Christopher Lynch
Product Description
Chris Lynch was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He graduated from Michigan State University and joined the FBI in 1976, his principal qualification for the entry-level job being that he had never been arrested. He worked in the Intelligence Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., becoming a senior counterintelligence analyst, and earned a master's degree in International Relations in 1982. In 1985, he moved to the CIA, where most of his career was spent in counterintelligence in the Directorate of Operations. Now retired, Lynch lives near Washington and enjoys traveling, rediscovering old friends, and chipping away at a sleep deficit accumulated over thirty years.
The C.I. Desk: FBI and CIA Counterintelligence As Seen From My Cubicle follows the author from the mailroom to the locked doors of compartmented “special projects” in Headquarters-level counterintelligence (CI).
In 1976, Chris Lynch joined the Intelligence Division mailroom at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., for three dollars per hour. He soon moved on to the first of many CI “desks,” and was then invited to join a newly-formed analytical unit, becoming responsible for the reporting from a KGB officer being handled “in place.”
Over the years, he became the FBI's “go-to guy” for information on KGB practices and personnel, and was often called upon for a “fresh look” at FBI CI targeting techniques. Moving to the CIA in 1985, Lynch's specialties included detecting hostile control and analysis of CIA operational tradecraft, working on cases that spanned the globe.
He was part of the initial CIA effort to investigate the losses of Soviet sources eventually attributed to the mole Aldrich Ames. His story includes unique details on high-profile CI and counterespionage cases, agents, and officers, including convicted spy Robert P. Hanssen, who was Lynch's supervisor for two years, and the dramatic case of a KGB officer whose cooperation with the FBI was exposed by both Ames and Hanssen.
Readers won't be able to put down this fascinating insider's look at undercover, double agent, and other CI operations at both FBI and CIA Headquarters.
Phi Beta Iota: This appears to be a very fine book, with great potential for those seeking to learn more about the discipline of intelligence and counter-intelligence.