From the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Rich Justice and The Boomerang comes a gripping thriller about a disgraced lawyer facing the legal battle of her life as she tries to redeem herself—and save her son.

Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from The Mediator by Robert Bailey, which releases on May 12th 2026.

Max Ringo was once a courtroom star at an elite law firm. Then a car accident left her addicted to painkillers, and her life dissolved into shambles. Now fresh out of rehab and making a comeback as a mediator, she gets her shot at redemption when she is appointed to handle a high-stakes divorce.

But as Max begins negotiations between the two notorious power players, the trap is already sprung. The husband kidnaps her teenage son, Nathan, and gives her a chilling ultimatum: settle the case on his terms…or the boy dies.

Over three relentless days, Max must resolve a cutthroat legal battle while pursuing a covert mission to rescue Nathan. She’ll risk everything—her career, her freedom, her life—to beat a ruthless adversary at his own game. Even when a shadowy syndicate enters the fray and bodies start to drop, only one thing matters. She must bring her son home, whatever the cost.

EXCERPT

1

Kidnapping the boy turned out to be easy.

It would have been harder if he’d gone to school. The plan was to nab him at Lowe Mill that afternoon. He was in a play that rehearsed at the art center, and they could have detained him in the parking lot while he smoked a joint.

As luck would have it, though, Nathan Ringo decided to skip his first class.

They got him at a gas station in Five Points. Hicks had followed the kid inside the convenience store and picked out a soda from the cooler while the teenager asked for the strongest thing they had. When the clerk went to the back, Nathan grabbed a HEATH bar and a CELSIUS energy drink.

Read An Excerpt From ‘Dragon Fires Everywhere’ by Hazel Beck

Breakfast of champions, Hicks thought, watching from the window as two of his associates slid into the back seat of the kid’s unlocked car.

A minute later, after showing his fake ID and paying for the items with cash, Nathan Ringo emerged from the store carrying a brown paper sack. He stood in front of his vehicle and took out the green package of delta-9 gummies, which looked for all the world like candy. The kid popped two in his mouth and then opened the door to his sedan.

After he plopped down in the driver’s seat and shut the door, they took him. A chloroform handkerchief over his mouth and nose and he was out just like Wonder Woman in the old TV show.

One of the men drove the kid’s car while Hicks followed in the truck. The farm was a little less than half an hour away, and they pulled into the barn at 9:17 a.m. Exactly forty-three minutes before the start of mediation.

Ahead of schedule, Hicks thought, calling his boss while his men set up the video camera.