How to catch a Russian spy : the true story of an American civilian turned self-taught double agent

The fascinating story of a young American amateur who helped the FBI bust a Russian spy in New York—sold in ten countries and in a major deal to 20th Century Fox.For three nerve-wracking years, Naveed Jamali spied on America for the Russians, trading thumb drives of sensitive technical data for envelopes of cash, selling out his own beloved country across noisy restaurant tables and in quiet parking lots. Or so the Russians believed. In fact, this young American civilian was a covert double agent working with the FBI. The Cold War wasn’t really over. It had just gone high-tech. __How to Catch a Russian Spy__ is the one-of-a-kind story of how one young man’s post-college adventure became a real-life US counter-intelligence coup. He had no previous counter-espionage experience. Everything he knew about undercover work, he’d learned from __Miami Vice__ and __Magnum P.I.__ reruns and movies like __Ronin, Spy Game__, and anything with __Bond__ or __Bourne__ in the title. And yet, hoping to gain experience to become a Navy intelligence officer, he convinced the FBI and the Russians they could trust him. With charm, cunning, and a big load of naiveté, he matched wits with a veteran Russian military-intelligence officer who was recruiting spies on American soil, out-maneuvering the Russian spy and his secret-hungry superiors. Along the way, Jamali and his FBI handlers cast a rare light on espionage activities at the Russian Mission to the United Nations in New York and earned a solid US win in the escalating hostilities between Moscow and Washington. Now, Jamali reveals the whole engaging story behind his double-agent adventure—from coded signals on Craigslist to the Russian spy’s propensity for Hooters’ Buffalo wings. Cinematic, news-breaking, and wildly entertaining, __How to Catch a Russian Spy__ is an armchair spy fantasy brought to life. Film rights sold to 20th Century Fox for director Marc Webb (__The Amazing Spider-Man, 500 Days of Summer__). The fascinating story of a young American amateur who helped the FBI bust a Russian spy in New Yorknamed the Funniest Book of the Year by The Washington Post , sold in ten countries, and to be a major motion picture for 20th Century Fox. For three nerve-wracking years, Naveed Jamali spied on America for the Russians, trading thumb drives of sensitive technical data for envelopes of cash, selling out his own beloved country across noisy restaurant tables and in quiet parking lots. Or so the Russians believed. In fact, this young American civilian was a covert double agent working with the FBI. The Cold War wasnt really over. It had just gone high-tech. How to Catch a Russian Spy is the one-of-a-kind story of how one young mans post-college adventure became a real-life US counter-intelligence coup. He had no previous counter-espionage experience. Everything he knew about undercover work, hed learned from Miami Vice and Magnum P.I. reruns and movies like Ronin, Spy Game , and anything with Bond or Bourne in the title. And yet, hoping to gain experience to become a Navy intelligence officer, he convinced the FBI and the Russians they could trust him. With charm, cunning, and a big load of naivet, he matched wits with a veteran Russian military-intelligence officer who was recruiting spies on American soil, out-maneuvering the Russian spy and his secret-hungry superiors. Along the way, Jamali and his FBI handlers cast a rare light on espionage activities at the Russian Mission to the United Nations in New York and earned a solid US win in the escalating hostilities between Moscow and Washington. Now, Jamali reveals the whole engaging story behind his double-agent adventurefrom coded signals on Craigslist to the Russian spys propensity for Hooters Buffalo wings. Cinematic, news-breaking, and hilarious ( The Washington Post ), How to Catch a Russian Spy is an armchair spy fantasy brought to life. Film rights sold to 20th Century Fox for director Marc Webb ( The Amazing Spider-Man, 500 Days of Summer ). The fascinating story of a young American amateur who helped the FBI bust a Russian spy in New York—sold in ten countries and in a major deal to 20th Century Fox. For three nerve-wracking years, Naveed Jamali spied on America for the Russians, trading thumb drives of sensitive technical data for envelopes of cash, selling out his own beloved country across noisy restaurant tables and in quiet parking lots. Or so the Russians believed. In fact, this young American civilian was a covert double agent working with the FBI. The Cold War wasn’t really over. It had just gone high-tech. How to Catch a Russian Spy is the one-of-a-kind story of how one young man’s post-college adventure became a real-life US counter-intelligence coup. He had no previous counter-espionage experience. Everything he knew about undercover work, he’d learned from Miami Vice and Magnum P.I. reruns and movies like Ronin, Spy Game , and anything with Bond or Bourne in the title. And yet, hoping to gain experience to become a Navy intelligence officer, he convinced the FBI and the Russians they could trust him. With charm, cunning, and a big load of naiveté, he matched wits with a veteran Russian military-intelligence officer who was recruiting spies on