First published 2010
Summer 1779. While the Revolutionary War rages in the south, fewer than a thousand Scottish soldiers establish a garrison at Penobscot Bay in what will become Maine. From this remote outpost, they attack American privateers and shelter loyalists. Massachusetts responds by assembling over forty ships and a thousand men to destroy the British invaders. Peleg Wadsworth, veteran of Lexington and former aide to Washington, serves as second in command and understands exactly how to drive out the enemy. But poor leadership and hesitation doom the mission to catastrophic failure. The defeat destroys careers and reputations on both sides. An eighteen-year-old Scottish lieutenant named John Moore begins his rise to military fame, while Boston silversmith Paul Revere must defend himself against charges of disobedience and cowardice in a court martial that threatens to end his reputation forever. This forgotten battle between a fledgling nation and an empire carries consequences that will shape both men's destinies.
Genres: historical-fiction, adventure, action, american-history
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, historical-figures
Setting: Penobscot Bay, Maine, Boston
Period: 1779, Revolutionary War
468 pages · Hardcover · Harper