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

First Title Value for Searching:

Personal Author:

Popkin, Jim

Physical Description:

351 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates ; 24 cm.

Genre:

True crime stories.

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"--

Subject Term:

Espionage, Cuban -- History -- 21st century.

Moles (Spies) -- Biography.

Spies -- Cuba -- Biography.

Publication Info:

Toronto, Ontario : Hanover Square Press, 2023.

Subject:

Espionage, Cuban -- History -- 21st century.

Moles (Spies) -- Biography.

Spies -- Cuba -- Biography.

True crime stories.

Montes, Ana Belen

United States. Defense Intelligence Agency -- Officials and employees.

United States. Defense Intelligence Agency -- Officials and employees -- Biiography.

United States. Defense Intelligence Agency

Montes, Ana (Ana Belen)

Defense Intelligence Agency (U.S.)

DIA

United States. Department of Defense. Defense Intelligence Agency

Cuban espionage

Agents, Secret

Intelligencers (Spies)

Operatives (Spies)

Secret agents

Spooks (Spies)

Spying

SAILS ISBN:

9781335449887

Available:

Library	Shelf Number	Shelf Location	Status
Searching... Acushnet Library	327.120 POP 2023	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Attleboro Public Library	327.1272 POP 2023	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Carver Public Library	327.12 POP	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Dartmouth - Southworth	327.12 POP 2023	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Fall River Main	327.127 P828	Stacks	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Foxboro - Boyden Library	327.1272 POPKIN	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Hanson Public Library	327.12 POP	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Mansfield Public Library	327.12 POPK	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Mattapoisett Free Public Library	327.1273 POP 2023	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... New Bedford Wilks Branch	327.1272 POP 2023	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Pembroke Public Library	327.12 POP	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Plainville Public Library	327.12 POP	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Raynham Library	327.127 POP 2023	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Seekonk Public Library	327.12 POPKIN	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Somerset Public Library	327.12 POP 2023	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

*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.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Investigative journalist Popkin's engrossing debut tells the story of Ana Montes, an intelligence analyst for the U.S. government who, probably before she joined the Defense Intelligence Agency in 1985, was spying for Cuba. In 1998, the efforts of her sister, Lucy, an FBI analyst, to bring down a Cuban spy ring in Miami led to clues about a highly placed U.S. citizen working for Cuba. The FBI and DIA spent more than two years investigating, but came up short due to a lack of cooperation between the agencies. It wasn't until they finally shared information that they identified the spy as Montes. She was arrested 10 days after 9/11, which explains the lack of headlines her capture received. Montes pleaded guilty to one count of espionage, receiving 25 years in prison. Popkin thoroughly explores her upbringing--an abusive father divorced her mother--but never really explains why she became an ardent supporter of Fidel Castro to the extent that she risked her high-level position at the DIA and ultimately her freedom. This is a must-read for espionage fans. Agent: Matt Latimer, Javelin. (Jan.)

Kirkus Review

The life of "the most important spy you've never heard of." As Popkin recounts, Ana Montes (b. 1957) was arrested days after 9/11, when Americans were "shell-shocked" by the attack. The New York Times ran a story on Page 7. A high-level operative of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Montes spied for Cuba from 1985 to 2001. Since her family talked freely after her arrest, there is plenty of material for the author to re-create her life and career. They had moved to the U.S. from Puerto Rico and prospered, so all her siblings attended college. Ironically, two of her siblings--and their spouses--were "true-blue FBI." After obtaining a degree in international relations, Montes took a low-level job in the Justice Department, impressed superiors, obtained a top-secret clearance within a year, transferred to the DIA in 1985, and continued to climb the ladder. In a parallel story, Popkin notes that Montes' sister joined the FBI that same year and enjoyed similar success in Florida. At the time, Castro's Cuba operated a frugal but efficient intelligence service. Recruited by a college friend, Montes underwent an informal but rigorous course in spycraft and then got to work. Popkin delivers a gripping account of her routine, which lacked the fireworks of a Hollywood spy story but contained plenty of stress--so much so that she sought psychiatric help. Her activities attracted enough concern to produce a frightening 1996 interview with a counterintelligence officer, but they didn't have enough evidence to bring her to justice. Clues to the presence of a Cuban mole continued to bother security agents, but years passed before investigators focused on Montes. Popkin writes a fascinating account of the months before her arrest, during which her apartment, computer, and purse were searched without her knowledge. Following advice from her lawyers, she confessed, cooperated, and received a long prison term, which ends in January 2023. She has never expressed regret. An entertaining story of cunning espionage. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Library Journal Review

A high-up at the Defense Intelligence Agency, Ana Montes spent 17 years sharing U.S. intelligence secrets with the Cuban government, who then sold them to countries like Russia, Venezuela, and Iran. She was arrested shortly after 9/11, and among those who felt most keenly betrayed was her sister Lucy, a veteran FBI agent who won awards for helping to unmask Cuban spies. With a 75,000-copy first printing.

Introduction	13
Chapter 1 The World's Worst Sorority	19
Chapter 2 Topeka	23
Chapter 3 The Hothouse	31
Chapter 4 Stevie Wonder and Chocolate Chip Cookies	39
Chapter 5 The Cauldron	53
Chapter 6 "Our Native Land Calls to Us"	63
Chapter 7 "A Sense of Moral Outrage"	71
Chapter 8 "A Rich Array of Targets"	83
Chapter 9 Headed for a Collision	93
Chapter 10 Destination Havana	95
Chapter 11 Miami Vice	105
Chapter 12 A Warrior Monk Deep within the Bureaucracy	111
Chapter 13 Death of a Green Beret	117
Chapter 14 Surrounded	123
Chapter 15 A Meteoric Rise	129
Chapter 16 Spying Gets Lonely	133
Chapter 17 Royal Flush	141
Chapter 18 The Kmart Security Guard	147
Chapter 19 The Interview	151
Chapter 20 "One of the Most Damaging Spies"	157
Chapter 21 Bottoming Out	171
Chapter 22 "A Limited Capacity"	177
Chapter 23 The Seventh Floor	185
Chapter 24 La Otra	189
Chapter 25 McCoy	197
Chapter 26 Warming Up the Ice Queen	205
Chapter 27 Grip and Grin	209
Chapter 28 Scott and Gator	213
Chapter 29 "We're Going to War"	217
Chapter 30 Full Field	225
Chapter 31 Confiding in Robert Hanssen	233
Chapter 32 Snuckln like Ninjas	239
Chapter 33 A Manati Farewell	247
Chapter 34 Out of Time	251
Chapter 35 The Immaculate Confession	257
Chapter 36 Your Sister Is a Spy	263
Chapter 37 "All the World Is One Country"	271
Chapter 38 Escape to Sweden	281
Chapter 39 "A Psychological Hell"	289
Chapter 40 "You Are a Coward"	297
Chapter 41 Release	301
Epilogue	303
Author's Note	307
Endnotes	315
Index	339

Available:

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Library Journal Review

Table of Contents