Gus Russo

There ya have it - there were multiple conspirators at Dealey plaza that fateful day: One was Lee Harvey Oswald, the other ... was JFK. JFK was conspiring with RFK to kill Castro and Oswald was conspiring to save Castro. Of course, if Oswald had implicit support (some would be happy to just not stop him) or explicit support (some would love to help him, if they could get past his dangerous neuroses. This is the ultimate tale of hubris ... and nemesis ... and tregedy.

The thing I liked most about "Best of Enemies" is that I was alive and traveling the world while all of this spy stuff was going on. If, when I was younger I had made different choices, perhaps I could have been one of these guys, creating traitors, stalking traitors, smuggling secrets in small packages.

As a committed peacenik, at a fundamental level I think all of this skullduggery is wrong, but a citizen of the real world, I know it is needed. It's beyond my ken that people would sell show more secrets for something as worthless as money, and I have no sympathy for the traitors sitting in jail for their betrayals.

Even without Mr. Dezenhall and Mr. Russo's excellent portrayal, it is easy for me to understand how the men in this story could be friends while pursuing opposite political goals – or maybe the same goals but from the opposite side of the battle. Whatever image you like better.

If you are interested in thematic and technical aspects of Soviet and US spy craft, I am sure you will like this book.

I received a review copy of "Best of Enemies: The Last Great Spy Story of the Cold War" by Eric Dezenhall and Gus Russo (Twelve Books) through NetGalley.com. show less

The thrilling story of two Cold War spies, CIA case officer Jack Platt and KGB agent Gennady Vasilenko -- improbable friends at a time when they should have been anything but.

Two dedicated agents of opposing counter-intelligence agencies who become friends - a buddy story. Whilst obviously written for the mass market, I found this to be a conflicting read for me. I was interested to know how the two men - Jack Platt and Gennady Vasilenko - managed to become close friends, and yet both men show more come off as arrogant, self-absorbed, renegades, whose respective agencies seemingly put up with despite going totally against the grain, that I felt no empathy with either of them.

For me, the striking thing to come out of all of this was how one-sided this friendship seemed to be. Valisenko seems to be taking all the risks and makes all the overtures (after Platt's initial contact), and appears to have come out of it all extremely worse for wear - used even by Platt.

There's a lot of school boy hi-jinks and very little espionage - except for the revealing of two spies, but by this stage both men were actually no longer members of their respective agencies but still, somehow, managed to stay in the game.

The more I read this book, the more I wanted to slap Vasilenko across the head with it or throw it at Platt that is how much both men infuriated me. Either that, or it was the writing style of both authors that failed to convey any sense the personal to attract me to wanting to know more of their stories beyond what was written here.

If you are interested in this genre, you will no doubt pick it up and read at some stage. show less

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Best of Enemies: The Last Great Spy Story of the Cold War by Gus Russo and Eric Dezenhall is a non-fiction book which narrates the relationship between KGB officer Gennady Semyovich Vasilenko and legendary CIA officer Jack Platt. Both Mr. Russo and Mr. Dezenhall are published writers with numerous works under their belts.

I love a good spy novel, a great one is even better, and a great non-fiction book which reads like show more a great spy novel is the best. Best of Enemies: The Last Great Spy Story of the Cold War by Gus Russo and Eric Dezenhall reads like the last one, an approachable and readable book about a complex relationship, geo-political goals, and true friendship.

The authors use extensive interviews of the Mr. Platt and Mr. Vasilenko, as well as unclassified information to tell the stories. The main narrative, besides a long lasting unlikely friendship, is the hunt for an American mole in the intelligence community which has caused untold amount of damage. Mr. Platt was instrumental in finding that mole, Robert Hanssen, unfortunately, Mr. Vasilenko was arrested and wrongfully imprisoned and tortured for years as a result.

Reading about the brutal imprisonment in modern Russia seems like an extension of the old gulag system. Trying to break a person to get unreliable, yet career making, information or a confession, a false one most likely.

The picture the authors paint of the ex-CIA, ex-KGB operators is that of two fun loving, strong and clever men who share much in common (most notably alcohol and shooting). Men who love their respective countries and will do anything out of pure patriotism despite the large personal cost they pay or their ideological disagreements with the current regime. The authors also touch on the difficult price operatives’ families pay, wives and children take second place to country and its needs.

Each person in the book is conveyed with great respect, but does not shy away from revealing some of their flaws which in my opinion makes this book about humans instead of fictional super-spies. Even actor Robert De Niro, who met the two while researching his 2006 movie The Good Shepard, became an admirer and a lifelong friend (he even wanted the charming and charismatic Mr. Vasilenko to star next to him).

The book contains relevant detail to the story the authors are trying to tell. It is not bogged down by details which will slow down the story, even if they might be somewhat relevant – after all, recapping 40 years of two very dangerous lives, lived by two exciting people is not an easy task to accomplish in 336 pages. show less