Genre:
Mystery, Thriller
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Bio
Before he began his finance career, Joe Badal was a decorated military officer, having served in the U.S. Army for 6 years, including tours of duty in Vietnam and Greece. He was awarded the bronze star medal, the meritorious service medal, and the Army Commendation Medal(2).
Joe has had ten suspense novels published: The Pythagorean Solution, Evil Deeds, Terror Cell, The Nostradamus Secret, Shell Game, The Lone Wolf Agenda, Ultimate Betrayal, Borderline, Death Ship, and The Motive. His short stories, “Fire & Ice,” “Ultimate Betrayal,” and “The Rock” were included in anthologies. Joe also writes a monthly blog titled Everyday Heroes. He is a member of International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime, Croak & Dagger, Military Writers Society of America, Western Writers of America, New Mexico Book Coop, and SouthWest Writers, and was recently named one of the 50 Best Authors You Should Be Reading.
The Lone Wolf Agenda, was awarded first prize for fiction-mystery/thriller in the 2013 New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards, and Ultimate Betrayal received the 2014 Tony Hillerman Award for best fiction book. The Military Writers Society of America awarded Evil Deeds its silver medal for best mystery/thriller in 2015. Death Ship was a finalist for best mystery/thriller in the New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards contest. Albuquerque Magazine named Joe the top author in its 2015 Best of the City contest.
Book Series: Curtis Chronicles
Title: SOULLESS: Curtis Chronicles Book #4 of 4
Publisher: Black Range Publishing, November 2025
Genre: Thriller
SOULLESS features Eddie Parnall and Tatiana Borodvic who were introduced in Joseph Badal’s novel JUSTICE, the third book in the Curtis Chronicles series. Parnall, a retired CIA agent, and Borodvic, a former Bulgarian Special Operator, join a high-octane cast of characters who starred in previous books in the Curtis Chronicles series. Joseph Badal introduces diabolical villains whom the reader will love to hate, while cheering on the good guys as they work to bring down evildoers. At a time when human trafficking has become a $150 billion-dollar annual business and a global catastrophe, SOULLESS offers a picture of the extent of this crime against humanity and puts the reader on a roller coaster ride of tension and suspense. The story is presented via well-drawn characters and dynamic dialogue that will entertain the most demanding thriller and mystery fans.
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Title: The Motive (The Curtis Chronicles Book 1)
Publisher: Suspense Publishing/2016
Genre: Thriller
In The Motive, Joseph Badal presents the first book in his new series, Cycle of Violence. This latest addition to Badal’s offering of acclaimed, best-selling thrillers delivers the same sort of action and suspense that readers have come to expect and enjoy from his previous nine novels. Confronted with suspicious information relating to his sister Susan’s supposed suicide in Honolulu, Albuquerque surgeon Matt Curtis questions whether his sister really killed herself. With the help of his sister’s best friend, Renee Drummond, and his former Special Forces comrade, Esteban Maldonado, Matt investigates Susan’s death. But Lonnie Jackson, the head of organized crime in Hawaii, afraid that Matt has gotten too close to the truth, sends killers after him.
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Book Series: Lassiter/Martinez Case Files
Title: Everything to Lose (Lassiter/Martinez Case Files Book 4)
Publisher: Suspense Publishing/2022
Genre: Mystery
Everything to Lose pits New Mexico homicide detectives Barbara Lassiter and Susan Martinez against a duo of mass murderers terrorizing Albuquerque, New Mexico…and then their arch-nemesis, Lisa French, targets the detectives for murder. In this 4th book in his Lassiter/Martinez Case Files series, award-winning and Amazon #1 Best-Selling Author Joseph Badal brings back his female detectives as they investigate a series of murders in the Albuquerque area. Inspired by actual events, Everything to Lose is an edge-of-the-seat thriller built on a foundation of characters from previous books in the series, including Lisa French, a psychopathic murderer in her own right. This take-your-breath-away story will put you on a thrill ride of tension, misdirection, and surprise within the backdrop of New Mexico’s majestic landscape and unique culture. Barbara Lassiter and Susan Martinez, savvy ladies with real life personas, are the best female detective duo since Cagney & Lacey. They will have you begging for more of their exploits.
