The Book of Matt

The Book of Matt is a provocative and spellbinding examination of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard - unraveling for the first time the hidden complexities, motives, personalities and events surrounding this landmark American crime.

On a chilly October evening, Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay college student, left a bar in Laramie, Wyoming with two alleged "strangers," Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, also 21. Eighteen hours later, Matthew was found tied to a log fence on the outskirts of town, unconscious and barely alive. He had been pistol-whipped so severely that the mountain biker who discovered his battered frame mistook him for a Halloween scarecrow.

Overnight, however, a politically expedient myth took the place of important facts in the case. By the time Matthew died a few days later, his name was synonymous with anti-gay hate. Vigils and protests were held in cities and towns across the nation. Hollywood celebrities, rock stars and Washington politicians eulogized Matthew and issued an urgent call for federal hate-crime legislation. But above all, it was the media that reduced the crime to a single, unblemished storyline: Matthew Shepard was randomly targeted, robbed and killed because he was gay.

The murder was a lightning rod that quickly became a cause, while its all-too-human victim was transformed into a martyr... an icon... a new American hero. But who was the real Matthew Shepard? And now that he was larger than life, did anyone care?

The book is sure to stir new controversy and dialogue as it re-frames this misconstrued crime and its cast of characters, proving irrefutably that Matthew Shepard was not killed for being gay but for reasons far more complicated - and daunting.