Saratoga - Hardcover

Set against the burning backdrop of the vicious, ugly turmoil that accompanied the formation of America, Saratoga is the thrilling first installment in a series that will chronicle the birth of a nation, and the stories of the men and women hopelessly caught in its wake. It is May, 1777, and the British colonies in America have declared independence from the crown. The mammoth British military machine has been dispatched to stamp out this minor annoyance, but the gutty American rebels have shown a surprisingly stubborn resistance to being put back in their place, and the past year has seen skirmishes from Crown Point to Fort Ticonderoga.

Captain Jamie Skoyles is a career soldier in the British Army who has made a reputation of conspicuous gallantry for himself with his unswerving bravery and uncanny luck. As he fights alongside unquestioning British patriots in the unfamiliar lands of America, Skoyles can't help but mistrust the cocky leaders of his own military as costly, bumbling mistakes begin to pile up and the American rebels surge with confidence.

Unable to pursue his love, a woman betrothed to a fellow officer, Skoyles must instead focus on staying alive and furthering the commonwealth's cause in his own small corner of the war. As the two vast armies converge on Saratoga in what will prove the first large-scale test of the war, the American rebels gain momentum and British victory no longer seems certain. Skoyles soon finds his loyalties tested as he imagines life after the war, which he intends to live in the new world, no matter who governs it.

An action-packed debut with a heavy dose of human drama and a complicated love story at its center, SARATOGA is an excellent first entry in what is sure to become a favorite new series for fans of historical fiction.

David Garland is the pseudonym for an award-winning crime fiction author of more than seventy books. A playwrite, actor, and historian with a lifelong interest in British and American history, Garland lives in England.