Deep Undercover: My Secret Life and Tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America

Jack Barsky

Mar 2017 · NavPress

About this ebook

One decision can end everything . . . or lead to unlikely redemption.

Millions watched the CBS 60 Minutes special on Jack Barsky in 2015. Now, in this fascinating memoir, the Soviet KGB agent tells his story of gut-wrenching choices, appalling betrayals, his turbulent inner world, and the secret life he lived for years without getting caught.

On October 8, 1978, a Canadian national by the name of William Dyson stepped off a plane at O’Hare International Airport and proceeded toward Customs and Immigration.

Two days later, William Dyson ceased to exist.

The identity was a KGB forgery, used to get one of their own―a young, ambitious East German agent―into the United States.

The plan succeeded, and the spy’s new identity was born: Jack Barsky. He would work undercover for the next decade, carrying out secret operations during the Cold War years . . . until a surprising shift in his allegiance challenged everything he thought he believed.

In this deeply personal and gripping true story, Barsky exposes:

• The recruitment process and espionage training used by the KGB
• His time working in America as a secret agent
• How he unraveled the political ideologies instilled by the Communist Party
• The spiritual awakening that changed everything

Deep Undercover will reveal the secret life of this man without a country and tell the story no one ever expected him to tell.

Ratings and reviews

Jack Barsky has written a compelling, intimate memoir about his life as a high achieving East German academic recruited by the KGB and trained to pass undetected into American society. It is a tale of irony, deception, and redemption. The KGB has the vague hope that he will ultimately mix with the higher echelon of U.S. policy makers, yet it invents a background story ("legend") so generic and undistinguished that Barsky labors as a bicycle messenger on the streets of New York. The KGB then asks him to attain the educational credentials that will allow him to gain prominence, which he does with such success (as his college's valedictorian and then an information systems executive at Fortune 500 companies) that he validates the very system he was sworn to subvert. His growing philosophical doubts, coupled with his recognition of the deep toll his deceptions are taking on his relationships, lead him to reject a recall and quit the service in a creative fashion. Ahead lay unmasking and debriefing by the FBI, fulfilling new relationships and mended fences, U.S. citizenship, and a spiritual awakening, Around this framework one will find an evocative portrayal of an East German boyhood, a primer on the the elements of KGB training and spycraft in the 70's and 80's, and an engrossing description of the FBI response. I highly recommend the book.

Very well written and fascinating reading. It brought back some memories of me growing up in communist Czechoslovakia. The best part is the end when Jack is introduced to our savior Jesus Christ and accepts him as his savior.

Interesting story, but not very exciting. Much respect for the author, but all the religious stuff at the end sucked, in my opinion.