She heads the department of Electronic Funds Transfer but finds herself stonewalled when she makes any proposal to step up the bank's computer security.

Verity soon decides to prove the weakness of the bank's security by stealing from the very systems she has worked to protect.

Upon hearing her plan, her mentor Tor sets a challenge to see which of them can steal a billion dollars and subsequently invest it to earn thirty million in three months - upping the stakes dramatically.

[1] A Calculated Risk received positive reception when it was published in 1992 — not only in the literary sector, but in the financial media and university business courses.

[1] The New York Times Book Review praised Neville's plotting, and found it to be "more plausible because of her intimate knowledge of how international banking works".