Joseph Bauer writes fiction full-time from his homes in Charleston and Cleveland. His most recent published novel, “Too True to be Good,” was released in April. It is the third in a series – enjoyable in any order because each has an independent plot – featuring an older, lonely, overweight citizen from Pittsburgh – Stanley Bigelow – who is called into secret military projects because of his special engineering skills and obscurity.
In his debut novel, “The Accidental Patriot,” round-the-clock FBI protection and a specially trained German shepherd are deployed to keep him safe and improve his physical fitness as he designs an ingenious underground drone base and trains in Charleston the soldiers who will assemble the structure overseas. Readers acclaimed the book as a “not your typical thriller . . . a book you can’t put down . . . I thought I was reading Tom Clancy.”
Bauer’s second book, “The Patriot’s Angels,” takes the same and a few new characters in a story of domestic terrorism and election meddling. Once again, Bigelow is endangered and desperately needs the aid of his loyal canine. “Too True to be Good” takes their journey to the next level, as the CIA, FBI and Washington, D.C., detectives try to unfurl a foreign-born plot to kill the U.S. president.
Bauer said his novels put a premium on gentle humor and the average man and woman: “I write about ordinary people doing extraordinary things: Loyalty, love and service, and a dog to help with all three.”
Bauer recently contracted for four novels with Running Wild Press and the Seymour Agency, New York and Los Angeles, collaborators who publish fiction distributed to bookstores worldwide while presenting the work to film and streaming producers. Running Wild and Seymour will be publishing and promoting his next novel, “Sailing for Grace,” in 2024.