THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE
Changing the Rules of the Game
[The Trump White House is] trustworthy...Kessler conveys Trump's world in coherent, readable fashion.—Washington Post
Kessler has] done groundbreaking work over the years and was always extremely well-sourced in law enforcement circles, and that has yielded major scoops. His reporting helped bring about the downfall of an FBI director—no small accomplishment.—Michael Isikoff, Chief Investigative Correspondent, Yahoo! News
Check out Kessler's books. They are the best.—Jesse Watters, Primetime Live, Fox News
THE FIRST FAMILY DETAIL
Secret Service Agents Reveal the Hidden Lives
of the Presidents
...a compelling look at the intrepid personnel who shield America's presidents and their families—and those whom they guard. Kessler writes flatteringly and critically about people in both parties.—New York Post
Ronald Kessler gets the presidents' Secret Service agents to tell tales out-of-house in The First Family Detail.—Vanity Fair
Ron Kessler...has enjoyed a reputation for solid reporting over the past four decades. Revelations of ethical abuses uncovered for his 1994 book on the modern FBI, for instance, played a role in the dismissal of then-director William Sessions.—Lloyd Grove, The Daily Beast
[Ronald Kessler is] the man who broke the story about the [Secret Service prostitution] episode in Cartagena....—New York Times
One person [Ronald Kessler] was warning of the decline of the [Secret Service and its lapses and failures] well before the Salahis crashed a state dinner in 2009; well before the 2012 prostitute scandal in Colombia; before a knife-wielding man gained entrance to the White House last year; and before the recent episode in which drunk agents drove their car up to the White House and interrupted an active bomb investigation.—SmartBlog on Leadership
I found this book to be fascinating and hard to put down. With no political leanings either way, the writing was refreshingly objective. The author's perspectives of the first families...were so interesting and even eye-opening at times. Some of the stories actually made me laugh out loud. A well-rounded read as it is informative, interesting, humorous, and enlightening.—Amazon review
THE SECRETS OF THE FBI
Having reported on the FBI for decades and written two best sellers on the agency, Kessler really does have some secrets to share. These have less to do with how the FBI functions than with what its agents have learned while dealing with the White House, Wall Street, terrorists, spies, the Mafia, and more. Oooh, some dirty revelations? Try for all your crime-fiction fans.—Library Journal
[Ronald Kessler] is one of the nation's top investigative journalists.—Fox & Friends
Ron Kessler appears to get everything first.—Slate
I don’t know how the author Ronald Kessler does it, convincing some FBI agents to sing like canaries....reads like a spy novel.—Washington Independent Review of Books
Kessler’s exploration of the FBI provides a collection of revealing information, amusing anecdotes, and curious agency tactics.—Publishers Weekly
When you finish reading Ronald Kessler's The Secrets of the FBI, you feel that you are in the loop. Somehow the veteran insider has assembled what appears to be the bureau's playbook for combating everything from organized crime to terrorism...In spite of the subject matter, the book seems agenda-free, and what little political comment is detectable appears to be solely a function of the author's humanity.—Booksie
It seems unlikely that any investigative reporter can match Ronald Kessler’s credentials for unmasking FBI secrets: The revelations in his book The FBI: Inside the World's Most Powerful Law Enforcement Agency rocked the agency and led to the dismissal of Director William S. Sessions. In his latest project, the longtime Washington Post journalist not only provides the inside stories of how these stealthy operatives track down spies and terrorists; he also reveals celebrity secrets that the FBI has exposed in their investigations.—Barnes and Noble
IN THE PRESIDENT'S SECRET SERVICE
Behind the Scenes With Agents in the Line of Fire
and the Presidents They Protect
[A] fascinating exposé...high-energy read...amusing, saucy, often disturbing anecdotes about the VIPs the Secret Service has protected and still protects.....[accounts come] directly from current and retired agents (most identified by name, to Kessler's credit)....Balancing the sordid tales are the kinder stories of presidential humanity...[Kessler is a] respected journalist and former Washington Post reporter....an insightful and entertaining story.—USA Today
