Robert Bidinotto is author of the bestselling Dylan Hunter thriller series. He also was an award-winning investigative journalist and magazine editor, a nonfiction author of books on criminal justice, and frequent public speaker. He writes from the philosophic perspective of principled individualism. Explaining his motives, he says:
All my life — since I watched “The Lone Ranger” and read Batman comics as a little kid in the Fifties and Sixties — I have been passionate about the principle of justice. When I began to write nonfiction in my teens, that was the underlying principle in everything I wrote. It remained the theme of my work throughout my later career as an essayist, investigative journalist, reviewer, blogger, editor, and nonfiction book author.
Now it’s become the central theme of my fiction-writing, too.
Like me, the hero of my Dylan Hunter thrillers is motivated by his passion for justice. He cannot walk away when injustices are committed against those he cares about. That’s why Dylan Hunter became a vigilante — why I refer to him as “the new face of justice” — and why I refer to myself as “The Vigilante Author.”
Robert's first novel, HUNTER, was published in June 2011. It became the #1 Kindle bestseller in "Mysteries & Thrillers" and a Wall Street Journal "Top 10 Fiction Ebook." The first sequel, BAD DEEDS, won the Conservative-Libertarian Fiction Alliance "2014 Book of the Year" Award. The third entry in his Dylan Hunter thriller series, WINNER TAKES ALL, was published late in 2017 to rave reviews. Robert is currently working full-time on further installments in the series. More information can be found about his bestselling thrillers on his fiction blog, "The Vigilante Author."
Prior to turning to fiction, Robert had a successful career as a nonfiction writer and editor. As a former Staff Writer for Reader's Digest, he authored high-profile investigative pieces on environmental issues, crime, and other public controversies. His many articles, essays, columns, book and film reviews also have appeared in Success, Writer's Digest, The Boston Herald, The American Spectator, City Journal, The Freeman, Reason, and other journals.
A nationally-recognized expert on crime, Robert is perhaps best known for his article "Getting Away with Murder" in the July 1988 Reader's Digest. That investigative piece stirred a national controversy about crime and prison furlough programs during the 1988 presidential election campaign, and is widely credited with having affected the outcome of the election. He is editor of Criminal Justice? The Legal System vs. Individual Responsibility, which won enthusiastic acclaim from law enforcement professionals, and is author of Freed to Kill, a compendium of horror stories illustrating the failings of the justice system.
Robert's writings on environmental issues include investigative articles for Reader's Digest on global warming and the 1989 Alar scare, as well as extensive research on the ozone depletion issue. His Alar article was singled out for editorial praise by Barron's business weekly, and by Priorities, the journal of the American Council on Science and Health. He authored a monograph, The Green Machine, and established a website, ecoNOT.com, both critically examining the environmentalist philosophy and movement.
From 2005-2008, Robert served as editor-in-chief of The New Individualist. As editor, he was a 2007 winner of Folio's prestigious Gold "Eddie" Award for editorial excellence, the magazine industry’s highest honor. He also was awarded the Free Press Association's Mencken Award for "Best Feature Story"; was named a 1989 National Magazine Award finalist for "Best Magazine Article of the Year in the Public Interest Category," by the American Society of Magazine Editors; and received awards and honors from the National Victim Center and other victim rights organizations for his outspoken public advocacy on behalf of crime victims.
Prior to his editorship of The New Individualist, Robert was editor of Organization Trends and Foundation Watch, monthly publications of the Capital Research Center.
A popular speaker, Robert also has appeared on many major radio and television talk shows, including "The Rush Limbaugh Show," CBS radio's "Crosstalk," CNN's "Sonya Live," "Geraldo," "The Bob Grant Show," CNBC's "Rivera Live," and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
With his musician wife, Cynthia, and their stridently individualistic cat, Luna, Robert makes his home on the Chesapeake Bay, where he is writing the further adventures of Dylan Hunter, whom he describes as "the new face of justice."
