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Abigail Trench: A Novel of Washington's Spy Ring
Not yet published
Expected 9 Jun 26A vivid, propulsive Revolutionary-era thriller with the spy-craft verve of the streaming hit TURN: Washington's Spies and the electricity of 1776's New York that Hamilton lovers will recognize, this story is inspired by the lone female operative in Washington's spy ring.
In occupied New York, a schoolteacher with everything to lose turns information into a weapon, threading between Redcoats and rebels as plots against Washington gather steam.
After rogue Redcoats assault her and strip her family's Long Island farm, Abigail Trench fights to survive in New York City—tutoring in a high-ranking British officer's Water Street household by day, navigating taverns, informants, and soldiers by night. Through Abigail's keen eyes—and a counter-narrative following a principled British major—the novel renders the moral gray zones of occupation with gritty intimacy. As rumors swirl of a strike at General Washington, Abigail's vantage inside upper-crust parlors and rough waterfront rooms makes her an ideal courier—and a target.
This historical thriller delivers high tension, textured world-building, and a captivating heroine who put it all on the line for freedom.
In occupied New York, a schoolteacher with everything to lose turns information into a weapon, threading between Redcoats and rebels as plots against Washington gather steam.
After rogue Redcoats assault her and strip her family's Long Island farm, Abigail Trench fights to survive in New York City—tutoring in a high-ranking British officer's Water Street household by day, navigating taverns, informants, and soldiers by night. Through Abigail's keen eyes—and a counter-narrative following a principled British major—the novel renders the moral gray zones of occupation with gritty intimacy. As rumors swirl of a strike at General Washington, Abigail's vantage inside upper-crust parlors and rough waterfront rooms makes her an ideal courier—and a target.
This historical thriller delivers high tension, textured world-building, and a captivating heroine who put it all on the line for freedom.
384 pages, Paperback
Expected publication June 9, 2026
8 people want to read
About the author
Randy Overbeck
13 books309 followersDr. Randy Overbeck is an award-winning educator, bestselling author, popular podcaster and speaker in much demand. After serving children for almost four decades as teacher, college prof and school leader, he used those experiences and skills to craft captivating mysteries, thrillers and historical suspense. His novels have earned more than a dozen national awards including Thriller of the Year, Best Book Award, the Gold Award and Mystery of the Year and have garnered hundreds of five-star reviews on Amazon, Goodreads and BookBub.
His newest novel, ABIGAIL TRENCH, is a historical suspense about the Revolutionary War, released June, 2026 by Diversion Books and distributed by Simon and Schuster.
Dr. Overbeck is also the host of the popular podcast, Great Stories about Great Storytellers, which reveals the little known backstories of famous authors, directors and poets and ranks among the top 50% of all podcasts in the US. When he is not writing or podcasting, he is in much demand as a speaker, sharing informative and entertaining programs to more than 300 groups all over the country.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Very good research, moderately good writing. Still the best Agent 355 fiction I've read.
I'll start with the book's weaker points.
1. There were a lot of participle phrases, and many were used incorrectly, to describe one action happening after the other.
This is a participle phrase: "Sliding onto the bench beside her, Abigail tugged at the silk." (p.33)
This is an incorrect participle phrase: "Rising from the bed, he padded down the hall." (p.40).
"Sliding onto the bench" describes how Abigail tugged. "Rising from the bed" describes how he padded. But of course, that last one doesn't make sense. The author meant to describe what he did before he went down the hall.
This doesn't make the writing unintelligible; it just makes the reading a little clunkier. In fairness, I noticed this less and less as the book went on. Either they stopped showing up, or I got immersed in the story and stopped noticing.
2. Everything smelled terrible. The bread was hard and the alcohol tasted like urine. The author frequently employed words like dung, vomit, stench, rotting, flies, BO, feces, fetid, putrid, and blood.
I will make fun of myself for this complaint. The story was set in New York City, in a time when people did not use deodorant, refrigeration, or indoor plumbing. It also featured dying and killing, which is generally gruesome. It is extremely realistic for "everything to smell terrible."
But it was a downside for me anyway. I'm not compelled by things that smell terrible. I don't admire them. It adds realism, but it doesn't add excitement or interest. I love knowing what pieces of architecture look innovative, what food melts on the tongue, what outfits take peoples' breath away. I think that sprinkling in some extra comforts and loveliness would've really elevated the story, even without detracting from the horrors of war and the crude ways of living.
