The Spy Who Couldn't Spell

A Dyslexic Traitor, an Unbreakable Code, and the FBI's Hunt for America's Stolen Secrets

By: Yudhijit Bhattacharjee

Narrated by: Robert Fass

Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

The thrilling, true-life account of the FBI's hunt for ingenious traitor Brian Regan - known as the Spy Who Couldn't Spell.

Before Edward Snowden's infamous data breach, the largest theft of government secrets was committed by an ingenious traitor whose intricate espionage scheme and complex system of coded messages were made even more baffling by his dyslexia. His name is Brian Regan, but he came to be known as the Spy Who Couldn't Spell.

In December of 2000, FBI special agent Steven Carr of the bureau's Washington, DC, office received a package from FBI New York: a series of coded letters from an anonymous sender to the Libyan consulate, offering to sell classified US intelligence. The offer, and the threat, were all too real. A self-proclaimed CIA analyst with top secret clearance had information about US reconnaissance satellites, air defense systems, weapons depots, munitions factories, and underground bunkers throughout the Middle East.

Rooting out the traitor would not be easy, but certain clues suggested a government agent with a military background, a family, and a dire need for money. Leading a diligent team of investigators and code breakers, Carr spent years hunting down a dangerous spy and his cache of stolen secrets.

In this fast-paced true-life spy thriller, Yudhijit Bhattacharjee reveals how the FBI unraveled Regan's strange web of codes to build a case against a man who nearly collapsed America's military security.

©2016 Yudhijit Bhattacharjee (P)2016 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"An excellent, highly engrossing account of the search for a man who was cunning, avaricious - and a dreadful speller....It is a pleasure to be in the hands of a writer who so skillfully weaves his assiduous research into polished prose....The Spy Who Couldn’t Spell presents an estimable, thoroughly enjoyable overview of espionage in the digital age.” (The Wall Street Journal)

“Yudhijit Bhattacharjee has brought to light an intriguing tale of espionage and betrayal - a tale filled with twists and turns and powerful revelations.” (David Grann, New York Times best-selling author of The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon)

“Brian Regan was an all too human spy, a trailblazer in the digital age - a mole who managed to squirrel away thousands of classified documents - and a brilliant, dyslexic cryptologist who was caught in part because he couldn’t spell. Yudhijit Bhattacharjee has penetrated the FBI and other parts of the intelligence community to write this fantastic true story - a captivating, gracefully-written narrative that is destined to become a classic in the history of code-breaking.” (Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames)

Terrific Book

What made the experience of listening to The Spy Who Couldn't Spell the most enjoyable?

Extremely well developed and suspenseful (even knowing the ending!).

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

This story, along with the traitorous actions of Bradley Manning and Julian Assange, demonstrates the serious damage that can be done to U.S. intelligence by one determined individual with a flash drive. On the flip side, it also shows the intelligence community's inability to safeguard it.

A Great Spy Caper

The Spy Who Couldn't Spell is an often lighthearted telling of a true story that is full of unexpected twists. It also serves as a good primer on cryptography, without delving in too deep and getting lost in the details of what is actually a rather intricate crime.

A good spy story well told

I enjoyed this book. It’s well written and tells a good spy story. It made me wonder… for every “in house spy” they catch, how many get away scot-free?

Thrilling & True

Would you listen to The Spy Who Couldn't Spell again? Why?

yes - to soak in any details that I missed the 1st time.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

Steve Carr's out of the box thinking. Why the spy did not plead guilty & why he was sentenced with the death penalty. The exhaustive search for threats to national security.

Which character – as performed by Robert Fass – was your favorite?

F.B.I. Special Agent Steve Carr

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Any additional comments?

It has thrilling & tense parts & lots of facts to help the reader understand the true threat to National Security.

fascinating story of a lesser-known espionage episode

this story is a fascinating weave of the spy with the hunter, the codemaker with the codebreaker. i enjoyed learning about the NRO and other lesser-known aspects of US intelligence. the writing is excellent, and the narration is peerless. visual codes were well-described, and it struck me that while the spy himself was described as telling his story in a monotone, this retelling was anything but. still, it was calm and easy to listen to. A++

Great Great Great Story Telling, What a Great Book!

Soon as I read an excerpt online about this book I marked my calendar with the book's release data. On the date it came out, November 1st, I ordered it on Audible and finished listening to it in 8 days. It's an amazing book. The story telling is suspenseful and I could not get enough of it. Get this book, you won't regret it! A+++++++

Not a riveting thriller, but a fascinating story

Definitely an interesting story I was surprised to have never heard about. The tale of an awkward American spy who became the first ever to face the death penalty for espionage

Well worth the listen

Well written and engaging

This book is based on an interesting topic in our history and is presented in such a way that I had a hard time turning it off. It is well-written. Robert Fass was an excellent narrator for this story.

Disappointed

The last 1 hour and 30 minutes wouldn’t play. Did not get to hear full book.

Excellent Story and Narration

I listened to this in my car for two weeks, the story was great and I never lost interest. Narration was good and kept it appealing.