Kessler's such a skilled storyteller, you almost forget this is dead-serious nonfiction.... An afterword reveals new details about Kessler's discovery of a third uninvited intruder during last year's White House State Dinner... The behind-the-scenes anecdotes are delightful, but Kessler has a bigger point to make, one concerning why the under-appreciated Secret Service deserves better leadership.—Newsweek
Rips the lid off the inside world of Secret Service agents and the presidents they protect.—New York Post
You have some incredible anecdotes here about the private moments [of the presidents].—Jon Stewart, The Daily Show
For this book about the U.S. Secret Service, Kessler (The Terrorist Watch), a former investigative reporter for the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, managed to get former agents to open up. Some of their shocking stories are hard to believe, but Kessler names most of his sources....Library patrons will love it.—Library Journal
This taut, true narrative about the agents who guard, and pledge to die for, the president of the United States recounts familiar plots and unveils never-released information about assassination attempts throughout our history. The author uses first-person accounts and previously classified information to weave together a nonfiction thriller.—AudioFile
His [Kessler's] book quotes both flattering and unflattering observations about presidents of both parties.—FactCheck.org
THE TERRORIST WATCH
Inside the Desperate Race to Stop
the Next Attack
Ronald Kessler is a veteran Washington-based investigative journalist on national security...His unparalleled access to top players in America's counterterrorism campaign allowed him a rare glimpse into their tradecraft, making The Terrorist Watch a riveting account.—Washington Times
A very interesting look inside the FBI and CIA, which I think is unprecedented.—Jon Stewart, The Daily Show
Ron Kessler destroys myths about the war on terror and provides an unprecedented, inside look at how the FBI and CIA go about the tough task of defeating terrorism and preserving our freedom.—William H. Webster, former director of Central Intelligence and former director of the FBI
A powerful and brave book. Kessler makes it clear that if we win this war, it will be because of the FBI and CIA professionals who have protected America since 9/11. If we lose the war, it will be because of distortions by the mainstream media, those who leak operational secrets to them, and politicians who undermine those who are trying to protect us.—R. James Woolsey, former director of Central Intelligence
Ron Kessler is unique in his ability and willingness to tell the unvarnished truth about what it will take to protect America from the next major terrorist attack. This is a book which every informed and responsible American should read.—Robert Grenier, former director of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center
Ronald Kessler vividly tells the important story of the extraordinary efforts of those Americans who stand on guard protecting our nation in the war against Islamist extremism.—Senator Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
If you like Michael Moore movies, don't buy Ronald Kessler's newest book. It does not heap scorn upon President George W. Bush. It does not inspire panic over "spy programs" that trample Americans' civil liberties. Nor does it sneer at American patriotism. Kessler's book celebrates the intelligence community's successes.—New York Post
Kessler knows the national security bureaucracy well and enjoys access to key participants paralleled only by Bob Woodward.—Booklist
LAURA BUSH
An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady
Laura Bush is a remarkable woman—a great mother, daughter, and daughter-in-law, and, of course, first lady. The thing that makes this gentle, bright woman dearer than all of the above is that she makes the president, our son, happy. Ron Kessler does a great job of capturing the spirit of Laura Bush.—former First Lady Barbara Bush
Kessler spoke with friends of George and Laura Bush, including Laura's old boyfriends who had not previously spoken to the press. The result is a portrait of a modest, self-assured woman, who has a subtle influence on the Bush administration...Her admirers will relish this book...—Booklist
Kessler's book is based on interviews with Bush's closest friends and confidantes from childhood to the present, as well as family members and administration heavyweights like Condoleezza Rice and Andrew Card.—CBS News
A MATTER OF CHARACTER
Inside the White House of George W. Bush
...both a straightforward political biography of Bush and a remarkable inside account of his White House. Bush's character comes into focus in telling anecdotes.—National Review
