An experiment in publishing. This novel publishes monthly, each chapter an episode that will ultimately be published as an omnibus collection.
Since I’m actively writing this while I publish it, you have an unusual opportunity to give me feedback as I write it, and to “ride along” with me on this fantastic ride.
Think Turn: Washington’s Spies meets The Alice Network
Newport was the jewel of the American colonies—smaller, but nearly as prosperous as Boston, New York, or Philadelphia—until British forces occupied it in 1776. Suddenly, the one of the richest cities in America became a battleground of resistance, betrayal, and unlikely alliances. At the center: the Hazard family’s provisions store, which harbors secrets that could change the course of the war.
Fourteen-year-old Benjamin Hazard discovers that his family has been unknowingly sheltering Patriot intelligence operations for months. His sixteen-year-old sister Bridget has been systematically documenting British movements in her journal for two years, creating an intelligence goldmine. Their parents William and Mary must choose between survival and resistance when William’s own cousin begins targeting their customers for British authorities.
But the Hazards aren’t fighting alone. Mary coordinates with a network of women conducting sophisticated intelligence operations through seemingly innocent social connections—Irish servants, merchant wives, and society ladies who gather secrets more effectively than any trained spy. Duchess Quamino, Newport’s celebrated “Pastry Queen,” uses her renowned catering business to document British officer conversations while building the fortune that will buy her family’s freedom from slavery. Her husband John Quamino—the first college-educated African American, a Princeton-trained philosopher, and privateer—risks everything at sea fighting for both American independence and his family’s liberation from bondage. Newport Gardner, master musician and the first African-American composer to publish music in America, uses his performances at Loyalist gatherings to gather crucial intelligence while maintaining his carefully constructed public persona.
Meanwhile, Harry Sherman—missing for years, now a deadly privateer captain—conducts daring raids and rescues while seeking vengeance for his murdered wife. His ship Rebecca becomes a floating weapon of resistance, striking British supply lines in spectacular naval battles.
From the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778 to the brutal winter that followed, The Hazard Trade reveals how ordinary people became extraordinary operatives. These interconnected stories of resistance show that the fight for American independence was won not just by Continental soldiers, but by enslaved people seeking freedom, women building networks, merchants choosing principle over profit, and families discovering that survival sometimes requires becoming people they never thought they could be.
Meticulously researched and set against the authentic backdrop of British-occupied Newport—a city that lost half its population and many of its buildings to the war—this episodic series delivers swashbuckling naval adventures, sophisticated spy craft, and the untold stories of America’s most diverse resistance network.
Perfect for readers who devoured The Alice Network, binged Turn: Washington’s Spies, and love the episodic storytelling of Hugh Howey’s Wool.
The Hazard Trade – Episode 1: The Weight of Names
Episode 1 is now available!
A new serial historical thriller. Think Turn: Washington’s Spies meets The Alice Network.
Newport, Rhode Island was the jewel of colonial America—richer than Boston, New York, or Philadelphia—until British occupation changed everything.
Now the city teems with redcoats and Hessian soldiers while half the original population has fled. The Hazard family fights for survival in this transformed world. William Hazard, principled merchant and vocal abolitionist, tries to keep his family invisible. His wife Mary, former indentured servant turned businesswoman, quietly builds networks to help neighbors endure the grinding occupation. Their children Benjamin and Bridget have learned that in occupied territory, silence means survival.
But invisibility has its limits.
For three days, a British sergeant has stood outside their store, watching. Taking notes. Waiting. Today is Benjamin’s fourteenth birthday—what should be a celebration feels like the last day of childhood. Inside, the family maintains careful routines while tension builds like a gathering storm. A cousin’s visit carries undertones of threat. And somewhere in the shadows, unseen watchers are watching the watchers.
The Weight of Names launches The Hazard Trade—an epic saga releasing new episodes monthly, following the interconnected stories of families, spies, and freedom fighters navigating occupied Newport. From Duchess Quamino, the enslaved “Pastry Queen” who documents British secrets, to Harry Sherman, the presumed-dead privateer striking from the sea, to the networks of women who gather intelligence through seemingly innocent conversation—this is the untold story of how ordinary people became extraordinary operatives in America’s fight for independence.
Episode 1 of a serialized historical thriller. The last day of Benjamin’s childhood is about to end.
Eric Picard 