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1776: A River Of Spies: A Revolutionary War Spy Thriller
It's December 1776. The American Revolution hangs by a thread. George Washington's battered Continental Army camps along the frozen Delaware River—low on rations, outnumbered, and near collapse. Traitors move unseen in Washington's command. When Washington orders local militiaman Isaak Moore to slip across the river into British-occupied Trenton, Moore expects a simple gather intelligence from a Patriot spy. Instead, Moore finds himself drawn into a deadly game of espionage, deception, and hidden loyalties.
This fictional story is inspired by real events, drawing on George Washington’s use of espionage in the lead-up to the first Battle of Trenton, including the little-known agent John Honeyman.
“1776: A River of Spies...is a taut, atmospheric novel that approaches the American Revolution…with intimacy, precision, and a quietly mounting tension...Perfect for fans of Washington’s Spies, Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants, or the slow-burn tension of John le Carré." Maria Ashford, Book-shelfie.com. 5 Stars.
Reviews for the
"Cummins crafts a compelling historical thriller that draws readers in from the first page. His meticulous attention to detail—portraying secret allegiances, trickery, and covert operations—feels authentic to the era, while the dialogue drives the story forward with a steady, engaging pace." Audiobookreviewer.com
"The narrator, Simon de Deney, delivers an impressive performance, vividly bringing the story to life. He skillfully captures each character’s essence, giving them distinct voices while maintaining consistency from start to finish. His masterful use of tone, punctuation, pauses, and cadence adds depth and suspense, fully immersing the listener in the narrative." Audiobookreviewer.com
“1776: A River of Spies is a slow-burning historical thriller with a strong sense of time and place. I think it’d be a great pick for anyone who likes their history threaded with patriotism, moral uncertainty, spy craft, and a healthy dose of frost-bitten reality.” The Audiobook Review.
"Well-researched Revolutionary War fanfiction." 4 Stars Emory
This fictional story is inspired by real events, drawing on George Washington’s use of espionage in the lead-up to the first Battle of Trenton, including the little-known agent John Honeyman.
“1776: A River of Spies...is a taut, atmospheric novel that approaches the American Revolution…with intimacy, precision, and a quietly mounting tension...Perfect for fans of Washington’s Spies, Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants, or the slow-burn tension of John le Carré." Maria Ashford, Book-shelfie.com. 5 Stars.
Reviews for the
"Cummins crafts a compelling historical thriller that draws readers in from the first page. His meticulous attention to detail—portraying secret allegiances, trickery, and covert operations—feels authentic to the era, while the dialogue drives the story forward with a steady, engaging pace." Audiobookreviewer.com
"The narrator, Simon de Deney, delivers an impressive performance, vividly bringing the story to life. He skillfully captures each character’s essence, giving them distinct voices while maintaining consistency from start to finish. His masterful use of tone, punctuation, pauses, and cadence adds depth and suspense, fully immersing the listener in the narrative." Audiobookreviewer.com
“1776: A River of Spies is a slow-burning historical thriller with a strong sense of time and place. I think it’d be a great pick for anyone who likes their history threaded with patriotism, moral uncertainty, spy craft, and a healthy dose of frost-bitten reality.” The Audiobook Review.
"Well-researched Revolutionary War fanfiction." 4 Stars Emory
249 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 30, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 15, 2025
Thanks so much to M. Cummins for reaching out with an audiobook code for 1776: A River of Spies in exchange for an honest review! I love books set in the American Revolution although I don’t read as many these days, so this seemed like a no brainer.
The story itself was quite fun, opening with the states declaring independence and closing after Trenton was taken. The British couldn’t even remember the name of the Delaware while it was a fairly insane military maneuver at the time. Spies and counter spies and all sorts of tactical planning went into the move and attack on Trenton and I think that was well portrayed.
I don’t know if every tiny thing was historically accurate (Washington didn’t have wooden teeth) but the important things all seemed to be there. I liked certain touches such as the Americans not knowing about Christmas and observing the Hessians with the decorated tree. I didn’t know that Christmas only become a widely recognized holiday until much later but it makes sense. The outfits and ill preparation, conflicting mixes of religions within the army… these aren’t necessarily things that many people think about so the book did have lots of interesting observations and attention to small detail.
