Checkmate: A True Story

THE RULES OF THE GAME JUST CHANGED. Despite growing up in the projects of Chicago's West Side in the 1960s, Richard "Rico" Townsend believed he was destined for greatness. By the 1980s, his greatness would lie in becoming the most successful drug lord Chicago had ever seen. Every man wanted to be him. Every woman wanted to be with him. Sexy, brilliant, and shrewd, Rico was far more than a drug lord, he was a businessman. Every move he made was carefully orchestrated, mirroring his favorite game of strategy--chess. It wasn't until Aja walked into his life that Rico realized he wanted something else. He wanted love and a family, and he was ready to leave the empire he built behind ... if it wasn't too late. *** Checkmate chronicles the rise and fall of one of the most successful drug kingpins to ever run the streets of Chicago. A modern-day Robin Hood to some, whose best friend was a Chicago PD Detective, Rico built an illegal empire the Feds couldn't infiltrate--or so he thought.