"Publishers Weekly" called "American Spy" a "breezy, unrepentant memoir" and described it as a "nostalgic memoir breaks scant new ground in an already crowded field". Tim Rutten of the "Los Angeles Times" said it was "a bitter and self-pitying memoir" and "offers a rather standard account of how men of his generation became involved in intelligence work". Referencing the book's title, Tim Weiner of "The New York Times" wrote: ""American Spy" is presented as a 'secret history,' a double-barreled misrepresentation. There are no real secrets in this book. As history it is bunk." Weiner said that the author's examination of the Kennedy assassination was the low-point of the book, indicating that Hunt pretended to take various conspiracy theories, including the involvement of former President Johnson, seriously. He concluded his review describing it as a work "in a long tradition of arrant nonsense" and "a book to shun". Joseph C. Goulden of "The Washington Times" described it as a "true mess of a book" and dismissed Hunt's allegations against Johnson as "fantasy". Goulden summarized his review: "I wish now that I had not read this pathetic book. Avoid it."