This Revolutionary-Era Thriller Introduces a Daring Female Spy by Lauren Nee

Experience America’s fight for independence from the frontlines in this stirring historical thriller from award-winning author Randy Overbeck!

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Original review published June 5th, 2026: https://bookstr.com/article/this-revolutionary-era-thriller-introduces-a-daring-female-spy/

Known for his popular paranormal mystery series, Haunted Shores Mysteries, award-winning author Randy Overbeck knows precisely how to weave intricate webs of tension and intrigue throughout his narratives. In his latest novel, Overbeck steps into the past to tell a tale of rebellion, espionage, and immeasurable bravery. Abigail Trench: A Novel of Washington’s Spy Ring takes readers to 18th-century New York, where a courageous schoolteacher turns the tide of the Revolutionary War by joining the legendary Culper Ring spy network. Here’s everything you need to know before the book hits shelves on June 9!

Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of assault. Additionally, Abigail Trench contains descriptions of hanging, sexual assault, and graphic violence. Please exercise personal care while reading.

Abigail Trench by Randy Overbeck book cover. A woman with light White skin and medium brown hair wrapped up in a bun and wearing a long blue dress watches British soldiers wearing red uniforms laugh and drink beer at a corner table in a tavern. IMAGE VIA B&N

It’s summer, 1776, and revolution is brewing in the colonies. After brutish Redcoats assaulted her and looted her family’s Long Island farm, Abigail Trench and her father fled the countryside and moved to New York City. In occupied New York, work is difficult to come by, but with the help of a friend, Abigail finds employment tutoring the children of Major Parker Monteith, a high-ranking British officer. Longing to aid the battle for American independence, Abigail makes the dangerous decision to become a spy. Under the guise of her tutoring sessions, she gathers intel from the Monteith household and passes it along the network to General George Washington. If she’s caught, she’ll be executed, but if she succeeds, the ragtag Continental Army may stand a fighting chance.

A Riveting Historical Spy Thriller

When she’d come across the ocean, she had thought of herself as an En­glishwoman, but events in this country had pushed her farther from that belief than she ­would’ve thought pos­si­ble. The confrontation with Reeves had flipped a switch in her. Since that dark after­noon on Long Island, she realized, she had been running away, trying to avoid more trou­ble—­for herself and ­Father. She was tired of running. And the clash yesterday had shown her that running was futile anyway. It had made clear who the real ­enemy was.

— Randy Overbeck, Abigail Trench

Randy Overbeck’s Abigail Trench is an immersive espionage thriller inspired by Agent 355, a prominent female informant active during the American Revolution who remains unidentified to this day. Here, Overbeck employs rich research to reconstruct 1700s New York and the covert spy network known as the Culper Ring in vivid color. Using creative license to fill in the details lost to time, he crafts a cast of characters that feel ripped straight out of history, from fictionalized versions of the Founding Fathers to the titular Abigail Trench, who steps into the role of the Culper Ring’s mysterious female spy. Anyone who loves gripping espionage stories or little-known histories that spotlight forgotten women should put this at the top of their TBR.

A Raw Yet Rousing Look at Revolution

The officer marched to the platform. ‘Nathan Hale, you have been convicted of high treason and spying against His Majesty and sentenced to death. Do you have any final words?’

Nathan looked out at the crowd, his glance sweeping slowly and stopping where Abigail, Jamie, and Robert stood. His eyes ­were bright, his stature proud. When he spoke, his voice boomed. ‘I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.’

— Randy Overbeck, Abigail Trench

In Abigail Trench, Randy Overbeck doesn’t shy away from depicting the brutal realities of war: poverty, starvation, censorship, barbarity, dehumanization. Instead, he sheds light on these difficult truths to underscore the human impact of violence rather than the spectacle of battle. In his recreation of wartime New York, violence is neither glamorized nor glorified. On the contrary, needless cruelty is condemned, and acts of compassion—sharing food when you have little to spare; running into a burning building to save a stranger—are acknowledged as true heroism. It’s a galvanizing portrait of community and resilience in the face of war’s ugly underbelly.

