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I Heard You Paint Cowboys
"Gritty, clever, intelligent, and shocking-all a reader could wish for in both a mystery and a thriller." -Lisa Regan, USA Today and WSJ bestselling author
"A high-stakes art sting in play and an assassination in progress. Chris Bauer humanizes unique, frenzied, marginalized characters in a twisty and timely page turner.” – Robert Dugoni, NYT bestselling author of The Tracy Crosswhite series
Counsel Fungo, female bounty hunter, has art thief/forger/bail jumper Sebastian Leone in custody. She now owns his future. Leone pleads his way out of going to jail by dropping names of bigger fish, and Counsel hears one that interests Mercer Crawford, CEO of a large pro-gun activist group. Counsel disagrees with Crawford's gun politics and looks to exploit his affinity for stolen art and embarrass him and his organization. The stakes increase when she learns of his other brokering illegal arms sales, the kind that can topple governments.
Aaron Pappas's murder convictions were just overturned. He identifies as a man but was born a woman, and he re-enters society after thirty years in prison and excessive solitary confinement. The DA who convicted him, now a senator, is running for US president. Too much prison solitary does things to a person, all of them bad. Aaron can't legally own a gun, but he can build one.
Days count down to the presidential campaign's final debate. Counsel and her working dogs will be there. Crawford, his stolen art, and an eighteen-wheeler full of assault rifles will be nearby. Aaron will be there, and he will make history.
A clever, twisty, timely, action-filled plot.
"A high-stakes art sting in play and an assassination in progress. Chris Bauer humanizes unique, frenzied, marginalized characters in a twisty and timely page turner.” – Robert Dugoni, NYT bestselling author of The Tracy Crosswhite series
Counsel Fungo, female bounty hunter, has art thief/forger/bail jumper Sebastian Leone in custody. She now owns his future. Leone pleads his way out of going to jail by dropping names of bigger fish, and Counsel hears one that interests Mercer Crawford, CEO of a large pro-gun activist group. Counsel disagrees with Crawford's gun politics and looks to exploit his affinity for stolen art and embarrass him and his organization. The stakes increase when she learns of his other brokering illegal arms sales, the kind that can topple governments.
Aaron Pappas's murder convictions were just overturned. He identifies as a man but was born a woman, and he re-enters society after thirty years in prison and excessive solitary confinement. The DA who convicted him, now a senator, is running for US president. Too much prison solitary does things to a person, all of them bad. Aaron can't legally own a gun, but he can build one.
Days count down to the presidential campaign's final debate. Counsel and her working dogs will be there. Crawford, his stolen art, and an eighteen-wheeler full of assault rifles will be nearby. Aaron will be there, and he will make history.
A clever, twisty, timely, action-filled plot.
263 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 3, 2025
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About the author
Chris Bauer
34 books16 followersThere is more than one author in the database with this name.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 2, 2026
A lot of things going on for such a short book. Art theft and forgery, an planned assassination of a presidential candidate and sales of truckloads of illegal weapons with a cast of characters just as unlikely as the multiple story lines for them. having that all come together was a remarkable achievement.
I'm not sure whether I liked the book or not. It's so objectjectionable politically I can't say I did but I suggest you read and experience it yourself. it's quite an experience.
I'm not sure whether I liked the book or not. It's so objectjectionable politically I can't say I did but I suggest you read and experience it yourself. it's quite an experience.
Displaying 1 of 1 review