A true story about the US’s most dangerous female spy. Ana Montes worked for the US’s government for years, but it turns out she actually was a spy for Cuba. Even worse, her sister was a dedicated FBI agent.

I didn’t know this story, so it was interesting to read. The structure wasn’t my favorite, and some of the chapters felt abrupt. But overall, an interesting story.

Ana Montes was one of the US government's top experts on Cuba, working her way up the ranks to the Defense Intelligence Agency. The daughter of an Army Colonel, Ana's family was full of patriots; her siblings were FBI agents, and her sister Lucy was responsible for hunting out Cuban spies. Yet, even Lucy was shocked when, in the days after 9/11, Ana was arrested as a secret agent for Cuba. With Ana Montes's release from prison scheduled in January 2023, Jim Popkin details the opposite routes two sisters took and how one turned into the most-damaging spy against America.

Who knew the story of the most deadly spy in US History could be so completely and utterly boring. With stilted writing full of cliches, Code Name Blue Wren was more informative than interesting. Popkin failed to add any force behind his writing, and I finally gave up at the 25% mark, realizing that the writing was never going to improve enough for me to care about this book.

Ana Montes, the person at the center of this book, for over decade was spying for Cuba and spent the following 20 years in jail. She is scheduled to be released in January 2023. This book is a portrait of a spy, the story of her capture, and an investigation of why and how it happened that she turned to spying against her country.. Author writes, “Ana Belén Montes is sometimes called the most important spy you’ve never heard of.” And he asks, “What cocktail of resentment, narcissism, and insecurity would convince someone to deliberately choose a life of endless betrayal and double-dealing?” So far, the author says, Montes “refused to apologize and showed no remorse”.
The most incredible part of the story is that Ana Montes comes from a military family and all her siblings worked for the US intelligence services. Her sister Lucy helped to uncover Ana’s betrayal and she struggles trying to reconcile with the idea of being a patriot and a spy’s sister. For everybody who likes to read spy stories and thrillers, this would be an excellent read.