I have not been one for listening to audiobooks while driving, ever since I got engrossed in one after crossing south across the George Washington Bridge a couple decades ago and ended up somewhere in Pennsylvania. Rock and roll has pretty much been my regular traveling companion when driving alone ever since.

But falling hopelessly behind in my leaning tower of SpyTalk must-read books this month, I decided to catch up on at least one by downloading an audio version of The Illegals: Russia's Most Audacious Spies and Their Century-Long Mission to Infiltrate the West before turning onto I-95 North out of D.C. for a six hour drive. And wow, was I rewarded.