Since the story focused on a very short time frame during the war, it was more like a slice of life story of many characters from George Washington to the local spies, and their British counterparts. Follow them from the pamphlet declaring independence through crossing the Delaware, the plotting of and the Battle of Trenton, and then the story cuts off prior to the march to Princeton. I think the author picked good scenes from both sides of the conflict to portray the moods, motivations, and situations of both rebels and loyalists.
Now let’s talk about the audio. I have listened to and loved the narrator, Simon de Deney. before, but he honestly had me scratching my head at times with this one. Some of the accents were hard to listen to and when hearing a book read aloud, attention is called to a certain amount of adverb and word repetition within the text. Why is everyone sucking their teeth? He also didn’t read the chapter titles which sometimes made it confusing as to which character was doing what. Overall it was a decent listening experience though. Despite my nitpicking I do enjoy his speaking voice, and I’d keep listening to more from the narrator.
Will there be more books? It seems like it! I would read another for sure, but I’m still looking for something to fill that Arundel sized hole. I’m not entirely sure that the recommended age range of 11-18 is going to love this audiobook, I didn’t feel like a lot of excitement was there, but I do think they would enjoy the text version.
What Revolutionary War reading have you read and enjoyed? I’m always looking for recommendations!
The story itself was quite fun, opening with the states declaring independence and closing after Trenton was taken. The British couldn’t even remember the name of the Delaware while it was a fairly insane military maneuver at the time. Spies and counter spies and all sorts of tactical planning went into the move and attack on Trenton and I think that was well portrayed.
I don’t know if every tiny thing was historically accurate (Washington didn’t have wooden teeth) but the important things all seemed to be there. I liked certain touches such as the Americans not knowing about Christmas and observing the Hessians with the decorated tree. I didn’t know that Christmas only become a widely recognized holiday until much later but it makes sense. The outfits and ill preparation, conflicting mixes of religions within the army… these aren’t necessarily things that many people think about so the book did have lots of interesting observations and attention to small detail.
Since the story focused on a very short time frame during the war, it was more like a slice of life story of many characters from George Washington to the local spies, and their British counterparts. Follow them from the pamphlet declaring independence through crossing the Delaware, the plotting of and the Battle of Trenton, and then the story cuts off prior to the march to Princeton. I think the author picked good scenes from both sides of the conflict to portray the moods, motivations, and situations of both rebels and loyalists.
Now let’s talk about the audio. I have listened to and loved the narrator, Simon de Deney. before, but he honestly had me scratching my head at times with this one. Some of the accents were hard to listen to and when hearing a book read aloud, attention is called to a certain amount of adverb and word repetition within the text. Why is everyone sucking their teeth? He also didn’t read the chapter titles which sometimes made it confusing as to which character was doing what. Overall it was a decent listening experience though. Despite my nitpicking I do enjoy his speaking voice, and I’d keep listening to more from the narrator.
Will there be more books? It seems like it! I would read another for sure, but I’m still looking for something to fill that Arundel sized hole. I’m not entirely sure that the recommended age range of 11-18 is going to love this audiobook, I didn’t feel like a lot of excitement was there, but I do think they would enjoy the text version.
What Revolutionary War reading have you read and enjoyed? I’m always looking for recommendations!
March 28, 2026
Excellent story - compelling, well-written and well researched
This book was a great read. It's rare that books these days capture my imagination to the point where I feel like a kid again, reading just one more chapter under the covers at night, desperate to keep reading when I wake up. It brought the history to life, through the eyes of the people involved. It was well-crafted in how the story unfolded chronologically from the different protagonists' perspectives. This is not a genre I would normally read, so to have enjoyed it so much was a delight. Very much looking forward to the next instalment.
This book was a great read. It's rare that books these days capture my imagination to the point where I feel like a kid again, reading just one more chapter under the covers at night, desperate to keep reading when I wake up. It brought the history to life, through the eyes of the people involved. It was well-crafted in how the story unfolded chronologically from the different protagonists' perspectives. This is not a genre I would normally read, so to have enjoyed it so much was a delight. Very much looking forward to the next instalment.
September 15, 2025
Hard to find books set during this time period so I'm always excited to stumble upon one. This was a fun story if a little convoluted. it's definitely not high quality writing, but overall enjoyable and the audiobook narrator does a great job bringing the tale to life.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews