Hedging Death

by Stacey Jernigan

Judge Avery Lassiter is back-this time engulfed in a story of death, debt, and deception in Dallas. First, a wealthy Texas hedge fund manager, Cade Graham, is suspected of insurance fraud and mysteriously goes missing in Mexico. He is believed to have faked his own death. Meanwhile, a brilliant young inventor in the infectious disease space, Dmitry Basayev, who received funding from Cade Graham, is suspected of a massive Ponzi scheme-being litigated in Judge Lassiter's court-and likewise goes missing. Are their disappearances connected, and how are they linked to the man who tried to kill Judge Avery Lassiter and other judges and lawyers three years ago? And who will find them first-Max Lassiter or the Mexican crime cartels that they have double-crossed?

318 pages, Paperback

Published March 22, 2022

About the author

Stacey Jernigan is a federal judge (United States Bankruptcy Court) in Dallas, Texas. She was appointed in 2006. Before that, she was a partner at the Haynes and Boone law firm based in Texas. She was a corporate restructuring and reorganization lawyer for 17 years before becoming a judge. She has a JD from The University of Texas School of Law (Austin, TX) and a BBA from SMU (Dallas, TX). She is a member of numerous organizations in the insolvency and restructuring field and is a frequent speaker and writer on legal topics. She is married to a police officer. They have two adult children, one in college and one in graduate school. Ms. Jernigan's hobbies are international travel, writing, and spending time with her family--including Baxter, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who was the inspiration for the dog in He Watches All My Paths.

Reviews

[Matt Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author and real-life Bankruptcy Court Judge Stacey Jernigan cleverly turns what appears to be a run-of-the-mill bankruptcy case involving a Ponzi scheme into an international thriller in Hedging Death. Rather than getting bogged down in the obscurity of federal bankruptcy laws, fictional judge and protagonist Avery Lassiter leads the reader through a clear and concise view of the bankruptcy case, including humorous descriptions of the lawyers, complete with nicknames such as "MuttonChop Man," "the Whale," and "the Robot."

When the bankruptcy case takes a surprise turn--and it is a surprise, since a bunch of lawyers end up cooperating with each other instead of fighting--the scene shifts to Mexico, where Judge Lassiter's husband, Max, a retired U.S. Marshall now working for an insurance company, is on the hunt for the bad guys from the Ponzi scheme. Max works south of the border with another retired U.S. Marshal, known as the "Swiss Army knife," whose disdain toward taking suspects into custody alive bears a close resemblance to the attitude of the Raylan Givens character in the Justified TV series.

Hedging Death is a quick read, full of surprises (that I won't share here.) The humor between Judge Lassiter and her staff is natural and realistic, making her character appealing from the outset. A wonderful mixture of law, science, cartels and philosophy, Hedging Death was a true delight to read over the course just two days. Give it a try--I highly recommend it!