I Heard You Paint Cowboys

A Counsel Fungo Thriller, Book 1

By: Chris Bauer

Narrated by: Michael T Bradley

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 her: 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 sideline: 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.

©2025 Black Rose Writing (P)2025 Black Rose Writing

Critic reviews

“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 Great Story

Chris Bauer has hit it out of the park again! The story dove tales the corruption of gun rights crazies and the fears of law-abiding gun owners. He does not lecture with his story, but shows us the intersection of lives steeped in America’s gun culture. The tragedies we see in the headlines on a regular basis reflect the greed of gun makers and the lack of morals and ethics of those who enable *anyone* to buy guns. It is a well narrated, compelling tale. For many of us who embrace 2A but fear the insanity of gun ownership without regulations or consequences, it is a suspenseful and satisfying story.