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Peter Strzok
Positive NPR Strzok, one of the most notorious FBI officials in history, wants to rehabilitate himself. But he leaves out parts of the story about which most readers probably are most curious—including his relationship with former FBI lawyer Lisa Page ... He aims to tell the story from the cog\'s-eye view about what the whole team at the FBI uncovered ... That case, at least, Strzok is willing to make in detail, beginning with a gripping section about his role in one of the FBI\'s great counterintelligence successes ... Aficionados will welcome the insights he is able to provide about key moments in the story, but newcomers may struggle to keep their heads above water. For those with a solid background in the Clinton email and Russia imbroglios, Strzok\'s account obviously is essential.
David Shimer
Positive NPR ... [an] important new history ... If Russia\'s attack on the 2016 election and other elections in Great Britain and Western Europe seemed like bolts from the blue, they shouldn\'t. Shimer\'s authoritative book places them in their proper context as only the latest installments in the long-running and sometimes grim practice of statecraft ... The American stories haven\'t been excavated as often and make for fascinating reading, as when President Harry Truman ordered the CIA to help defeat communists in Italy\'s 1948 election ... Shimer recounts the story in ample detail and includes the views of both those who think it was determinative and those who believe it wasn\'t. His section about the torturous deliberations within President Obama\'s administration about how to respond to Russia\'s active measures is comprehensive to the point of encyclopedic.
Glenn Simpson
Positive NPR Simpson and Fritsch tell the story in brisk, workmanlike prose ... For readers who\'ve been following the news closely since 2016, their book offers an intriguing step behind the scenes of familiar headlines and fills in gaps about the public understanding of Fusion GPS and the role it has played before and since Trump\'s election ... People who aren\'t closely engaged might find Crime in Progress to be tougher sledding as it delivers a rockslide of names, dates, cross-connections and bite-size explainers ... It also is a story without an ending, the authors write, because central questions about Trump — and whether powerful Russians or others may have some hold on him — haven\'t been resolved, they say ... As for skeptics or Trump supporters? Let\'s not kid ourselves; this book was not written to bring them in or change their minds ... Critics will find objectionable passages on nearly every page.
James R. Clapper
Mixed National Public Radio In Facts and Fears: Hard Truths From A Life In Intelligence, Clapper traces his life and career from what he calls the \'halcyon days\' of the Cold War, when Washington, D.C., led the international consensus against Communism ... Clapper doesn\'t break any new ground as to whether Trump and his campaign conspired with the Russians who attacked the election, though he describes his fears about aspects of the story that are already public ... The scheme, for Clapper, appears to have worked. When he left government service, he barely recognized the United States to which he was returning as a civilian.