Skyscraper developer Quincy Witherman files for bankruptcy with a secret — two hundred years of hidden Swiss assets he never disclosed to his bankers, the IRS, or the court. All felonies. Bankruptcy attorney 3J senses something is off, and she’s not the only one. Now she has to decide: defend her client or uncover the truth.

Six Kansas City jazz clubs beat the pandemic — but surviving bankruptcy may be harder. When a shadowy enemy launches an anonymous disinformation campaign to destroy what Covid couldn’t, 3J and Pascale race to unmask the attacker before the music stops for good.

3J takes on a creditors’ committee that includes a leader of a domestic terrorist White Nationalist organization. When he realizes he won’t be made whole, he sets his sights on 3J — a Black attorney — and opposing counsel, a Jewish attorney. His grievance is financial. His methods are anything but.

3J has handled liars, felons, and haters — but this case starts out looking almost routine. A company building inner-city housing for marginalized communities needs help when its longtime bank pulls funding without warning. Then the bank president vanishes. And his greed-driven brother, with the Kansas City mob at his back, looks very much like the reason why. Suddenly 3J is racing to save both the company and a man’s life, trapped in a labyrinth of danger, greed, and deceit.

Many enter the world of law without a true calling. Did I relish being an attorney or thrive in the firm life? Absolutely not! Through humor and insight, this book chronicles my journey before, during, and after a 41-year stint in the legal arena. It’s a candid read for law students, practicing attorneys, or anyone linked to or intrigued by the legal profession.

It’s What Makes Me… Me is an extraordinarily candid journey through what it means to be human. Amazon’s bestselling and award-winning author Mark Shaiken unlocks his most personal thoughts, observations, and introspections through the highs and lows, youth and aging, and beauty and messiness of life. Laugh, reflect, and take in all the ins and outs that have uniquely combined to make Mark… Mark. It is “[t]he power of storytelling in all its forms. . . ,” (Reader Views) “like friends around a campfire.” (Henry Cox)

When lawyer 3J takes on a high-stakes Chapter 11 case for Paxton Energy, her entire defense implodes after the banks present a video of the CEO confessing to cooking the books—a confession her client swears is a deepfake. Given twenty days to prove the truth, 3J races to find a digital forensics expert, a search that throws her into the orbit of Robbie McFadden, Kansas City’s charming and ruthless Irish mob boss whose illegitimate empire now includes manipulating reality itself. As 3J, her mentor, and her investigator chase answers from downtown courtrooms to Oklahoma oil fields, they uncover a conspiracy fueled by corporate greed, corruption, and technology powerful enough to ruin reputations or end lives, forcing one woman to decide how far over the line she’ll go to save her client, and herself.