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Title: Borderline (Lassiter/Martinez Case Files Book 1)
Publisher: Suspense Publishing/2015
Genre: Mystery
Barbara Lassiter and Susan Martinez, two New Mexico homicide detectives, are assigned to investigate the murder of a wealthy Albuquerque socialite. They soon discover that the victim, a narcissistic borderline personality, played a lifetime game of destroying people’s lives. As a result, the list of suspects in her murder is extensive. The detectives find themselves enmeshed in a helix of possible perpetrators with opportunity, means, and motive—and soon question giving their best efforts to solve the case the more they learn about the victim’s hideous past. Their job gets tougher when the victim’s psychiatrist is murdered and DVDs turn up that show the doctor had serial sexual relationships with a large number of his female patients, including the murder victim. Borderline presents a fascinating cast of characters, including two heroic female detective-protagonists and a diabolical villain; a rollercoaster ride of suspense; and an ending that will surprise and shock the reader.
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Book Series: Danforth Saga
Title: The Carnevale Conspiracy (Danforth Saga Book 7)
Publisher: Suspense Publishing/2021
Genre: Thriller
Bob and Liz Danforth are on the vacation of a lifetime—Venice, Italy during Carnevale. But, when they are caught up in the diabolical actions of a secret organization, patterned after the 11th Century’s Hashashiyan, or Order of Assassins, their trip becomes a nightmare of herculean proportion. The Carnevale Conspiracy is an epic tale that brings together international intelligence agencies; a cadre of assassins inspired by a 900-year-old sect and their leader, the Old Man of the Mountain; a global assassination campaign that targets Western leaders; an intrepid MOSSAD agent; and a cast of heroic characters and evil traitors. Fans of Joseph Badal’s Danforth Saga will find this 7th in the series full of the tension, action, and authenticity they have come to expect and enjoy.
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Title: Sins of the Fathers (Danforth Saga Book 6)
Publisher: Suspense Publishing/2017
Genre: Thriller
The Danforth family returns in this sixth edition of the Danforth Saga. Sins of the Fathers takes the reader on a tension-filled journey from a kidnapping of Michael and Robbie Danforth in Colorado, to America’s worst terrorist-sponsored attacks, to Special Ops operations in Mexico, Greece, Turkey, and Syria. This epic tale includes political intrigue, CIA and military operations, terrorist sleeper cells, drug cartels, and action scenes that will keep you pinned to the edge of your seat. Joseph Badal’s twelfth novel is complex, stimulating, and un-put-down-able. You will love his heroes and hate his villains, and you will root for the triumph of good over evil. This is fiction as close to reality as you will ever find.
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Title: Death Ship (Danforth Saga Book 5)
Publisher: Suspense Publishing/2015
Genre: Thriller
Death Ship is another suspense-filled thriller in the 45-year-long journey of the Danforth family. This fifth book in the Danforth Saga introduces Robbie Danforth, the 15-year-old son of Michael and Miriana Danforth, and the grandson of Bob and Liz Danforth. A leisurely cruise in the Ionian Sea turns into a nightmare event when terrorists hijack a yacht with Bob, Liz, Miriana, and Robbie aboard. Although the boat’s crew, with Bob and Robbie’s help, eliminate the hijackers, there is evidence that something more significant may be in the works. The CIA and the U.S. military must identify what that might be and who is behind the threat, and must operate within a politically-corrupt environment in Washington, D.C. At the same time, they must disrupt the terrorist’s financing mechanism, which involves trading in securities that are highly sensitive to terrorist events. Michael Danforth and a team of DELTA operatives are deployed from Afghanistan to Greece to assist in identifying and thwarting the threat.
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Title: The Lone Wolf Agenda (Danforth Saga Book 4)
Publisher: Suspense Publishing/2013
Genre: Thriller
With The Lone Wolf Agenda, (the 4th book in the Danforth Saga), Joseph Badal returns to the world of international espionage and military action thrillers and crafts a story that is as close to the real world of spies and soldiers as a reader can find. This installment in the Danforth Saga brings Bob Danforth out of retirement to hunt down a lone wolf terrorist cell bent on destroying America’s oil infrastructure. The Lone Wolf Agenda pairs Danforth with his son Michael, a senior DELTA Force officer, as they combat an OPEC-supported terrorist group allied with a Mexican drug cartel. This story is an epic adventure that will chill readers as they discover that nothing, no matter how diabolical, is impossible.
