SOME RISKS YOU CHOOSE. OTHERS CHOOSE YOU. Exiled from Texas, disbarred, and white-knuckling sobriety in the Midwest, criminal defense attorney Larry Welk has learned to manage risk the hard way: by living inside it.

A carefully curated dating profile lands Larry a date with Birdie Thurmond, a brilliant state auditor who believes risk is just a math problem waiting to be solved. Birdie has a spreadsheet for everything, and Larry can't shake the feeling he's already been reduced to a set of variables. The night ends awkwardly, and they part ways.

Then a late-night call detonates Larry's fragile new life. His former lover Darlene Pepper has been shot eight times by police and is clinging to life in a Chicago hospital. Before Larry can even process the news, Darlene is dead and Larry is the prime suspect.

The motive points to a fortune that vanished years ago: millions stolen by Darlene's ex-husband, Larry's former client, money that was never recovered. Now Larry is trapped between the law he once practiced and the danger he can't outrun: federal investigators closing in, a killer who seems to know his every move, and secrets that don't stay buried.

With nowhere left to turn, Larry makes one desperate play: trust Birdie, the one woman convinced every problem has a solution if you run the numbers long enough. But Birdie's equations never accounted for a man like Larry.

If you love legal thrillers, crime and detective fiction, and character-driven psychological suspense, Risk Management delivers a propulsive collision of fraud, murder, federal heat, and high-stakes moral choices.

Perfect for listeners who enjoy:

Legal thrillers with courtroom-grade authenticity, crime thrillers with investigative momentum and mounting body counts, detective series novels with flawed protagonists and sharp, twisty plotting, financial intrigue, corruption, and secrets powerful people kill to protect.