Keating "The Billion Dollar Spy" Annotations
STYLE:
THEMES:
CHARACTERS:
PLOT:
The book recalls the interactions between the KGB and the CIA, as the CIA tries to gather information from a mole in the KGB named Adolf Tolkachev. Tolkachev worked for the CIA for multiple years, and he even has a suicide pill in case he gets caught. The book ties together the role of the the characters with the overlying message of the Cold War, and how tensions were running wildly high but with neither country fully signing on to the idea of mutually assured destruction.
Treason vs Personal Gain:
With the example of Tolkachev, the book glosses over the fact that the spy is willing to give up some very confidential secrets of his homeland, granted he gets millions of dollars from a foreign government in return. The question I was thinking was, "how much money would it take me to betray my country?". It would have to be a lot of money, sure, but I might draw the line at where my country would not save me for the same amount of money in, say, a hostage situation.
In contrast to The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, the Billion Dollar Spy reads in a different tone. This is largely, I assume, because it is a nonfiction book rather than a more fictitious thriller like TSWCIFTC.
More straightforward than over books I have read in the past, which makes sense given the author cannot stray from what the facts truly were.
CIA and Tolkachev plan a meeting to give away intelligence on Soviet weapons systems and aircrafts. The Moscow Station does not like being tied down by physical letters, but they must be used to get past the surveillance teams.
Adolf Tolkachev: Soviet engineer who after several letters gets in contact with the CIA as a mole. His information was impeccable
James Doolittle: WW2 leader of bombings in Japan; warned government of the Soviet threat and advocated for espionage, regardless of its shamefulness.
Tolkachev's motive is not necessarily money or power, but he is more propelled by his anti-Communist ideology that has been ruling the Soviet Union for so long.
Hathaway is displeased with Turner becoming the chief of the CIA, and prevents agents from working because he believes it would be immoral. (This is a really interesting phenomenon to me.) Guilsher knows how vital the information that Tolkachev has is, but the problem is with how they are to pay him.
In addition to money, Tolkachev wants to be able to be given a place to live in America in exchange for his information. Tolkachev realizes that if the US tips off that they know of the Soviet's weapon plans, he would be in major trouble. Later, the CIA determines his information to be worth $2 billion
After being distrusted initially, Rolph and Gerber finally give Tolkachev a meeting and give him a suicide pill in the case that he is caught by the Soviet counterintelligence.
Victor Shmeyov: Works for the KGB but is a mole for the CIA in order to avenge Valentin, his friend.
Gus Hathaway: Latest chief of Moscow Station.
Stansfield Turner: Visionary and future admiral in the US Navy, and head of the CIA at President Carter's request
Bill Plunkert: Ran track at Boston College, and his mission was to control and coordinate the Operation involving Tolkachev
Robert Morris: Vietnam War veteran, Morris does work in Moscow Station such as meeting with Tolkachev and receiving his letters.
Marti Peterson: Worked at the US Embassy in Moscow and employed Soviet workers. First woman to serve as a case officer in Moscow Station
Haviland Smith: Radio technician who discovered the Czech frequency that was monitoring the US Embassy
Oleg Penkovsky: Soviet double agent who spied for the United States and gathered vital intel for the Americans before 1962 when he was caught and executed.
Pyotor Popov: Soviet double agent for the United States who was a major in the Soviet army, making him the most valuable military resource within the CIA. He spies for the US in retaliation against Stalin's harsh rule over the peasants. He was caught and executed in 1960.
Alexander Ogorodnick: Soviet who despised the communist state he was living in, and received a suicide pill when he started working for the Americans in 1974. He eventually used it before the Soviets arrested him.
Robert Fulton: Almost always followed by a KGB surveillance team, and got a mysterious letter from an anonymous man
Secrecy: One of the main habits of a spy network is obviously its commitment to flying as low on the radar as it possibly can.
Motivation: Coersion (blackmail, often used against gay men), Revenge (Tolkachev), Ideology, Money, and Ego are all motivations that are evident as to why people spy.
We learn about Tolkachev's family and how he had a son named Adik, who is married to a girl named Natasha. We learn that Tolkachev is thinking about selling KGB secrets to China on top of the hundreds of classified documents that he has already sold to the United States.
Rolph and Tolkachev discuss meeting, even though both parties are suspicious of the other in the spy game. They met last in 1981, and Tolkachev had a growing list of demands (most of which regarded the security of his son Adik).
After an investigation in the KGB regarding some of the sensitive documents Tolkachev had been handling, Tolkachev moves away with his family and destroys all the evidence against him that he has. Luckily the investigation never cited Tolkachev as a target, and Bill Morris calms his nerves. The CIA does tell him to not make himself suspicious in case there are more investigations, however. Later, the intel and pictures that Tolkachev brings the CIA were not the same quality as they once were, and his attendance at meetings were very rare.
Tolkachev and his family are eventually abducted by the KGB. The Soviets are able to tell that Tolkachev betrayed them when they raided his house and found many incriminating documents and the suicide pill he would use if he were to be caught (so sad!). It was most likely Edward Lee Howard who tipped off the KGB about Tolkachev.
Tolkachev is executed, but remained respected among the CIA. Edward Lee Howard was able to escape to a foreign country with his wife.