Now for the strengths:
1. The teaching. OH. MY. GOSH. I knew that Abigail Trench was a tutor, and I vaguely recalled that Dr. Overbeck himself was some type of professor. But when I read the actual tutoring scenes, they were so much fun that my jaw literally dropped.
Every single detail in these scenes was brimming with research, thought, and experience. We got to see and use the typical tools of the trade: the primers, the hornbooks, and we read excerpts from real lesson plans that were so perfect.
The kids from 1776 acted JUST LIKE STUDENT KIDS.
"I don't need to know this math," they protested. "I'm never going to use it." Meanwhile another student accepted an assignment without protest but resolutely drew a horse rather than working on it. It was everything. And Abigail herself had all the right responses. "Here, you've made some mistakes. See if you can find them yourself." YES!! That's such a good teacher move! That's what my mom always said!
2. The author did not villainize every redcoat and created sympathetic characters on both sides. I was really curious whether he would do this, and I was not disappointed. I think it added a lot of depth and interest to the story.
When you first learn about the American revolution as a kid, it's straight-cut and simple. The bad people oppressed the good ones, and the good threw them off. But the more you learn and mature, the more you realize there were nuances. What made people side with the British? Sure, it was a story about throwing off tyranny, but it was also a very sad story with a lot of neighbors killing neighbors.
Ultimately, Dr. Overbeck did villainize most of the redcoats, and the sympathetic ones doubted their loyalties. He put the focus on British atrocities alone. However, I still give him all the credit. It was two-sided enough. This was a story, after all, so you want the stakes to be high, and you want good to triumph. Plus, he was accurate with his depictions! What more can you ask for?
3. Please sir, may I have some more church history?🥺🥣
At the beginning of the book, there's a line where Abigail and her father attend an Anglican church over a Methodist one for safety, even though they attended a Methodist church in London. It caught me off guard, and at first I was critical. "Why would someone move to a very protestant-friendly nation with lots of different denominations and... avoid a Methodist church?" But then I realized, oh no wait, the author knows exactly what he's talking about, and the Anglican>Methodist choice is the whole point. The characters are purposefully trying to seem more like British natives and less like colonists.
I really loved this scene, and I loved how some religious dynamics were worked into the rest of the story. It was done knowledgeably, in a way that was interesting and drove the plot, rather than being preachy or mocking/reductive. Hats off to Dr. Overbeck, because that takes a lot of skill and background knowledge and had a great effect.
I'll start with the book's weaker points.
1. There were a lot of participle phrases, and many were used incorrectly, to describe one action happening after the other.
This is a participle phrase: "Sliding onto the bench beside her, Abigail tugged at the silk." (p.33)
This is an incorrect participle phrase: "Rising from the bed, he padded down the hall." (p.40).
"Sliding onto the bench" describes how Abigail tugged. "Rising from the bed" describes how he padded. But of course, that last one doesn't make sense. The author meant to describe what he did before he went down the hall.
This doesn't make the writing unintelligible; it just makes the reading a little clunkier. In fairness, I noticed this less and less as the book went on. Either they stopped showing up, or I got immersed in the story and stopped noticing.
2. Everything smelled terrible. The bread was hard and the alcohol tasted like urine. The author frequently employed words like dung, vomit, stench, rotting, flies, BO, feces, fetid, putrid, and blood.
I will make fun of myself for this complaint. The story was set in New York City, in a time when people did not use deodorant, refrigeration, or indoor plumbing. It also featured dying and killing, which is generally gruesome. It is extremely realistic for "everything to smell terrible."
But it was a downside for me anyway. I'm not compelled by things that smell terrible. I don't admire them. It adds realism, but it doesn't add excitement or interest. I love knowing what pieces of architecture look innovative, what food melts on the tongue, what outfits take peoples' breath away. I think that sprinkling in some extra comforts and loveliness would've really elevated the story, even without detracting from the horrors of war and the crude ways of living.
Now for the strengths:
1. The teaching. OH. MY. GOSH. I knew that Abigail Trench was a tutor, and I vaguely recalled that Dr. Overbeck himself was some type of professor. But when I read the actual tutoring scenes, they were so much fun that my jaw literally dropped.
