In the Enemy's House

The Secret Saga of the FBI Agent and the Code Breaker Who Caught the Russian Spies

By: Howard Blum

Narrated by: David Colacci

Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

The New York Times best-selling author of Dark Invasion and The Last Goodnight once again illuminates the lives of little-known individuals who played a significant role in America's history as he chronicles the incredible true story of a critical, recently declassified counterintelligence mission and two remarkable agents whose story has been called "the greatest secret of the Cold War".

In 1946, genius linguist and codebreaker Meredith Gardner discovered that the KGB was running an extensive network of strategically placed spies inside the United States, whose goal was to infiltrate American intelligence and steal the nation's military and atomic secrets. Over the course of the next decade, he and young FBI supervisor Bob Lamphere worked together on Venona, a top-secret mission to uncover the Soviet agents and protect the Holy Grail of Cold War espionage - the atomic bomb.

Opposites in nearly every way, Lamphere and Gardner relentlessly followed a trail of clues that helped them identify and take down these Soviet agents one by one, including Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. But at the center of this spy ring, seemingly beyond the American agents' grasp, was the mysterious master spy who pulled the strings of the KGB's extensive campaign, dubbed Operation Enormoz by Russian Intelligence headquarters. Lamphere and Gardner began to suspect that a mole buried deep in the American intelligence community was feeding Moscow Center information on Venona. They raced to unmask the traitor and prevent the Soviets from fulfilling Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev's threat: "We shall bury you!"

A breathtaking chapter of American history and a head-turning mystery that plays out against the tense, life-and-death gamesmanship of the Cold War, this twisting thriller begins at the end of World War II and leads all the way to the execution of the Rosenbergs - a result that haunted both Gardner and Lamphere to the end of their lives.

©2018 Howard Blum (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

Pretty darn good

This was fascinating story and an interesting glimpse into a very intriguing part of our history. I enjoyed the story as a whole but since I listen to books while I am doing something else - I had to "rewind" several times as the story jumps around occasionally and I would get a little lost. This is no fault of the writing - just my listening.
I guess what I am trying to say is that the details matter in this story, hence the rewinding.

I initially thought I would have liked a little more detail and/or clarity on some of the "spies", but after reflecting on the book I believe further detail on the spies would have been misplaced. This book is about the two guys and their path not about the spies.
It really is a fascinating story but not quite compelling.

Narration drags

Narration: slow, cumbersome, boring.

Story: might be good story, but the narration is uninspiring. I'm returning this book.

4 stars - a lot going on.

I’m giving the overall rating 4 stars just because it was difficult to pick back up where leaving off. If you listen straight through you may enjoy it better. The story deals with a lot of characters and has a lot going on. Stay focused if you don’t wanna miss anything. Good listen!

A thrilling nonfiction title

Blum has written yet another totally absorbing nonfiction title ... Colacci does the book proud with his narration ... great storytelling

Focused

This excellent book provides a well-researched and highly useful look at one of the crucial and deeply consequential episodes in American history. This narrative arises out of the Soviet penetration of the U.S. government, and in particular, the stealing of U.S. atomic research during and after World War II. Anyone looking for a good introduction into the effects and ramifications of the Venona program, will find that this book is as good a place to start as any. The book provides a well-documented and compelling insider view. Focusing-in on the Rosenberg spy ring — in order to explain the efforts of key people in the FBI, and their cryptographic code-breaking Venona work — is a very useful way for a casual reader to begin to grasp how the history-changing theft of U.S. atomic secrets played out. The author’s acknowledgment of sources, as the final chapter of this book, is also an excellent introduction to many key books, collections, and webpages available to interested parties.
I am left to wonder at the conclusions of Meredith Gardner and Robert Lamphere — touched on very briefly at book’s end — regarding their apparent views about the miscarriage of justice in at least the case of Ethel Rosenberg. Perhaps the author deliberately chose not to veer into this related subject, which to this day is fraught with the weight of emotions, perceptions, and political viewpoints, and which has launched what Robert Lamphere called “a propaganda career that's still going on that there is something wrong with the prosecution and sentencing of the Rosenbergs to death.” My point here is to state nothing more than the fact that today there are well-informed views that present reasonable arguments for the imposition of capital punishment on both of the Rosenbergs.

History reads like a novel

I had heard before that America did not realize it was being spied on by the Russians, both nations uncomfortable allies in WW2. The US approach at the time was to be isolationist and to think 'you don't spy on your allies.' Howard Blum gives us a detailed account of the genesis and development of the US defensive spy system centered on two key US agents but spreading the net over all concerned. A solid background of each character is provided, the most comprehensive given to the two US agents in question. It has the effect of humanizing the events, making them relatable, because human events they were. A fascinating read. As a side benefit you learn snippets about the modus operandi of various forms of goverment beside our own. It is excellently narrated by David Colacci (and I'm picky). His calm and pleasantly rhythmic delivery is accented by his excellent voice adaptations for direct speech. The narration never detracts from the riveting story so carefully laid out, on the contrary the somewhat low-key flavor of the reading helps convey the serious and secretive atmosphere of that intelligence and counter-intelligence world where danger clearly lurks in the shadows. A thorough piece of History. I don't often read an entire book, I will this one.

Story is fascinating

The story of two American heroes is the gem of this book! Performance is ok.

Riveting and frighteningly contemporary

Narrator is wonderful. Story is incredibly compelling. I'd heard bits and pieces of spy stories growing up in the 70s but never realized how much I would enjoy the whole story. The author's point in the epilogue regarding how this hasn't changed is spot on. Dasvidania.

You can't beat non-fiction

You can't beat non-fiction to tell the tale of the spies and those that catch them!

Very Well Written

"In the Enemy's House" is an extreamly well written and well documented book. Although I had know about the Russian spies in the US I was amazed by how they hid their trade craft. I highly recommend this book.