Historical Adventure, Burning Secret By R J Lloyd, Follows An English Bare-Knuckle Fighter To Powerful American Politician

On The Table Read Magazine, “the best book magazine in the UK“, in Burning Secret, R J Lloyd shares the story of his born-into-poverty ancestor, Enoch Price, who deserted his family in nineteenth-century London for a new life in America, as Harry Mason.

Burning Secret

The dramatic and compelling novel, Burning Secret, was inspired by real life events, as R J Lloyd shares a fictionalised account of his great-great-grandfather’s exploits and how they helped to shape American history. This thought-provoking, and sometimes chilling, novel explores the nature of secrets, the power of lies, and the consequences of betrayal. Seamlessy merging facts with fiction, Lloyd provides vivid detailed and dialogue that draws the reader in to this impeccably researched and hugely entertaining read.

Born in 1844 in the slums of Bristol, Enoch Price is determined not to accept his lot of poverty and hardship. He becomes a bare-knuckle fighter in London’s criminal underworld, but is soon cheated by a cruel loan shark, which leaves him penniless and facing imprisonment.

Abandoning his family, Enoch escapes for a new life in America where he embarks on a series of audacious exploits.  But even as he helps shape history, Enoch feels tormented by his past and the life he left behind, he soon becomes entangled in a web of lies and secrets.

Influenced by real people and events, Enoch’s remarkable story is one of adventure, daring, political power and, in the end, his search for redemption. While readers are left questioning their assumptions about trust and forgiveness, any such thoughts are often trumped when learning of Harry’s next thrilling escapade.

R J Lloyd

After retiring as a senior police officer, I turned my detective skills to genealogy, tracing my family history to the 16th century. However, after 15 years of extensive research, I couldn’t track down my great-great-grandfather, Enoch Price, whose wife, Eliza, had, in living memory, helped raise my mother.

It was my cousin Gillian who, after several more dead-ends, called one day to say that she had found him through a fluke encounter. Susan Sperry from California, who had recently retired, decided to explore the box of documents given to her thirty years before by her mother, which she had never opened. In the box, she found some references to her great grandfather, Harry Mason, a wealthy hotel owner from Florida who had died in 1919. It soon transpired that Susan’s great grandfather, Harry Mason, was, in fact, Enoch Price. From this single thread, the extraordinary story of Harry Mason began to unravel, leading me to visit the States to meet my American cousins, and it was Susan Sperry and Kimberly Mason, direct descendants, who persuaded me to write Burning Secret – where fact and fiction become a compelling tale.

-R J Lloyd

R J Lloyd the great-great-grandson of Enoch Price, the main character in Burning Secret. He graduated from the University of Warwick with a degree in philosophy and psychology and a Masters in marketing from UWE.  After leaving his thirty-year career in policing, he became a non-executive director with the NHS, social housing, and other charities.  Now living with his wife in Bristol, he spends his time travelling, writing, and producing delicious plum jam from the trees on his award-winning allotment.

Find more from R J Lloyd now:

Published by Matador, Burning Secret is available in paperback (978-1803131498) and Kindle format on Amazon.

Kindle: https://amzn.to/3rMn0th

Paperback: https://amzn.to/45ncgze

It is also available on the publisher’s website

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