Every single detail in these scenes was brimming with research, thought, and experience. We got to see and use the typical tools of the trade: the primers, the hornbooks, and we read excerpts from real lesson plans that were so perfect.
The kids from 1776 acted JUST LIKE STUDENT KIDS.
"I don't need to know this math," they protested. "I'm never going to use it." Meanwhile another student accepted an assignment without protest but resolutely drew a horse rather than working on it. It was everything. And Abigail herself had all the right responses. "Here, you've made some mistakes. See if you can find them yourself." YES!! That's such a good teacher move! That's what my mom always said!
2. The author did not villainize every redcoat and created sympathetic characters on both sides. I was really curious whether he would do this, and I was not disappointed. I think it added a lot of depth and interest to the story.
When you first learn about the American revolution as a kid, it's straight-cut and simple. The bad people oppressed the good ones, and the good threw them off. But the more you learn and mature, the more you realize there were nuances. What made people side with the British? Sure, it was a story about throwing off tyranny, but it was also a very sad story with a lot of neighbors killing neighbors.
Ultimately, Dr. Overbeck did villainize most of the redcoats, and the sympathetic ones doubted their loyalties. He put the focus on British atrocities alone. However, I still give him all the credit. It was two-sided enough. This was a story, after all, so you want the stakes to be high, and you want good to triumph. Plus, he was accurate with his depictions! What more can you ask for?
3. Please sir, may I have some more church history?🥺🥣
At the beginning of the book, there's a line where Abigail and her father attend an Anglican church over a Methodist one for safety, even though they attended a Methodist church in London. It caught me off guard, and at first I was critical. "Why would someone move to a very protestant-friendly nation with lots of different denominations and... avoid a Methodist church?" But then I realized, oh no wait, the author knows exactly what he's talking about, and the Anglican>Methodist choice is the whole point. The characters are purposefully trying to seem more like British natives and less like colonists.
I really loved this scene, and I loved how some religious dynamics were worked into the rest of the story. It was done knowledgeably, in a way that was interesting and drove the plot, rather than being preachy or mocking/reductive. Hats off to Dr. Overbeck, because that takes a lot of skill and background knowledge and had a great effect.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Abigail Trench is a historical spy novel that starts in the muck, noise, and cruelty of Revolutionary-era New York and never really lets you forget how precarious daily life is there. The opening makes that clear right away, with Abigail arriving in the city looking for work and instead finding herself in a crowd watching a public hanging. When Molly tells her, “Your first hangin’, huh? Ya get used to it,” the line works as both character detail and mission statement: this is a book about what people get forced to live with, and what it costs them to keep going.
What the author does well is build the novel from the ground up. Abigail isn’t introduced as a ready-made legend. She’s a teacher, recently uprooted, trying to earn a living, carrying trauma she can’t fully speak aloud, and learning the city through its taverns, dockyards, drawing rooms, and alleys. That gives the book a strong sense of texture. It feels interested in work, class, danger, and the small negotiations people make just to get through the day. The result is a story that treats espionage not as glamour, but as something stitched out of observation, nerve, timing, and need.
The novel is also a character-driven account of political awakening. Abigail’s path into the world of Nathan Hale, Robert Townsend, and the wider intelligence struggle grows naturally from who she is, rather than from plot machinery alone. One of the book’s strongest ideas is that the Revolution isn’t only being shaped by officers and generals. It’s also being shaped by tutors, servants, laborers, sex workers, hustlers, and merchants, all of whom move through spaces the powerful don’t fully control. When Nathan says, “Men and women need to decide if they are willing to knuckle under to the crown’s tyranny or . . . do something about it,” the novel’s real interest comes into focus. It’s not just telling a spy story. It’s telling a story about civic courage spreading through ordinary lives.
I also liked that the book keeps its emotional center close to Abigail even as the historical stakes widen. The friendships with Molly and Jamie give the story warmth and rough humor. The shifts from Nathan Hale to Robert Townsend add different shades of intimacy, grief, and trust. And the espionage plot works best when it grows out of those relationships, especially in scenes where Abigail has to listen, improvise, and hold her nerve while moving through British-controlled spaces. By the later sections, the novel has become a portrait of a woman learning how to make herself legible in one world and invisible in another.
