"A fast-paced legal thriller that will keep you engrossed from the first page." -Gary Gerlacher, bestselling author of the AJ Docker and Banshee seriesUnemployed after barely graduating from high school, Bud Boyer's fortunes suddenly change when he flattens two knife-wielding thugs trying to rob him. Moogie, a part-time loan shark, spots the altercation outside the tavern he owns in a Georgia mountain town. Immediately, he hires Bud to collect from deadbeat borrowers. All goes well until Bud falls for the daughter of the town's police chief, and sensing the relationship is getting serious, Moogie reluctantly fires him.Months later, when Moogie unexpectedly announces he's going to close his tavern, Bud persuades Moogie to sell it to him instead and to serve as his business consultant for one year. After Moogie suddenly vanishes, Bud is shocked to learn Moogie has been charged with arranging for the murder of a man who conned him out of $250,000 in a phony horseracing ownership syndicate.When Moogie decides to surrender, he unexpectedly shows up at the tavern and asks Bud to call the police chief, who is now Bud's father-in-law. Their relationship takes another shocking turn when Bud is called as a witness at Moogie's murder trial.With twists you won't see coming, The Shark's Protégé will keep you turning pages to the very end.