Please Welcome Thriller Writer Joseph Badal

with Joseph Badal

We are delighted to welcome thriller writer Joseph Badal to Omnimystery News today, courtesy of Partners in Crime Tours, which is coordinating his current book tour. We encourage you to visit all of the participating host sites; you can find his schedule here.

Joseph's fourth "Danforth Saga" novel is The Lone Wolf Agenda (Suspense Publishing; June 2013 trade paperback and ebook formats), and he titles his guest post today "Ripping Thriller Plots from the Headlines".

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Photo provided courtesy of
Joseph Badal

I am sure most avid readers have heard the phrase "You can't make this stuff up." I have approached the development of plots for my novels by basing them on real experiences +/or on current events. Obviously, drawing upon actual experience puts me in the position of being able to write about what I know. Using current events as the foundation for a story gives readers topics they can easily relate to, ones they are familiar with.

In the instance of The Pythagorean Solution, I based my plot on the historical event of a sunken Nazi treasure that has yet to be discovered. I melded this actual event with archaeological sites dating back to antiquity and brought all of this forward to present day, including personal experiences I had on the Island of Samos where the story takes place.

Shell Game, a financial thriller, was inspired by recent events that came out of the capital markets meltdown that began in 2007. This financial debacle impacted every person in some fashion. The book is about a family that suffers from the repercussions of the meltdown and the over-reaction by federal government regulators. My extensive background in the banking and financial services industries gave me unique insight into the crash and the impact it has had — and continues to have — on average citizens.

In Evil Deeds, I employ the actual kidnapping of my 2-year-old son in Greece and historical kidnappings that occurred after the end of WW II as the foundation for the story and for what is now a 4-book series called the Danforth Saga (Evil Deeds, Terror Cell, The Nostradamus Secret, and The Lone Wolf Agenda).

The Lone Wolf Agenda borrows heavily from current events, particularly those associated with lone wolf terrorists and activities related to the discovery of huge oil and gas deposits in the United States. I devised the theory that OPEC, threatened by the United States approaching energy independence, decides to attack the U.S. pipeline system that carries U.S. crude oil production to U.S. refineries.

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Joseph Badal worked for thirty-eight years in the banking and financial services industries, most recently serving as a senior executive and board member of a NYSE-listed mortgage REIT. He is currently President of Joseph Badal & Associates, Inc., a management consulting firm.

Prior to his finance career, Joe served for six years as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army in critical, highly classified positions in the U.S. and overseas, including tours of duty in Greece and Vietnam. He earned numerous military decorations.

He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in International Finance (Temple University) and Business Administration (University of New Mexico). He graduated from the Defense Language Institute, West Coast, and from Stanford University Law School's Director College.

Joe serves on the boards of Sacred Wind Communications and New Mexico Mutual Insurance, and is Chairman and President of The New Mexico Small Business Investment Corporation.

For more information about the author and his work, visit his website at JosephBadalBooks.com or find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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The Lone Wolf Agenda
Joseph Badal
The Danforth Saga (4th in series)

Bob Danforth is brought out of retirement to hunt down lone wolf terrorists hell bent on destroying America's oil infrastructure.

As the United States discovers more and more oil reserves and is moving toward energy self-sufficiency, OPEC realizes it is about to lose its largest customer. The organization puts in place a lone wolf terrorist ring, in league with a Mexican Drug cartel, to attack America's pipeline network.

Danforth and his son, Michael, now a senior officer with DELTA Force, partner to identify and neutralize this terrorist network.