The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of Friendship and Espionage

by Robert Lindsey

Description

The fascinating account of how two young Americans turned traitor during the Cold War. At the height of the Cold War, some of the nation's most precious secrets passed through a CIA contractor in Southern California. Only a handful of employees were cleared to handle the intelligence that came through the Black Vault. One of them was Christopher John Boyce, a hard-partying genius with a sky-high IQ, a passion for falconry, and little love for his country. Security at the Vault was so lax, show more Boyce couldn't help but be tempted. And when he gave in, the fate of the free world would hang in the balance. With the help of his best friend, Andrew Daulton Lee, a drug dealer with connections south of the border, Boyce began stealing classified documents and selling them to the Soviet embassy in Mexico City. It was an audacious act of treason, committed by two spoiled young men who were nearly always drunk, stoned, or both-and were about to find themselves caught in the middle of a fight between the CIA and the KGB. This Edgar Award-winning book was the inspiration for the critically acclaimed film starring Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn-a true story as thrilling as any dreamed up by Ian Fleming or John le Carré. Before Edward Snowden, there were Boyce and Lee, two of the most unlikely spies in the history of the Cold War. show less

Recommendations

The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB by Christopher Andrew

The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB

Christopher Andrew

The Flight of the Falcon by Robert Lindsey

The Flight of the Falcon

Robert Lindsey

The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for The Third World by Christopher Andrew

The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for The Third World

Christopher Andrew

Molehunt: The Secret Search for Traitors That Shattered the CIA by David Wise

Molehunt: The Secret Search for Traitors That Shattered the CIA

David Wise

A Man Called Intrepid by William Stevenson

A Man Called Intrepid

William Stevenson

Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency by James Bamford

Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency

James Bamford

Betrayal:: The Story of Aldrich Ames, an American Spy by Tim Weiner

Betrayal:: The Story of Aldrich Ames, an American Spy

Tim Weiner

The Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB by Milton Bearden

The Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB

Milton Bearden

KGB: The Inside Story of Its Foreign Operations from Lenin to Gorbachev by Christopher Andrew

KGB: The Inside Story of Its Foreign Operations from Lenin to Gorbachev

Christopher Andrew

The Bureau and the Mole: The Unmasking of Robert Philip Hanssen, the Most Dangerous Double Agent in FBI History by David A. Vise

The Bureau and the Mole: The Unmasking of Robert Philip Hanssen, the Most Dangerous Double Agent in FBI History

David A. Vise

The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal by David E. Hoffman

The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal

David E. Hoffman

Breaking with Moscow by Arkady N. Shevchenko

Breaking with Moscow

Arkady N. Shevchenko

Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA, 1981-1987 by Bob Woodward

Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA, 1981-1987

Bob Woodward

A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal by Ben Macintyre

A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal

Ben Macintyre

The Sigint Secrets: The Signals Intelligence War, 1990 to Today-Including the Persecution of Gordon Welchman by Nigel West

The Sigint Secrets: The Signals Intelligence War, 1990 to Today-Including the Persecution of Gordon Welchman

Nigel West

The Puzzle Palace: Inside the National Security Agency, America's Most Secret Intelligence Organization by James Bamford

The Puzzle Palace: Inside the National Security Agency, America's Most Secret Intelligence Organization

James Bamford

The Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA by Antonio J. Mendez

The Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA

Antonio J. Mendez

The Spy Who Got Away: The inside Story of Edward Lee Howard, the CIA Agent Who Betrayed His Country's Secrets and Escaped to Moscow by David Wise

The Spy Who Got Away: The inside Story of Edward Lee Howard, the CIA Agent Who Betrayed His Country's Secrets and Escaped to Moscow

David Wise

Spy: The Inside Story of How the FBI's Robert Hanssen Betrayed America by David Wise

Spy: The Inside Story of How the FBI's Robert Hanssen Betrayed America

David Wise

Spy Catcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer by Peter Wright

Spy Catcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer

Peter Wright

The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre

The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War

Ben Macintyre

The Book of Honor : The Secret Lives and Deaths of CIA Operatives by Ted Gup

The Book of Honor : The Secret Lives and Deaths of CIA Operatives

Ted Gup

Alger Hiss's Looking-Glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy by G. Edward White

Alger Hiss's Looking-Glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy

G. Edward White

Wilderness of Mirrors: Intrigue, Deception, and the Secrets that Destroyed Two of the Cold War's Most Important Agents by David C. Martin

