Butterfly Knife

Welcome to the world of investigative street reporting. Washington, D.C., power capital of the world, is also home to bums, killers, cops who bend the rules, F.B.I. agents who dole out leaks to reporters like so many dimes to the poor, and layers of lies and misinformation. Dave Haggard thought it was the worst idea he had ever had for a story. He was living in a homeless shelter, sickened by the smells, and feeling sorry for himself when a scuffle in the stairwell and a scream brought him into a terrifying hunt for the serial killer of priests. A sick, sadistic murderer was using a butterfly knife as a Rosary in grisly killings that would bring Dave into the hunt not as a reporter but as bait. The head of Homicide has a plan to trap the killer and it involves Dave and his girlfriend. A hit man for a group of religious fanatics is on the loose and has an agenda of his own. The killer is lost in his lunatic visions and he knows who Dave is and where to find him. What are his plans for Elena? Who to trust? Who to fear? Dave Haggard is a reporter in hiding from his own story.

Larry Matthews is an award-winning broadcast journalist whose thirty-plus years as a reporter provide the background material for his books. Matthews was a street reporter, anchor, news director, producer and editor for major radio stations, ABC Radio, and National Public Radio. He was a producer, host and reporter for Maryland Public Television. As a reporter he covered some of the major events of the late Twentieth Century in Washington, D.C. and other cities. He is the recipient of the George Foster Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting, The DuPont/Columbia Citation, The National Headliner Award, and national and regional awards from The Society of Professional Journalists, The Associated Press, United Press International, and other professional organizations and universities. His memoir, I Used To Be In Radio, was hailed as ＂a must-read in journalism schools, especially for those who aspire to be investigative reporters＂ and as ＂a funny and moving page-turner＂. Two of his novels, Healing Charles and Saving Charles, were praised as ＂outstanding works of fiction.＂ The novels are about the life of one man, set thirty years apart. Matthews is also co-author of Street Business, with Ernie Lijoi Sr., a police/crime novel based on real events in the career of retired Detective Lijoi. Matthews’s experience as an investigative reporter provides much of the background material for his Dave Haggard thriller series about a radio reporter in Washington, D.C. who finds himself at the dangerous center of major criminal investigations. The first in the series, Butterfly Knife, involves the hunt for a serial killer of priests. The second, Brass Knuckles, finds Dave chasing down leads in a murder/kickback scheme involving a member of Congress. The third, Detonator, is about the betrayal of national trust and high-level treason. Matthews lives and writes in Gaithersburg, Maryland. His website is www.larrymatthews.net. Twitter @lawrencematthew Facebook is larrymatthewsauthor