Book Review: “The Mediator” by Robert Bailey

Max Ringo is nervous about the divorce mediation she’s about to conduct at the Huntsville law firm where she once worked as an attorney. She’d flamed out dramatically — drugs, sex, accusations of theft, suspended from the practice of law. A stint in rehab eight months prior cleaned her up, steadying her enough to allow her to venture out into mediation rather than work as an attorney. Now, as she sits down with the husband in the divorce case, she’s stunned when he shows her a video on his laptop of her teenage son Nathan, bound and gagged.

The last time author Robert Bailey visited Mentone, he said his goal was to write full time and to let go of his day job as an attorney. Now he has managed to do just that, devoting himself to writing and, like the narrator of his latest book, “The Mediator,” taking on cases that require settling through careful negotiations. With each book, Bailey has expanded his following, breaking out beyond being a regional favorite to achieving national and international acclaim. His legal thrillers are fast-paced and gritty, full of unexpected twists that leave the reader guessing right up to the end. His latest series promises to be just as exciting as the earlier ones. Like Bailey’s Jason Rich, Bocephus Haynes, and McMurtrie and Drake series, this one is set in North Alabama, in and around Huntsville where Bailey lives.

In the divorce case Max is working on, power couple Perry and Stephanie Strassburg are splitting up, a tense situation complicated by the fact that Stephanie is the daughter of Dagger Richardson, a wealthy business developer. Perry is determined to take advantage of his soon-to-be ex-father-in-law’s current cash flow difficulties to wrest control of the corporation from him as part of the divorce. It’s no spoiler that Perry and his associates are behind the kidnapping of Nathan Ringo, as this is revealed in an early chapter. Another complication: Stephanie Richardson Strassburg is keeping a dark secret from most of her family, one that will affect all their lives.

As the action ratchets up, readers will be glad to see appearances by familiar characters like Jason Rich and his friend Satch Tonidandel, one of the fierce gang of brothers whose military backgrounds have left them with a taste for mayhem. Satch and Max Ringo turn out to be a well-matched team, but even their ferocity may be no match for Perry Strassburg’s gang of violent criminals holding Nathan captive.

This is the first time Bailey has written a female protagonist. While authors often write outside their own perspectives, it can be difficult to get it right. Max Ringo is a tough, savvy character, just chastened enough by her breakdown to show some vulnerability, and Bailey captures this character well.

Local readers will be thrilled to find she is based out of Mentone, though much of the action takes place in Huntsville. It’s not the first time our town has gotten a shout-out in one of Bailey’s books, but now that the narrator of his new series is living in a Lookout Mountain cabin, it may be that we’ll eventually see references to characters visiting the Log Cabin Village, the Wildflower Cafe, Mentone Market, and other local landmarks.

Is Mentone too cosy to serve as the setting of a Robert Bailey novel? That may be a question for the author’s next visit to Mentone, which may be later this year. Watch for details in the fall. In the meantime, “The Mediator” is available for checkout at Moon Lake Library.