RavePortland Press HeraldRich and convincing ... Lloyd’s research complements his own experiences growing up on the Caribbean island of St. Croix and sailing extensively in that region. Together, they enrich his storytelling and enable him to convincingly transport the reader to a Caribbean Island more than 200 years ago. In so doing, he achieves his goal of providing \'a reasonably accurate depiction of Havana as it was in 1863 at the height of the U.S. Civil War\' ... Neither Lloyd nor his protagonist Townsend shy away from the awful reality of slavery that was the backbone of the Cuban sugar plantation economy and the central issue in the Civil War. Lloyd, through Townsend, provides vivid images of slavery’s horrors, aptly referring to the institution as something \'from the devil\' ... has plenty of adrenaline-fueled naval action as well as romance, espionage and moral dilemmas. Combined, these construct a fast-paced yet nuanced work of historical fiction based on a rock-solid foundation of exemplary research.