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Title: The Nostradamus Secret (Danforth Saga Book 3)
Publisher: Suspense Publishing, 2nd Edition/2014
Genre: Thriller
The Nostradamus Secret, book three in the 5-book Danforth Saga, builds on Nostradamus’s “lost” 58 quatrains and segues to present day. These lost quatrains have surfaced in the hands of a wealthy Iranian megalomaniac who believes his rise to world power was prophesied by Nostradamus. But he sees the United States as the principal obstacle to the achievement of his goals. So, the first step he takes is to attempt to destabilize the United States through a vicious series of terrorist attacks and assassinations. Joseph Badal offers up another action-packed story loaded with intrigue, fascinating characters, and geopolitical machinations that put the reader on the front line of present-day international conflict.
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Title: Terror Cell (Danforth Saga Book 2)
Publisher: Suspense Publishing/2004
Genre: Thriller
Terror Cell pits Bob Danforth, a CIA Special Ops Officer, against Greek Spring, a vicious terrorist group that has operated in Athens, Greece for three decades. Danforth’s mission in the summer of 2004 is to identify one or more of the members of the terrorists in order to bring them to justice for the assassination of the CIA’s Station Chief in Athens. What Danforth does not know is that Greek Spring plans a catastrophic attack against the 2004 Summer Olympic Games. Danforth and his CIA team are hampered by years of Congressionally mandated rules that have weakened U.S. Intelligence gathering capabilities, and by indifference and obstructionism on the part of Greek authorities. His mission becomes even more difficult when he is targeted for assassination after an informant in the Greek government tells the terrorists of Danforth’s presence in Greece.
In Terror Cell, Badal weaves a tale of international intrigue, involving players from the CIA, the Greek government, and terrorists in Greece, Libya, and Iran—all within a historical context. Anyone who keeps up with current events about terrorist activities and security issues at the Athens Olympic Games will find the premise of this book gripping, terrifying, and, most of all, plausible.
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Title: Evil Deeds (Danforth Saga Book 1)
Publisher: Suspense Publishing/2011
Genre: Thriller
Evil Deeds begins on a sunny spring day in 1971 in a quiet Athenian suburb. Bob & Liz Danforth’s morning begins just like every other morning: Breakfast together, Bob roughhousing with Michael. Then Bob leaves for his U.S. Army unit and the nightmare begins, two-year-old Michael is kidnapped. So begins a decades-long journey that takes the Danforth family from Michael’s kidnapping and Bob and Liz’s efforts to rescue him, to Bob’s forced separation from the Army because of his unauthorized entry into Bulgaria, to his recruitment by the CIA, to Michael’s commissioning in the Army, to Michael’s capture by a Serb SPETSNAZ team in Macedonia, and to Michael’s eventual marriage to the daughter of the man who kidnapped him as a child. It is the stops along the journey that weave an intricate series of heart-stopping events built around complex, often diabolical characters. The reader experiences CIA espionage during the Balkans War, attempted assassinations in the United States, and the grisly exploits of a psychopathic killer. Evil Deeds is an adrenaline-boosting story about revenge, love, and the triumph of good over evil.
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Standalone Books
Title: Ultimate Betrayal
Publisher: Suspense Publishing/2014
Genre: Thriller
Ultimate Betrayal, Joseph Badal’s 8th thriller, was inspired by actual events. It takes the reader from South Philadelphia, through the Afghanistan War, to Mafia drug smuggling, to the halls of power at the CIA and the White House. David Hood comes from the streets of South Philadelphia, is a decorated Afghanistan War hero, builds a highly successful business, marries the woman of his dreams, and has two children he adores. But there are two ghosts in David’s past. One is the guilt he carries over the death of his brother. The other is a specter that will do anything to murder him. David has long lost the belief that good will triumph over evil. The deaths of his wife and children only reinforce that cynicism. And leaves him with nothing but a bone-chilling, all-consuming need for revenge.
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Title: Shell Game
Publisher: Suspense Publishing/2012
Genre: Thriller
Shell Game is a financial thriller using the economic environment created by the capital markets meltdown that began in 2007 as the backdrop for a timely, dramatic, and hair-raising tale. Joseph Badal weaves an intricate and realistic story about how a family and its business are put into jeopardy through heavy-handed, arbitrary rules set down by federal banking regulators, and by the actions of a sociopath in league with a corrupt bank regulator. Although a work of fiction, Shell Game, through its protagonist Edward Winter, provides an understandable explanation of one of the main reasons the U.S. economy continues to languish. It is a commentary on what federal regulators are doing to the United States banking community today and, as a result, the damage they are inflicting on perfectly sound businesses and private investors across the country and on the overall U.S. economy.
