Where fact and fiction bleed and conspiracy becomes reality…
The people you know are living right on that edge…
And they’re coming for you…
Coming September 1, 2026
MAIN STREET FRINGE
Award-winning political operative Matthew Lavoie’s debut, MAIN STREET FRINGE, plunges into today’s embedded conspiracy and paranoia and turns the undercover agent genre upside down.
A government vendetta obliterates the life and career of a Virginia State Police Detective, turning him to pariah in nearly all circles but one. He’s become the accidental hero of conspiracy theorists who have placed him on a pedestal as a fellow victim of the Deep State.
The FBI demands he exploit his status and go undercover, as himself, to destroy an increasingly violent conspiracy cabal and its sinister agenda from the inside—but without a cover identity, failure means death to everything that makes life worth living.
Coming September 1, 2026
MAIN STREET FRINGE
Award-winning political operative Matthew Lavoie’s debut, MAIN STREET FRINGE, plunges into today’s embedded conspiracy and paranoia and turns the undercover agent genre upside down.
A government vendetta obliterates the life and career of a Virginia State Police Detective, turning him to pariah in nearly all circles but one. He’s become the accidental hero of conspiracy theorists who have placed him on a pedestal as a fellow victim of the Deep State.
The FBI demands he exploit his status and go undercover, as himself, to destroy an increasingly violent conspiracy cabal and its sinister agenda from the inside—but without a cover identity, failure means death to everything that makes life worth living.
Praise for MAin Street Fringe
—Jordan Harper, Edgar Award-winning author of A VIOLENT MASTERPIECE AND EVERYBODY KNOWS
“MAIN STREET FRINGE is a deep and thrilling dive into the dark heart of the current political climate—made all the more terrifying by Matthew Lavoie’s experience in Washington. This guy knows what he’s talking about, he knows where the bodies are buried… and that makes this a must-read.”
—Rob Hart, USA TODAY bestselling author of THE WAREHOUSE and the ASSASSINS ANONYMOUS series
“Matthew Lavoie’s MAIN STREET FRINGE is an exciting and ambitious debut that is both character and plot-driven, detective investigation and political tale. From page one, this book moves.”
—Henry Wise, Edgar Award Winning author of HOLY CITY
“Embroiled in conspiracy and betrayal, this sharp-paced thriller climaxes when brotherhood reaches a bitter and fatal flashpoint and two worlds collide into one. Engrossing and timely.”
—David Swinson, author of THE SECOND GIRL
“MAIN STREET FRINGE had me in its grip from the opening pages and never let go. A timely take on political culture in this country, Lavoie has used his D.C. background to write a twisty thriller that crackles with authenticity. Don’t miss this stellar debut.”
—Joshua Moehling, USA Today bestselling author of AND THERE HE KEPT HER and A LONG TIME GONE
“One man’s patriot is another’s radical, and the line between the two blur in Matthew Lavoie’s crackling debut thriller. MAIN STREET FRINGE is an adrenaline-fueled joyride that won’t let you loose until the gut-check of a conclusion.”
—James L’Etoile, award winning author of RIVER OF LIES and the Detective Nathan Parker series
“MAIN STREET FRINGE” serves up a scintillating smorgasbord of action and intrigue set against a conspiracy-fueled landscape populated by villains for whom reality is a relative term. Matthew Lavoie has crafted one of those rare thrillers that challenges our sensibilities and makes us think at the same time, shading his tapestry in gray tones in which even the good guys wade in and out of their own moral quagmires. A blistering, bracing bombshell of a tale and major debut in the thriller genre.”
—Jon Land, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author
“Matthew Lavoie’s writing carries an authentic, eye-witness feel for the movements and mindsets shaking the core of American life. MAIN STREET FRINGE is a phenomenal read and its tightly-woven plot propels you into a world where radicalization is closer than you think. His rich characters, with their wit, defiance, love, and delusion, remind us of people we see every day. Perhaps even ourselves.”
—Martha Grimes, NYT bestseller and Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster
Diving Deeper…
Detective Theo Barnes built a good life for his family, striving to do the next right thing, even though he’s always believed the world’s a fixed game. When his latest sting snares a powerful state Senator, he’s seemingly proven right. Standing firm against corruption triggers a government conspiracy very publicly destroys his career and reputation.
In the wake of this devastation he’s unwittingly celebrated by Deep State conspiracy fanatics, especially a radical cabal attacking American life. The FBI’s failure to infiltrate these zealots leads them to Barnes’ door. Desperate for answers and redemption in his own struggle, he takes on the mission to wipe out the cabal. But going undercover as himself places his family directly in the crosshairs.
Lines blur between life and investigation while an ugly family legacy looms over everything. The conspiracy that demolished his life wants to finish the job, colliding with the cabal’s bloody, grand finale. Salvation from everything that terrorizes us rests on the shoulders of a man who owes nothing more than saving his own family.
About
Matthew Lavoie was raised in Hopkinton, MA by loving parents who bear much of the credit for success and little blame for his missteps. Early on his mother instilled a deep love of reading and language. So much so, that he won multiple book reading competitions (they changed the rules so he couldn’t win again). This inevitably set him on a course for irresistible popularity.
Hopkinton is the starting point for the Boston Marathon and after spending a childhood watching tens of thousands of lunatics run away from his hometown, he vowed to only run when being chased. A Massachusetts upbringing also resulted in a chronic condition where he became a diehard, and on occasion, psychotic supporter of all Boston sports.
He graduated Ithaca College with a History degree and little clue on what to do next. He liked competition and since the Red Sox would never let him play for them, what better place for an ambitious young man with no direction than politics. He found himself fascinated by the evolutionary changes in of culture in political expression, what drives us, or to put it more simply, what makes the herd move?
Twenty-years as a policy expert and political operative for some of Washington’s more influential power brokers gave him a front row seat to some of the most seismic shifts in American and geopolitical history. He’s been in the room where it happens with plenty of stories from a career evaluating the how and why of American political and cultural movements.
He began writing fiction in the early pandemic as a way to ensure he wouldn’t start hearing his dog, Sherlock, talk back to him. The cliché is “write what you know,” but he firmly believes in also writing what you like—and Matthew likes gritty thrillers and crime fiction that have a distinct undercurrent. While he would say his stuff is politically adjacent, he has no plans to write a tale centered in the Oval Office. Instead his work centers what’s captivated him for decades—what drives us and the limitations, potential, and entanglements those motives deliver.
He’s a member of International Thriller Writers and the Mystery Writers of America. And he plans on having many more books after this one.
Contact
Email Matthew at matthew@matthewplavoie.com or by using the button below.
Publicist
Susan Spencer
917-750-6657
sspencercramer@gmail.com