Abigail Trench is an accessible, vivid piece of historical fiction that blends Revolutionary War intrigue with a personal story of survival and self-invention. What I liked most wasn’t just the spy-ring premise, though that’s a strong hook. It was the book’s sense that history is lived at street level by people who are frightened, resourceful, wounded, stubborn, and often underestimated. Abigail’s journey from displaced schoolteacher to someone capable of operating inside a dangerous political world gives the novel its pulse. It’s a story with grit, momentum, and real affection for the people history usually leaves at the edges.
What the author does well is build the novel from the ground up. Abigail isn’t introduced as a ready-made legend. She’s a teacher, recently uprooted, trying to earn a living, carrying trauma she can’t fully speak aloud, and learning the city through its taverns, dockyards, drawing rooms, and alleys. That gives the book a strong sense of texture. It feels interested in work, class, danger, and the small negotiations people make just to get through the day. The result is a story that treats espionage not as glamour, but as something stitched out of observation, nerve, timing, and need.
The novel is also a character-driven account of political awakening. Abigail’s path into the world of Nathan Hale, Robert Townsend, and the wider intelligence struggle grows naturally from who she is, rather than from plot machinery alone. One of the book’s strongest ideas is that the Revolution isn’t only being shaped by officers and generals. It’s also being shaped by tutors, servants, laborers, sex workers, hustlers, and merchants, all of whom move through spaces the powerful don’t fully control. When Nathan says, “Men and women need to decide if they are willing to knuckle under to the crown’s tyranny or . . . do something about it,” the novel’s real interest comes into focus. It’s not just telling a spy story. It’s telling a story about civic courage spreading through ordinary lives.
I also liked that the book keeps its emotional center close to Abigail even as the historical stakes widen. The friendships with Molly and Jamie give the story warmth and rough humor. The shifts from Nathan Hale to Robert Townsend add different shades of intimacy, grief, and trust. And the espionage plot works best when it grows out of those relationships, especially in scenes where Abigail has to listen, improvise, and hold her nerve while moving through British-controlled spaces. By the later sections, the novel has become a portrait of a woman learning how to make herself legible in one world and invisible in another.
Abigail Trench is an accessible, vivid piece of historical fiction that blends Revolutionary War intrigue with a personal story of survival and self-invention. What I liked most wasn’t just the spy-ring premise, though that’s a strong hook. It was the book’s sense that history is lived at street level by people who are frightened, resourceful, wounded, stubborn, and often underestimated. Abigail’s journey from displaced schoolteacher to someone capable of operating inside a dangerous political world gives the novel its pulse. It’s a story with grit, momentum, and real affection for the people history usually leaves at the edges.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
They needed a job. After arriving from England and making a new life on Long Island, Abigail Trench and her father were forced to move to New York City three years later. A Redcoat had entered their house and confiscated all of their animals so they were not able to keep their farm. What else he did to Abigail was something she couldn't think about, much less tell her father.
It was now July 1776 and the pair found lodging but their money was dwindling. Abigail was a teacher, and while her father found work on the docks, she went to the New York schools to obtain a position but no one was hiring. A sympathetic teacher was not able to employ her, but gave a suggestion-ask at the rich Wall Street homes if any families required a tutor.
There was unrest in the city. Colonists and Redcoats were sitting on a powderkeg after the Declaration of Independence was published. The Redcoats were outnumbered but many ships were gathering out in the harbor, all flying the Union Jack. Abigail witnessed a hanging, the first of many. The house of colonial sympathizers where she finally got a job was being vacated and luckily the Redcoat family leasing the house also had children and needed a tutor. Now she was working for the enemy.
She met Robert Townsend when blocks of the city were burning and they were able to work together to rescue some of the citizens. He owned a store and also wrote a column in a British publication. As the two became close, Robert dropped his hesitancy and revealed that he was an agent in the Culper Spy Ring, commissioned by General Washington to keep an eye on British war plans. Despondent over the violence and cruelty wreaked by the occupying army, Abigail begs to join the Ring too, and points out how well placed she is to aid the cause. Her employer, an Army major, has many guests in his house who discuss strategies and battles and she overhears their conversations while instructing the children. Townsend reluctantly agrees.