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Title: The Pythagorean Solution
Publisher: Suspense Publishing/2003
Genre: Thriller
When recently-divorced American John Hammond arrives on the Aegean island of Samos, he is unaware of events that happened nearly seven decades earlier that will embroil him in death and violence, and change his life forever. Late one night he finds Greek fisherman Petros Vangelos mortally wounded in an alley. Vangelos gives Hammond a coded map before he expires. With that map, Hammond becomes the link to a Turkish tramp steamer named Sabiya that sank in a storm in 1945 with a fortune in gold and jewels aboard. Also on the Sabiya, in a waterproof safe, are documents that implicate a long-dead German SS Officer in the theft of tens of millions of dollars in valuables from Holocaust victims and the laundering of those valuables by the Nazi’s Swiss banker partner. That partnership helped build a huge banking enterprise that is now run by that Swiss banker’s son who will stop at nothing to prevent disclosure of his father’s crimes. Hammond’s visit to Samos quickly turns into a roller coaster ride on which he encounters violence, new friendships, and a woman he loves, all of which irrevocably alter the course of his life.
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Short Stories
Title: Holes in Our Hearts: An Anthology of New Mexican Military Related Stories and Poetry
Publisher: Independently published (May 29, 2023)
“Foreward”
“White Dog”
This collection of prose and poetry was gathered and created by SouthWest Writers and funded through a grant from the State of New Mexico Arts Agency. These stories were written and contributed by New Mexican Veterans, their family members and caregivers including: Rosa Armijo-Pemble, Joseph Badal, Rebecca Black, Steve Borbas, E. Joe Brown, Laurel Burnett, Sherri Burr, Ivan Calhoun, John J. Candelaria, Judy Castleberry, Brenda Cole, Brinn Colenda, Joshua Colenda, Mark Fleisher, Paul David Gonzales, Linda G. Harris, M. Elder Hays, A. Michael Hibner, Carl Hitchens, KE Hopkins, James Houston and Molly Houston, Carol Kreis, Caroline A. LeBlanc, Jacqueline Murray Loring, Butch Maki, Elaine Carson Montague, Sam Moorman, Evelyn Neil, Thomas Neiman, C.L. Nemeth, Paula Nixon, Harper O’Connor, Jeffrey Otis, Donna Pedace, W. Howard Plunkett, Léonie Rosenstiel, Earl W. Rugen, Lynne Sebastian, Barb Simmons, Ted Spitzmiller, Dale Swetnam, Jasmine Tritten, Jim Tritten, Lawrence Trujillo, Vicki Turpen, KL Wagoner, Regina Washington, Dan Wetmore, Ben White, Josephine White, J. Allen Whitt, Circe Olson Woessner, Norbert Wood, Kay Yoest.
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Anthology: Insidious Assassins
Publisher: Smart Rhino Publications/2015
Genre: Thriller
“The Rock”
There is a peculiar allure of insidious characters—and especially assassins, hit men, and their ilk. Perhaps we find their uncomplicated moral codes and brutal efficiency appealing. These characters care little about ethics—and perhaps that alone, that freedom from guilt, is exactly why we love them. Perhaps, deep down, we wish we could be like them. And perhaps, by reading stories with such characters, we can vicariously experience that thrill. With this fascination with evil characters in mind, Smart Rhino Publications decided to publish this anthology, Insidious Assassins, a sequel to Uncommon Assassins. The book contains 24 stories by some of the best horror, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy authors writing today. Here you will meet some truly insidious characters—characters you may find yourself applauding when you know you shouldn’t.
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Anthology: Someone Wicked
Publisher: Smart Rhino Publications/2013
Genre: Thriller
“Ultimate Betrayal”
Avaricious, cruel, depraved, envious, mean-spirited, vengeful—the wicked have been with us since the beginnings of humankind. You might recognize them and you might not. But make no mistake. When the wicked cross your path, your life will never be the same. Do you know someone wicked? You will. The 21 stories in the Someone Wicked anthology were written by the members of the Written Remains Writers Guild and its friends, and was edited by JM Reinbold and Weldon Burge.