Three Little Birds

–She reads lips. They erase lives.

When an investigation into a blue-chip Wall Street firm turns deadly, a reformed forensic accountant who reads lips must expose a multimillion-dollar fraud and stop the men who will kill to keep it buried.

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Back Cover:

Sally Raines sees the truth in a way others can’t.

A childhood spent in silence taught her to read lips and lies. It kept her alive, but there were consequences. After prison, she has rebuilt her life with a master’s degree and a small forensic accounting firm, a quiet second chance she refuses to waste.

Hired to vet the most prestigious investment firm in Washington, D.C., Sally and her partners—Navi, a brilliant hacker, and Cricket, a street-savvy protector—peel back the polish and find rot underneath: duplicate ledgers, falsified returns, and a cover-up protected by money and power.

But the fraud is only the beginning. Their discovery triggers ruthless retaliation: a mentor’s home ransacked, a professor stabbed, a kidnapping gone violently wrong. With a corrupt probation officer tightening the noose around Sally’s past, the trio must rely on their skills, their wits, and the fragile community they’ve rebuilt to survive.

In a city built on wealth and power, they must decide: stay hidden and survive, or step out of the shadows and become the reckoning for an empire built on deceit. Three Little Birds is a story about truth, redemption, and the strength of found family.

Perfect for readers who love gritty resilience, brilliant underdogs, and thrillers with heart.

S. Freeman Martin

S. Freeman Martin writes character-driven thrillers set in the world he knows well—Wall Street, Washington, and the powerful institutions that shape modern life. A New Orleans native, he spent many years working inside major financial firms and brings an insider’s eye for detail to his fiction.

Three Little Birds, his debut novel, introduces Sally Raines, a brilliant investigator whose childhood deafness taught her to read people in ways most can’t. Martin volunteered for over a decade at the Lighthouse of the Blind, where he was inspired by the extraordinary resilience of the people he met. Their strength helped shape Sally’s character and the emotional heart of the story.

Martin splits his time between Charleston and New Orleans. He is married with three children and can usually be found on a racquet court when he’s not writing. He is currently working on the next Three Little Birds thriller.

Waterthrush Press

Waterthrush Press is a small, independent imprint for sharp, deeply felt, socially aware thrillers.