Mercy for the Weak

In the small town of Mason, Arkansas an apparent radical Islamic terrorist guns down two people on the second floor of the courthouse.  Attorney Jacob Stahl, a victim, maintains a political blog that routinely exposes corruption of public officials.  The night before, he had prepared an article that would end a local judge's twenty year reign of corruption.  Lying in a pool of blood, he asks attorney Wade Anders to post the story, but Wade has no idea what Jacob is referring to.  The next day the apparent terrorist turns up dead on the courthouse steps. As police investigate the killings, the town's only Muslim family is questioned; they seem to have something to hide.  Wade soon gets pulled into a dangerous web of corruption, which climaxes in he and his wife Kate being kidnapped at gunpoint.  As all truths are finally revealed, some of them are shocking, and some of them are heartbreaking. But each truth will impact the residents of Mason in profound ways, both good and bad.


Rachael R. Vaughn has practiced law in Arkansas since 2004, and she teaches at ASU Mid-South.  Prior to 2001, she was an elementary teacher for various Arkansas public schools.  As a lawyer, teacher, and lifetime resident of the south, she has experienced many of the colorful people who live there, along with their often colorful stories.  While her books are legal fiction, she is inspired by the amazingly dedicated people who work within the real worlds of the Arkansas legal and education systems. Teaching and working with troubled families as a lawyer have given her a special passion for families struggling with complex social, economic, and psychological problems.  Having concluded that there are no perfect solutions for these families, her stories contain sub-plots that humbly attempt to point to the possibility of peace amid the chaos for them, as well as for each of the professionals and volunteers who work with them.