Gus Russo

Eric Dezenhall

The thrilling story of two Cold War spies -- CIA case officer Jack Platt and KGB agent Gennady Vasilenko -- and their improbable friendship at a time when they should have been anything but. In 1978, CIA maverick Jack Platt and KGB agent Gennady Vasilenko were new arrivals on the Washington, DC intelligence scene, with Jack working out of the CIA's counterintelligence office and Gennady out of the Soviet Embassy. Both men, already notorious iconoclasts within their respective agencies, were assigned to seduce the other into betraying his country in the urgent final days of the Cold War, but instead the men ended up becoming the best of friends-blood brothers. Theirs is a friendship that never should have happened, and their story is chock full of treachery, darkly comic misunderstandings, bureaucratic inanity, the Russian Mafia, and landmark intelligence breakthroughs of the past half century. In BEST OF ENEMIES, two espionage cowboys reveal how they became key behind-the-scenes players in solving some of the most celebrated spy stories of the twentieth century, including the crucial discovery of the Soviet mole Robert Hanssen, the 2010 Spy Swap which freed Gennady from Soviet imprisonment, and how Robert De Niro played a real-life role in helping Gennady stay alive during his incarceration in Russia after being falsely accused of spying for the Americans. Through their eyes, we see the distinctions between the Russian and American methods of conducting espionage and the painful birth of the new Russia, whose leader, Vladimir Putin, dreams he can roll back to the ideals of the old USSR.

The Last Great Spy Story of the Cold War

Best of Enemies

A thrilling tale of revenge set against the vibrant backdrop of sensationalist modern media Seasoned reporter Sanford “Fuse” Petty is old-school in every way—anti-technology, anti-Millennial (don’t even mention Gen-Z), and anti-“gotcha” journalism. After Fuse is asked to leave his paper pending a disciplinary investigation, he has plenty of time on his hands. So when his oldest friend approaches him for advice after the man’s daughter says she was sexually assaulted by her boss, a prominent media star, Fuse agrees to help. He gives his buddy the only options he feels are available: report the incident to the police and risk a huge “he said/she said” smear campaign against the girl, or plan something even better—revenge. As a journalist, Fuse has a colorful background investigating criminals, politicians, gangsters, drug lords, and all-around shysters—and knows plenty of shady sources—so he’s the perfect person to enact a complex (and ultimately, entertaining) plan to bring the popular media mogul down in the court of public opinion . . . and make him pay.

A Novel

False Light

"In boxing terms, a tough-looking fighter who can't take a punch is said to have a "glass jaw," and so it is these days with targets of controversy. Down the rabbit hole of scandal, the weak are strong, the strong are weak. GLASS JAW is a manifesto for these times, written by crisis management warhorse Eric Dezenhall who has spent three decades inside of some of the most intense controversies in recent memory. In the digital age of 24/7 news, information is easily acquired and quickly spread, and this has changed the fundamental nature of controversy, rendering once mighty organizations and individuals powerless against scandal. Think Toyota, Susan G. Komen, Paula Deen, Tiger Woods, Penn State and Joe Paterno, BP, the Duke Lacrosse players, Lance Armstrong, Manti Te'o, and Anthony Weiner. Here Dezenhall defines this new reality where information moves at the speed of light and reputations are tarnished ever faster. In GLASS JAW, he analyzes controversy and scandal from the perspective of the truth-telling crisis management veteran to demystify the paper tiger "spin" industry, offering lessons learned, crucial corrective measures, and counterintuitive insights, such as: How there really is no getting ahead of a bad story The art of the public apology Why a crisis is not an opportunity and Hemingway's The Old man and the Sea is the I Ching of crisis management (because the old man survived and nothing more) The problem with "getting it all out there" and The Nixon Fallacy: if only he had just said "I screwed up," the whole thing would have gone away-not a chance Why you are the enemy: the self sabotage of technology, cameras, tweets, and emails "--

a manifesto for defending fragile reputations in an age of instant scandal

Glass jaw

John Weber

The Essential Lessons of Crisis Management

Damage Control

Studená válka, Washington, D.C. Jack „Kovboj“ Platt a Genadij Vasilenko. Agent CIA proti agentovi KGB. Stojí na opačných stranách barikády a verbují špehy, kteří by mohli zradit a vynášet informace. Na první pohled jsou oba nesmiřitelní a tvrdí, na druhou stranu mají v sobě něco, co je spojuje. Jsou v pravém smyslu rebely uvnitř svých špionážních agentur. To je první krůček k tomu, aby navázali nanejvýš nepravděpodobné přátelství. Přátelství bořící předsudky i hranice rozdílných světů. Přátelství mezi nepřáteli. Tento příběh, právem označovaný jako „poslední velký špionážní příběh studené války“, jedinečným způsobem popisuje nejen osudy obou hlavních postav, ale podává rovněž nanejvýš ucelený a realistický obraz o skrytém světě špionáže.

Nejlepší nepřátelé

In an age when scandal can destroy a company's brand or anyone's reputation in an instant -- Glass Jaw is an Art of War guide to modern crisis management. In boxing terms, a tough-looking fighter who can't take a punch is said to have a "glass jaw," and so it is these days with targets of controversy. Down the rabbit hole of scandal, the weak are strong and the strong are weak. Just consider this slate of recent reputational body blows: Toyota, Susan G. Komen, Paula Deen, Tiger Woods, Joe Paterno, BP, the Duke Lacrosse players, Lance Armstrong, and Anthony Weiner. Glass Jaw is a manifesto for these times, written by crisis management veteran Eric Dezenhall, who has spent three decades dealing with some of the most intense controversies, both known and . . . handled with discretion. In the current digital age, the fundamental nature of controversy is viral, rendering once-mighty organizations and individuals powerless against scandal. In Glass Jaw, Dezenhall analyzes scandal and demystifies the paper tiger "spin" industry, offering lessons, corrective measures, and counterintuitive insights, such as: How there really is no "getting ahead" of a bad story (and other cliches from the media) The perils of navigating the "Fiasco Vortex" The art (and transaction) of the public apology Why a crisis is not an opportunity The Nixon Fallacy: if only he had just said "I screwed up," the whole thing would have gone away (not a chance) How you are the enemy: the self-sabotage of selfies, tweets, emailing before thinking, technology creep, the privacy vacuum, and the industrialization of leaking. From the boardroom to the parenting messaging board, scandals erupt every day. Glass Jaw explains this changing nature of controversy and offers readers counterpunches to best protect themselves.

Eric Dezenhall

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