Ronald Kessler's inside, authoritative account of how George W. Bush has applied principled leadership to the tough task of defeating terrorism and preserving freedom should be read by everyone who cares about our national security.—William H. Webster, former director of Central Intelligence and former director of the FBI
An inner sanctum portrayal of a president who is down-to-earth, fundamentally decent, humble, and more intellectually sophisticated and flexible than he is often portrayed.—Boston Herald
This is the best biography of President Bush I've read...Bob Woodward's level of access to officials and insiders may parallel or exceed Kessler's, but Kessler uses the innumerable interviews he conducted to craft his story in a much more interesting way.—Stanford Review
THE CIA AT WAR
Inside the Secret Campaign Against Terror
...Kessler brings to life a world generally described only in fiction. While providing special insight into CIA successes associated with the post-9/11 war on terror, Kessler also portrays a demoralized agency that lost popular and political support because of its inability to detect traitors within its own ranks....Kessler had unprecedented access to the agency, which is reflected in his up-to-date commentary on the war and administration policy.—Booklist
Kessler's balanced use of sources and unprecedented access, his skillful storytelling, and his grasp of the agency's inner-workings and history, make this a must-read for anyone who cares about the Global War on Terrorism.—Stanford Review
Kessler gives an absorbing and critical...history of the agency and its problems, based on extensive interviews with past and present CIA officials and leavened with intriguing secret-agent lore.—Publishers Weekly
Along with the memoirs of Katharine Graham and Ben Bradlee, Bob Woodward lists Ronald Kessler's The CIA at War under Fact Sheet on his website as one of five books he recommends to learn more about himself.—BobWoodward.com
THE BUREAU
The Secret History of the FBI
Revelatory...Kessler investigates the relationship between FBI directors and sitting presidents and also includes exclusive interviews with Robert Mueller, who led the FBI in the period immediately after 9/11.—New York Times
Colorful and fascinating new details on episodes from Waco to Watergate...Kessler's sobering report on [former FBI Director Louis] Freeh will come as a surprise to most readers—and possibly even to Washington insiders—because so little criticism leaked while he was there...Chilling.—Washington Post Book World
...a compelling and timely exposition of the real FBI. Kessler's fresh information and command of the facts...rings with authority...One of the best books of the year.—Los Angeles Times
Was there anyone who saw before 9/11 that things were not really so hunky-dory at [Louis J.] Freeh's FBI? There was one voice crying in the wilderness: journalist Ronald Kessler, who charged that FBI agent morale had collapsed under Freeh and that Freeh was personally responsible for mishandling key cases...Kessler was right on all counts. Go back and read his two books on the bureau after you read Freeh.—Washington Monthly
There are plenty of people claiming they knew Deep Throat was actually former FBI man Mark Felt....On May 3, 2002, PAGE SIX reported that Ronald Kessler, author of The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI, says that all the evidence points to former top FBI official W. Mark Felt.—New York Post
Ronald Kessler...all but beat Vanity Fair to the punch of disclosing that Deep Throat was former FBI Associate Director W. Mark Felt.—Washington Times
In guessing game, few can say "I told you so..." Ronald Kessler's [The Bureau], naming W. Mark Felt as Deep Throat, was on the money.—Baltimore Sun
THE SEASON
Inside Palm Beach and America's Richest Society
An irresistibly titillating and voyeuristic glimpse into the glittering façade and often gritty underbelly of Palm Beach.—Booklist
Adultery, plastic surgery and decadent night life all feature prominently here, as do names like Donald Trump, Roxanne Pulitzer and Rod Stewart...a fun and frothy glimpse into a world that, despite its surface glitter, is, as Kessler astutely observes, characterized by almost as much cliquishness, pettiness and gossip as high school.—Publishers Weekly
...a romp through America's most privileged playground.—Knight Ridder
Self-indulgence, decadence, and assorted other sins of the ludicrously affluent.—Miami Herald
An obscenely absorbing anthropological study of the very rich. I couldn't put it down.—Bertram S. Brown, M.D., former director, National Institute of Mental Health
Kessler names names, and makes Roxanne Pulitzer and Will Kennedy Smith look like bit players.—New York Post
