Sergeant’s enthralling series launch, about three women who became part of George Washington’s Culper Spy Ring, highlights the emotional turmoil of American Patriots and British Loyalists during the battle for New York City in 1776. After Meg Moncrieffe’s tip to the British Army endangers her love interest, Maj. Aaron Burr—an American Patriot—and she is forced into a loveless marriage, the disillusioned 17-year-old abandons her British loyalty and becomes an American sympathizer. Twenty-something mother and wife Elizabeth Burgin and her husband, who has enlisted as a Continental Army soldier, have opposing loyalties. But after Elizabeth discovers her husband has been captured by the British and mistreated on a prison ship, she aligns herself with the Patriots in an attempt to free other prisoners from a similar fate. Eighteen-year-old Patriot Sally Townsend gathers information from unsuspecting British soldiers when her family becomes host to a Loyalist militia group. This fast-paced and suspenseful novel effectively conveys the irony of how society’s disregard for a woman’s relevance beyond marriage and family set them up to be successful clandestine operatives. Sergeant’s riveting narrative will entice history buffs and lay readers alike. (BookLife)