Early one morning in 2011, Hilary Neiman was hard at work in the offices of her Maryland adoption and surrogacy practice, when without warning three agents of the FBI entered, placed her under arrest, and informed her, “This is your come-to-Jesus day.” In her explosive new memoir Things Fall Apart, Hilary reveals how she went from being raised in a loving, ethical family and earning an advanced education, including in the law, to being accused in the headlines of joining a baby-selling ring. In federal court Hilary pled guilty – but only to an obscure federal wire fraud statute. Forfeiting her license to practice law, she spent five months in the Atwood Minimum Security Camp in Lexington, Kentucky.

I had the pleasure to work closely with Hilary to edit her touching and dramatic story of a young woman who, without being aware of it, crossed the fine line between providing honest legal services and breaking federal law. It’s the real “Orange Is the New Black,” told in first person by an idealistic lawyer who wanted only to help deserving couples adopt the babies of their dreams.

– Thomas Hauck is a professional book editor and ghostwriter of fiction, nonfiction, self-help books, business books, and memoirs.