Kessler has a peerless investigative eye.—Author Peter Maas
Amusing, entertaining, revealing...[an] anecdotal romp. Kessler talked to lots of people, many of whom usually prefer to keep quiet...Some folks will be amused; some upset. Few will be bored.—Palm Beach Post
INSIDE CONGRESS
The Shocking Scandals, Corruption, and
Abuse of Power Behind the Scenes on Capitol Hill
...you can bank on the accuracy of Ronald Kessler's reporting...Inside Congress is full of...startling revelations of corruption, abuse of power, and arrogance in the House and Senate.—Walter Scott, Parade
Naming names, Kessler has catalogued decades worth of corruption and scandal involving our nation's elected officials.—People
THE SINS OF THE FATHER
Joseph P. Kennedy and the Dynasty He Founded
Ronald Kessler's book comes up with startling new information.—Baltimore Sun
A page-turner...about a family blessed and cursed by fate.—Houston Chronicle
The book is mesmerizing.—Austin-American Statesman
INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE
The Hidden Lives of the Modern Presidents
and the Secrets of the World's Most Powerful Institution
With substance calculated to irritate frustrated taxpayers as much as to entertain, Kessler's tabloid style is effective in enticing the reader to keep turning the pages.—Kirkus Reviews
The presidential assistants, secret agents, maids, and butlers are the ones who really know what is going on, and these are the people that Kessler interviews.... Kessler raises...important issues in this recommended expose....—Library Journal
If the general public knew what was going on inside the White House, they would scream.—Secret Service agent
THE FBI
Inside the World's Most Powerful Law Enforcement Agency
Impressive...insider perspective...an informative study by Kessler...persuasively documented...One of the most notable books of the year.—New York Times Book Review
A must-read...a compelling account...of the contemporary FBI, warts and all...—Philadelphia Inquirer
Fascinating...[a] careful and well-written study...Kessler lays out the agency's clangers as well as its triumphs and reveals the incompetents hiding in its ranks....—San Francisco Chronicle
A Justice Department official...noted that the original charges against [FBI Director William] Sessions came not from FBI agents but from a journalist, Ronald Kessler [who uncovered the abuses while writing a book about the FBI, leading to Sessions' dismissal by President Clinton]...—Washington Post
The first [reference to Vasili Mitrokhin's archive] occurred in the United States nine months after his defection [in a book by] the well-known Washington investigative journalist Ronald Kessler...—The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB
Ronald Kessler, an investigative journalist who has been a reporter for the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, has delved deeply within the bureau...[The book] did indeed trigger bureau and Justice Department investigations into alleged travel and expense abuses [by FBI Director William Sessions, leading to his dismissal by President Clinton]...Overall, this is an informative study by a resourceful student of that challenging and challenged institution.—New York Times
Comprehensive...Kessler's gotten agents to open up about the organization's inner workings...A revealing glimpse of an American institution in transition.—Kirkus Reviews
INSIDE THE CIA
Revealing the Secrets of the World's
Most Powerful Spy Agency
...an account unique for balance, perspective, clarity of writing, and the large amount of factual material...definitely one of the most important books on the U.S. intelligence community in some years.—Booklist
The special value of Inside the CIA is that it gives a picture of the CIA today...The picture balances CIA's warts with its accomplishments...—William E. Colby, former director of Central Intelligence
Mr. Kessler has written an overview that my spook friends say is an accurate account of the way the agency does its business.—Washington Times
...unusually thoughtful and evenhanded...studded with anecdotes that are always instructive and often funny.—Washington Post Book World
The tour is never dull, especially since it features so much 007 gadgetry, from water-spraying silent drills to eavesdropping devices that work by zapping laser beams through windows.—Los Angeles Times
Kessler, who is the first journalist to be accorded full cooperation of the CIA, here reveals more about the agency's structure, policies, and key personnel than any previous writer has...A largely objective, evenhanded, highly informative survey.—Publishers Weekly
ESCAPE FROM THE CIA
How the CIA Won and Lost the Most Important
KGB Spy Ever to Defect to the U.S.