The true history of the Culper Ring is almost as unbelievable as this fictional story, and is just as exciting. Used as the basis of many novels, histories and the AMC series Turn, it is an amazing part of the Revolutionary War, especially in the New York and Long Island areas. Abigail Trench explores the identity of the agent "355" rumored to be a woman and Robert Townsend's common-law wife. The author seamlessly weaves the fictional character of Abigail into the scanty facts of what really happened and the results are fascinating. This is a book club must, especially as it is to be released a month before the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Like all well written historical novels, Abigail Trench will propel the reader to review historical and archival records in search of what was true and what was artistic license. Let the fireworks begin!
It was now July 1776 and the pair found lodging but their money was dwindling. Abigail was a teacher, and while her father found work on the docks, she went to the New York schools to obtain a position but no one was hiring. A sympathetic teacher was not able to employ her, but gave a suggestion-ask at the rich Wall Street homes if any families required a tutor.
There was unrest in the city. Colonists and Redcoats were sitting on a powderkeg after the Declaration of Independence was published. The Redcoats were outnumbered but many ships were gathering out in the harbor, all flying the Union Jack. Abigail witnessed a hanging, the first of many. The house of colonial sympathizers where she finally got a job was being vacated and luckily the Redcoat family leasing the house also had children and needed a tutor. Now she was working for the enemy.
She met Robert Townsend when blocks of the city were burning and they were able to work together to rescue some of the citizens. He owned a store and also wrote a column in a British publication. As the two became close, Robert dropped his hesitancy and revealed that he was an agent in the Culper Spy Ring, commissioned by General Washington to keep an eye on British war plans. Despondent over the violence and cruelty wreaked by the occupying army, Abigail begs to join the Ring too, and points out how well placed she is to aid the cause. Her employer, an Army major, has many guests in his house who discuss strategies and battles and she overhears their conversations while instructing the children. Townsend reluctantly agrees.
The true history of the Culper Ring is almost as unbelievable as this fictional story, and is just as exciting. Used as the basis of many novels, histories and the AMC series Turn, it is an amazing part of the Revolutionary War, especially in the New York and Long Island areas. Abigail Trench explores the identity of the agent "355" rumored to be a woman and Robert Townsend's common-law wife. The author seamlessly weaves the fictional character of Abigail into the scanty facts of what really happened and the results are fascinating. This is a book club must, especially as it is to be released a month before the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Like all well written historical novels, Abigail Trench will propel the reader to review historical and archival records in search of what was true and what was artistic license. Let the fireworks begin!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Abigail Trench was a school teacher on Long Island until the redcoats took everything. Now, she and her father must work to survive, and she works for a british major as a teacher for his children. But as rumors of war arise, she finds herself in the midst of it all. Follow Abigail on her journey as she tries to navigate the brutality of the redcoats and the rising rebels.
I enjoyed reading this book more than I thought I would. As a girlie who loves reading all types of fiction, I found myself really drawn to this historical fiction and to Abigail and her story.
This book has multiple points of view, and the writing for them is pretty good. Randy Overbeck knows how to not only grab the reader’s attention but also emotionally connect them to the characters. Throughout the story, I went through a rollercoaster of emotions. I was crying with the characters, laughing with them, and if they were angry, I was angry too.
This was a book that was hard for me to put down because of how invested I was. I would honestly read it again and add it to my bookshelf.
I give this book a 9.5/10. I would recommend it to anyone who loves historical fiction and a good thrill of mystery. For those who might not usually pick up a book like this, I still recommend giving it a try. You never know, you might end up liking it. I know I did.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Abigail Trench is a gripping historical novel that immerses readers in the tension and uncertainty of occupied New York. Randy Overbeck crafts a vivid, tightly woven narrative that follows a resilient schoolteacher forced into the shadows of espionage. By day, Abigail tutors within a British officer’s household, and by night, she navigates taverns, informants, and danger with a courage that steadily deepens. Overbeck balances the story with a compelling counter perspective from a principled British major, adding nuance to the moral complexities of war. While some depictions of violence and occupation may feel especially resonant given today’s global conflicts, the novel ultimately centers on strength, compassion, and the quiet heroism of an ordinary woman who chooses to act.
With its textured world building, escalating tension, and emotionally grounded heroine, Abigail Trench delivers a high intensity read that highlights both the brutality of war and the bravery found within it.
With its textured world building, escalating tension, and emotionally grounded heroine, Abigail Trench delivers a high intensity read that highlights both the brutality of war and the bravery found within it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews