From the series: THE GAVEL - When the gavel falls, there are no appeals.

THE GAVEL - BEGINNING : When the gavel falls, there are no appeals.

About

THE GAVEL: BEGINNING

When the gavel falls, there are no appeals.

Hannah Mercer was never meant to survive.

After fleeing a powerful husband, she is hunted down, beaten beyond recognition, and thrown from a bridge. When his rage ends in a car crash that kills their two children, the system closes ranks. He is cleared. She is rewritten as unstable. The truth disappears beneath paperwork, money, and carefully managed sympathy.

Hannah lives—but legally, she no longer exists.

Under a new identity, she rebuilds her life working inside women’s refuges and family courts, helping others escape the same violence she barely survived. From this vantage point, she watches the pattern repeat with disturbing consistency: intervention orders breached, warnings ignored, perpetrators walking free while victims are instructed to be patient, cooperative, and quiet.

At first, Hannah believes protection is enough. She helps women disappear, then watches from a distance as their lives stabilise. It works—until it doesn’t. When the system’s failures leave a family permanently broken, Hannah is forced to confront a truth she has been avoiding:

Safety without consequence is temporary.

What follows is not rage, but procedure.

THE GAVEL: BEGINNING is a dark, grounded crime thriller about institutional failure, invisible violence, and the moment protection stops being enough. This is the first novel in a tightly structured series that examines what happens when justice becomes optional—and someone decides to enforce outcomes instead.

This work is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organisations, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the copyright holder, except as permitted under applicable copyright law.

This book addresses themes of domestic and family violence and contains depictions of physical harm and psychological trauma. It is intended for a mature audience.

First published in 2026 by
MD Mason Publications

Artificial Intelligence Disclosure
Artificial intelligence tools were used in a supporting role during the creation of this book. The author directed all creative choices and maintains full responsibility for the final work.