American soil, out-maneuvering the Russian spy and his secret-hungry superiors. Along the way, Jamali and his FBI handlers cast a rare light on espionage activities at the Russian Mission to the United Nations in New York and earned a solid US win in the escalating hostilities between Moscow and Washington. Now, Jamali reveals the whole engaging story behind his double-agent adventure—from coded signals on Craigslist to the Russian spy’s propensity for Hooters’ Buffalo wings. Cinematic, news-breaking, and wildly entertaining, How to Catch a Russian Spy is an armchair spy fantasy brought to life. Film rights sold to 20th Century Fox for director Marc Webb ( The Amazing Spider-Man, 500 Days of Summer ). With an epilogue on recent Russian spying, a "page-turner of a memoir" ( Publishers Weekly ) about an American civilian with a dream, who worked as a double agent with the FBI in the early 2000s to bring down a Russian intelligence agent in New York City. For three nerve-wracking years, from 2005 to 2008, Naveed Jamali spied on America for the Russians, trading thumb drives of sensitive technical data for envelopes of cash, selling out his beloved country across noisy restaurant tables and in quiet parking lots. Or so the Russians believed. In fact, Jamali was a covert double agent working with the FBI. The Cold War wasn't really over. It had just gone high-tech. "A classic case of American counterespionage from the inside...a never-ending game of cat and mouse" ( The Wall Street Journal ), How to Catch a Russian Spy is the story of how one young man's post-college-adventure became a real-life intelligence coup. Incredibly, Jamali had no previous counterespionage experience. Everything he knew about undercover work he'd picked up from TV cop shows and movies, yet he convinced the FBI and the Russians they could trust him. With charm, cunning, and bold naiveté, he matched wits with a veteran Russian military-intelligence officer, out-maneuvering him and his superiors. Along the way, Jamali and his FBI handlers exposed espionage activities at the Russian Mission to the United Nations. Jamali now reveals the full riveting story behind his double-agent adventure—from coded signals on Craigslist to clandestine meetings at Hooter's to veiled explanations to his worried family. He also brings the story up to date with an epilogue showing how the very same playbook the Russians used on him was used with spectacularly more success around the 2016 election. Cinematic, news-breaking, and "an entertaining and breezy read" ( The Washington Post ), How to Catch a Russian Spy is an armchair spy fantasy brought to life. "In 2008, almost two decades after the Cold War was officially consigned to the history books, an average American guy in his twenties helped to bring down a top Russian spy based at the United Nations. This American had no formal espionage training. Everything he knew about spying he'd learned from books, movies, video games, and TV. And yet, with the help of an initially reluctant FBI duo, he ended up at the center of a highly successful counterintelligence operation that targeted Russian espionage in America. How to Catch a Russian Spy is an American civilian's first-person account of how a post-college adventure became a real-life U.S. intelligence coup. For four nerve-wracking years, he worked as a double agent, spying on America for the Russians, trading cash for sensitive U.S. military secrets, handing over thumb-drives of valuable technical data, pretending to sell out his country across noisy restaurant tables and in quiet parking lots. Now, for the first time, he will reveal the fascinating mechanics behind his double-agent operation--from cutting-edge spy gear to coded signals on Craigslist to the Russians' propensity for Hooters' buffalo wings--that helped disrupt Russia's New York-based espionage apparatus and forced Moscow to reassign its top operatives. Cinematic, harrowing, and wildly entertaining, How to Catch a Russian Spy is every armchair espionage fan's ultimate fantasy come to fruition"-- Provided by publisher In 2008, almost two decades after the Cold War was officially consigned to the history books, an average American guy helped to bring down a top Russian spy based at the United Nations. He had no formal espionage training. Everything he knew about spying he'd learned from books, films, video games and TV. And yet, with the help of an initially reluctant FBI duo, he ended up at the centre of a highly successful counterintelligence operation that targetted Russian espionage in America. For four years, he worked as a double agent, spying on America for the Russians, trading cash for sensitive US military secrets, handing over thumb-drives of valuable technical data. Now, for the first time, he will reveal the fascinating mechanics behind his double-agent operation that helped disrupt Russia's New York-based espionage apparatus and forced Moscow to reassign its top operatives New Americans Family business Finding me America attacked Navy dreams Commander Lino Special agents Meeting Oleg Networkcentric Out and about Why spy Gaining control Agent trust Second try Worthy adversaries El Dorado Easy lies Speeding up Parking garage Grilling Oleg Thumb drive Blowing it Hooters Change of plans Phony arrest Victory lap Ensign Jamali.