority -- Topeka -- The hothouse -- Stevie Wonder and chocolate chip cookies -- The cauldron -- "Our native land calls to us" -- "A sense of moral outrage" -- "A rich array of targets" -- Headed for a collision -- Destination Havana -- Miami vice -- A warrior monk deep within the bureaucracy -- Death of a green beret -- Surrounded -- A meteoric rise -- Spying gets lonely -- Royal flush -- The Kmart security guard -- The interview -- "One of the most damaging spies" -- Bottoming out -- "A limited capacity" -- The seventh floor -- La otra -- McCoy -- Warming up the ice queen -- Grip and grin -- Scott and Gator -- "We're going to war" -- Full field -- Confiding in Robert Hanssen -- Snuck in like ninjas -- A manatí farewell -- Out of time -- The immaculate confession -- Your sister is a spy -- "All the world is one country" -- Escape to Sweden -- "A psychological hell" -- "You are a coward" -- Release.

"Like spies Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen before her, Ana Montes blindsided her colleagues with brazen acts of treason. For nearly 17 years, Montes succeeded in two high-stress jobs. By day, she was one of the government's top Cuba experts, a buttoned-down GS-14 with shockingly easy access to classified documents. By night, she was on the clock for Fidel Castro, listening to coded messages over shortwave radio, passing US secrets to handlers in local restaurants, and slipping into Havana wearing a wig. In Code Name Blue Wren, investigative journalist Jim Popkin weaves the tale of two sisters who chose two very different paths, plus the unsung heroes who had to fight to bring Ana to justice"-- Provided by publisher.

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