Catching a Russian Spy is the story of the FBI's investigation of Aldrich Ames, CIA agent who turned Russian spy, and the agent who helped bring him to justice.
Aldrich H. "Rick" Ames was a 31-year veteran of the CIA. He was also a Russian spy. By the time Ames was arrested in 1994, he had betrayed the identities of dozens and caused the deaths of ten agents. The notorious KGB (and later the Russian intelligence service, SVR) paid him millions of dollars.

Agent Leslie G. "Les" Wiser, Jr. ran the FBI's Nightmover investigation tasked with uncovering a mole in the CIA. The team worked night and day to collect evidence--sneaking into Ames' home, hiding a homing beacon in his Jaguar, and installing a video camera above his desk. But the spy kept one step ahead, even after agents followed him to Bogota, Colombia. In a crazy twist, the FBI would score its biggest clue from inside Ames' garbage can.

At the time of his arrest on February 21, 1994, he had compromised more highly-classified CIA assets than any other agent in history.

Go behind the scences of some of the FBI's most interesting cases in award-winning journalist Bryan Denson's FBI Files series, featuring the investigations of the Unabomber, al-Qaeda member Mohamed Mohamud, and Michael Young's diamong theft ring. Each book includes photographs, a glossary, a note from the author, and other detailed backmatter on the subject of the investigation.

Author: Bryan Denson
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Published: 01/21/2020
Series: FBI Files #2
Pages: 176
Weight: 0.3lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.50w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9781250199171
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 6.9
Point Value: 4
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 507134 / Catching a Russian Spy: Agent Les Wiser Jr. and the Case of Aldrich Ames

About the Author
Bryan Denson is an award-winning journalist and the author of The Spy's Son. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in national reporting and winner of the George Polk Award. Bryan contributes stories to Newsweek and serves as a special correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. FBI Files is Bryan's first series for young readers. He lives in Portland, Oregon.