Torlan Tarsen -- The First Sting: The Hearthridge Operation - Paperback

They don't use weapons.
They use contracts.
When a frontier settlement on Hearthridge begins to lose everything through "legal" agreements, most believe nothing can be done.
Torlan Tarsen knows better.
What appears to be isolated misfortune is actually part of a larger, carefully engineered system-one designed to acquire land, resources, and control without ever breaking the law. Entire communities are being dismantled quietly, one contract at a time.
But Torlan doesn't fight corruption head-on.
He studies it.
With a specialized team-each expert in strategy, data, law, and deception-he constructs a countermeasure: a perfectly structured sting designed to draw the operation in and let it expose itself from the inside.
The plan is simple.
Let them think they're in control.
As the target moves deeper into the trap, confidence turns into commitment... and commitment turns into consequence.
But when the operation begins to collapse, something unexpected is revealed.

This was never the top of the chain.

The First Sting is a thoughtful, character-driven science fiction thriller that blends strategy, justice, and high-stakes tension-perfect for readers who enjoy intelligent conflict, moral clarity, and stories where the right solution is never the easiest one... but always worth finding.