Title: The Adjudicator prompted by Michael Poole
Genre: Legal Thriller / Medical Conspiracy
Setting: A southern U.S. town with an old courthouse, a sprawling teaching hospital, and a bar where the main character plays guitar at night.

Plot Summary:
Dane Harrow, a 62-year-old former physics student turned adjudicator, is a man once defined by intellect, logic, and integrity. After a brutal legal battle initiated by his estranged sister, Miranda Harrow, an ambitious journalist-turned-medical administrator, Dane is left homeless, unemployed, and emotionally shattered. Once a respected figure in administrative law, he now scrapes by playing guitar in dive bars for $10 a night.

What begins as a desperate search for mental health care turns into something darker: Dane discovers that his sister—now employed by a powerful teaching hospital—is leveraging confidential medical records and insider influence to keep him from accessing proper care. Dane suspects she has weaponized the medical system against him, and he begins to fear that she’s not just trying to ruin his reputation, but erase him completely.

When Dane reaches out to an online medical expert for help, the conversation is brief but compassionate. Days later, the expert vanishes. Dane's emails bounce back. Forums are wiped clean. Something is being covered up.

His suspicions grow as he uncovers threads of a larger conspiracy: a for-profit medical research trial funded by pharmaceutical interests, in which vulnerable patients—especially those legally marginalized—are being targeted for off-books experimentation. And Miranda’s name is all over the administrative authorizations.

Armed with nothing but old legal skills, a laptop, and a deeply bruised ego, Dane begins an investigation. He reconnects with a former mentee, now a civil rights attorney, and a bar regular who happens to be an ex-IT specialist with a grudge against the hospital.

As Dane builds his case, he’s forced to relive his past, confront his own mental health, and wrestle with the humiliation of being bested by family. But his pursuit of justice transforms into something greater: a stand for the voiceless patients being abused by a system that was meant to heal.

Key Characters:
Dane Harrow – A principled, broken adjudicator whose legal mind is dulled by years of trauma but reawakens through adversity.

Miranda Harrow – Dane’s estranged sister. Brilliant, ruthless, and deeply secretive. She’s hiding something, and it may go beyond sibling rivalry.

Dr. Elias Cornelio – A compassionate online doctor whose brief interaction with Dane becomes a catalyst for uncovering hidden truths. He mysteriously disappears after offering help.

Rita Blackwell – A civil rights attorney who once idolized Dane and now helps him build a case.

"Spider" Monroe – A hacker who works maintenance at the bar Dane plays in, and who has access to the hospital's dark web activity.

Judge Ellison Brand – The aging but fair circuit judge who once mentored Dane and may offer a path back into court.

Themes:
Justice vs. Power: The story explores how institutions—medical, legal, journalistic—can be used as tools of oppression or liberation.

Mental Health and Masculinity: Dane’s struggle reflects a real, under-discussed issue of older men navigating shame, trauma, and vulnerability.

Family as Battlefield: A sibling rivalry becomes a war of ethics, pride, and survival.

Redemption: Dane’s journey is about reclaiming self-worth when the world says you’ve lost everything.

Ending (No Spoilers):
In classic fashion, the final courtroom scenes crackle with tension as Dane brings the hospital and his sister to justice. But it’s not a clean win—justice, as he learns, is never perfect. Still, by standing up, telling his story, and refusing to be erased, Dane finds a kind of peace.