Wilderness of Mirrors: Intrigue, Deception, and the Secrets that Destroyed Two of the Cold War's Most Important Agents

David C. Martin

The Philby Conspiracy by Bruce Page

The Philby Conspiracy

Bruce Page

The KGB in Europe and the West by Christopher Andrew

The KGB in Europe and the West

Christopher Andrew

My Silent War: The Autobiography of a Spy by Kim Philby

My Silent War: The Autobiography of a Spy

Kim Philby

Mayday: Eisenhower, Khrushchev, and the U-2 Affair by Michael R. Beschloss

Mayday: Eisenhower, Khrushchev, and the U-2 Affair

Michael R. Beschloss

Enemies: A History of the FBI by Tim Weiner

Enemies: A History of the FBI

Tim Weiner

Intrepid's Last Chance by William Stevenson

Intrepid's Last Chance

William Stevenson

Nightmover: How Aldrich Ames Sold the CIA to the KGB for $4.6 Million by David Wise

Nightmover: How Aldrich Ames Sold the CIA to the KGB for $4.6 Million

David Wise

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA

Tim Weiner

Treason in the Blood: H. St. John Philby, Kim Philby, and the spy case of the century by Anthony Cave Brown

Treason in the Blood: H. St. John Philby, Kim Philby, and the spy case of the century

Anthony Cave Brown

Mask of Treachery by John Costello

Mask of Treachery

John Costello

The Spy in the Russian Club by Ronald Kessler

The Spy in the Russian Club

Ronald Kessler

The FBI-KGB war : a special agent's story by Robert J. Lamphere

The FBI-KGB war : a special agent's story

Robert J. Lamphere

Traitors Among Us: Inside the Spy Catcher's World by Stuart A. Herrington

Traitors Among Us: Inside the Spy Catcher's World

Stuart A. Herrington

Spy VS. Spy by Ronald Kessler

Spy VS. Spy

Ronald Kessler

See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism by Robert Baer

See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism

Robert Baer

Manhunt by Peter Maas

Manhunt

Peter Maas

Merchants of Treason: America's Secrets for Sale by Thomas B. Allen

Merchants of Treason: America's Secrets for Sale

Thomas B. Allen

Spying for America: The Hidden History of U.S. Intelligence by Nathan Miller

Spying for America: The Hidden History of U.S. Intelligence

Nathan Miller

In Search of Enemies: A CIA Story by John Stockwell

In Search of Enemies: A CIA Story

John Stockwell

Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent Changed the History of Our Times by George Crile

Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent Changed the History of Our Times

George Crile

Family of Spies: Inside the John Walker Spy Ring by Pete Earley

Family of Spies: Inside the John Walker Spy Ring

Pete Earley

Deception: The Invisible War Between the KGB and the CIA by Edward Jay Epstein

Deception: The Invisible War Between the KGB and the CIA

Edward Jay Epstein

Spy Trader:: Germany's Devil's Advocate and the Darkest Secrets of the Cold War by Craig Whitney

Spy Trader:: Germany's Devil's Advocate and the Darkest Secrets of the Cold War

Craig Whitney

The Second Oldest Profession: Spies and Spying in the Twentieth Century by Phillip Knightley

The Second Oldest Profession: Spies and Spying in the Twentieth Century

Phillip Knightley

The Master Spy: The Story of Kim Philby by Phillip Knightley

The Master Spy: The Story of Kim Philby

Phillip Knightley

Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer - The True Story of the Man Who Recruited Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames by Victor Cherkashin

Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer - The True Story of the Man Who Recruited Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames

Victor Cherkashin

Complete Recommendations

Member Reviews

Featured Recent Thumbs

All Ratings
11
25
½2
10
6
No Rating

4 reviews

netoll 13 reviews

Interesting true story about how one's life can take a wrong turn, make a bad decision and change the entire outcome of your life....and the effect it has on those you love. Unbelievable but true.

Jul 2, 2006

cjordan916 253 reviews

This is a fascinating true story about two young men in the 1970s who stumbled their way into selling classified information to the Soviet Union.

Mar 13, 2020

Melisende 1,262 reviews

This book is based on the lives of two young American lads who get caught up in the world of drugs and espionage. I read this for a history assignment back in high school - and even managed a field trip to the cinema to see the movie version.

Ratings

aimless22 346 reviews

Jun 2, 2008

alexbpapp

Feb 2, 2023