A highly readable, absorbing account of one of the most intriguing intelligence stories in U.S. history.—Washington Post Book World
A rather remarkable book reconstructing the whole affair...Kessler reveals how the CIA missed making the most of the espionage coup of the century.—Houston Chronicle
Kessler offers a tellingly detailed account of the stranger-than-fiction case...intriguing...fascinating and painstakingly documented.—Kirkus Reviews
What is stunning about Escape from the CIA is the exhaustive reporting and the immediacy of it: We are there...A book you won't want to miss....—Detroit Free Press
THE SPY IN THE RUSSIAN CLUB
How Glenn Souther Stole America's Nuclear War
Plans and Escaped to Moscow
A veteran espionage writer, Mr. Kessler is sharp on the fine points of spying...[He] zeroes in on the central issue for any spy tale: motivation....The nonfictional counterpart to John LeCarre's The Russia House.—Wall Street Journal
A stinging indictment of U.S. naval security procedures.—Washington Post
A marvelous exposé...a fascinating character study of the modern traitor.—Booklist
MOSCOW STATION
How the KGB Penetrated the American Embassy
Shocking...an important tale...Mr. Kessler is a first-rate ferret and an industrious interviewer. He knows the territory.—New York Times Book Review
Kessler makes it plain that basic security-related practices need to be changed.—New York Post
SPY vs. SPY
Stalking Soviet Spies in America
Fascinating...Unique insight into an area seldom examined...It is only through books like Spy vs. Spy that the public will have an opportunity to distinguish between what is folly and what is fruitful in such an important but little known area as counterintelligence.—New York Times Book Review
Gripping...[a] unique volume of revelations about counterintelligence activities in the FBI.—Kirkus Reviews
Absorbing...There is sensational material here, including [Czech intelligence officer Karl] Koecher's account of spouse-swapping parties attended by CIA employees, but most impressive are the author's revelations of FBI counterintelligence methods.—Publishers Weekly
...these live action stories would read like a pilot for a new TV series were it not for Kessler's sobering comments on the tricky problem of keeping our freedoms while catching their spies.—Library Journal
A notable coup...rich and varied material...one cannot but admire the depth and breadth of Kessler's knowledge of spy operations and FBI guile in unmasking them.—Chicago Tribune
THE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD
The Story of Adnan Khashoggi
A detailed account, replete with menus, carrots, and sticks, of how Mr. Khashoggi has made big money brokering deals between the Arab world and the West.—New York Times Book Review
Journalist Ronald Kessler...portrays his prey as a deal maker who has used conspicuous consumption—and sometimes payoffs and call girls—to win billions of dollars worth of business.—People
It is always interesting to read how the super rich spend their money but not always interesting to learn how they get it. Ron Kessler, however, makes both Mr. Khashoggi's getting and spending equally absorbing. His book is clearly the best biography of a billionaire in years—vivid, penetrating, riveting. Only an investigative reporter of Mr. Kessler's experience and a writer of his skills could have produced such a compelling portrait of the biggest spender to come out of the Middle East since Croesus.—Nicholas Gage, former New York Times investigative reporter and author of Eleni
Absorbing...entertaining...intriguing.—Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THE LIFE INSURANCE GAME
Kessler's legwork has paid off: His book is a thorough, skeptical, and eye-opening look at an industry second only to banking in wealth.—Washington Post Book World
The big boys of the life insurance industry will not like The Life Insurance Game because it is an accurate and fair presentation of the life insurance industry as it actually exists, rather than as they'd like the public to see it.—Robert W. MacDonald, president, ITT Life Insurance Corp.
...Mr. Kessler's description of the Dickensian industrial life insurance business [is] shocking....The Life Insurance Game should jolt quite a few [consumers] awake.—New York Times Book Review
His book is a blockbuster.—Publishers Weekly
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