An Affecting Reflection on Healing From Trauma

She certainly ­hadn’t planned to tell Robert every­thing that had happened on Long Island. It had simply spilled out, no doubt­ because seeing that ugly, scarred face again had terrified her. She couldn’t help herself. Then, ­after she confided in Robert, she dreaded his reaction. Would he see her as damaged goods? But when she finished and was able to stop her weeping, all she saw in his features was kindness and compassion. Abigail felt as if a weight had been lifted.

— Randy Overbeck, Abigail Trench

Wrapped inside a heart-pounding tale of secret espionage networks and freedom fighting, Abigail’s true story is one of healing from grief and trauma. Following a vicious assault and the loss of her mother, Abigail finds herself a wholly different person than the naive, lighthearted girl she once was. In reclaiming her power by spying for Washington and facing her trauma head-on, she finally begins to heal from everything she’s been running from.

Healing can look like retribution. It can look like starting anew. It can look like reopening your hardened heart to connection. It can look like learning to find love and gentleness in human touch, when before there was only malice. As Abigail parses her version of healing, she discovers that recovery is a lifelong process, but one she doesn’t have to face alone. With her support network by her side, she conjures the strength to confront the darkness. And when things get too bleak, she always has someone to pull her back into the light of togetherness and love.

A Testament to the Power of Hope

The sobbing came now in full force, her chest heaving and her cries loud inside the tavern. Through her tears, she managed, ‘I wanted to do something, strike out at someone, even kill someone, but I realized it was all useless. How in the world did the colonists think they could take on the British army—­the greatest fighting force in the world—and think they could have any success?’

She took a quick breath and finished, ‘You know what the worst part of it is? ­There is nothing someone like you or me can do about it.’

Robert kept his gaze fixed on her. He wrapped his hands around both of hers. His question came almost in a whisper. ‘What if ­there is something you and I can do about it?’

— Randy Overbeck, Abigail Trench

As war rages around them, ravaging their communities and extinguishing countless lives, a sense of helplessness descends on Abigail and her friends. They’re not soldiers; they’re just civilians. What power do they have to stop the war or contribute to the cause of liberation? They play their part by looking out for one another, and in doing so, they realize a vital truth: They’re not powerless. Because the greatest weapon against oppression is hope.

As long as hope remains, the fight isn’t done, the war isn’t lost. And though it can be hard to hold onto during difficult times, hope, Abigail learns, can be found in the unlikeliest of places. Hope lives in her love for others; it lives in the generosity and compassion of her community members; it lives in the spies and soldiers risking their lives for a brighter tomorrow they might not get to see; and it lives in the young minds Abigail helps mold into the next generation of upstanding, free-thinking Americans. As long as hope endures, so too will the colonists and their dream for a better future.

Final Thoughts

Abigail Trench by Randy Overbeck is a visceral spy thriller that drops readers into the heart of the Revolutionary War. Melding sweeping research with creative invention, Overbeck puts a face to the nameless female informant who helped Washington’s Culper Ring bring liberty to the States. Exploring themes of healing, hope, resilience, and community, this striking historical exposes the human cost of violence and the power of everyday people to shape their communities, their countries, and the world for the better.

You’ll love Abigail Trench if you enjoyed these books:

• A Bitter Wind by James R. Benn
• A Test of Wills by Charles Todd
• Savage Liberty: A Mystery of Revolutionary America by Eliot Pattison
• The Devil’s Half Mile by Paddy Hirsch

Bookstr’s Abigail Trench Dream Cast:

• Millie Bobby Brown as Abigail Trench, a schoolteacher turned spy
• Taron Egerton as Major Parker Monteith, a British Army officer
• Connor Storrie as Nathan Hale, an ill-fated American operative
• Jacob Elordi as Robert Townsend, a Culper Ring spy

If you want to add Abigail Trench to your TBR, you can preorder it on Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. Thank you to Diversion Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.