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Badge of Honor
Series · 13
books · 1988-2016

Books in series

Men in Blue book cover
#1

Men in Blue

1988

W.E.B. Griffin's bestselling series, THE CORPS and BROTHERHOOD OF WAR, have captured the pride and glory of the military community. Now he reveals a city police force with the same unique blend of realism, drama, and action. Here are the brave men and women behind the badge as you've never seen them before—their hopes and fears, their courage and heroism, sparked by a single, shocking event: the killing of a cop in the line of duty.
Special Operations book cover
#2

Special Operations

1989

In this exciting new series, W.E.B. Griffin reveals a city police force with all the authentic detail and drama that made THE CORPS and BROTHERHOOD OF WAR phenomenal bestsellers. Here is an explosive novel of the men and women behind the badge—a unique brotherhood of courage, loyalty, and trust. Facing a desperate public, a hostile press, and reluctant witnesses, they must stop a new reign of violence—a terrifying spree of kidnapping and rape that has plunged the entire city in fear...
The Victim book cover
#3

The Victim

1991

"Tony the Zee" DeZego is found dead and bleeding on the concrete, and it is clear that it was a Mafia hit. But one puzzling fact remains: Penny Detweiler, a wealthy debutante involved with DeZego, was also shot. Policeman Matt Payne is a prime suspect—even by the police!
The Witness book cover
#4

The Witness

1992

The robbery ended in murder, the killers claimed to be terrorists, and the only cooperative witness feared for his life. Police officer Matt Payne knew the dangers of his profession—but never thought that he himself would be the one who needed protection...In BADGE OF HONOR, W.E.B. Griffin reveals the explosive world of law enforcement with the same power and authenticity that made his BROTHERHOOD OF WAR and THE CORPS series nationwide bestsellers.
The Assassin book cover
#5

The Assassin

1993

A political assasin is ready to make his move. The police department's only clue is a single, perfectly typed bomb threat. And worse yet, the police aren't sure they can trust their own people. In a few short days, the corruption of one cop—and the madness of an assasin—could blow the whole city sky high...
The Murderers book cover
#6

The Murderers

1994

A Philadelphia narcotics cop is shot dead in his home. A bar owner's wife and partner are gunned down during an attempted robbery. And in a beautiful mansion, a young woman dies of a heroin overdose. At first the crimes seem unconnected. But these four deaths are about to trigger a massive convergence of corruption, cops, and the mob that could tear the Philadelphia Police Department apart from the inside out. All the way to the top...
The Investigators book cover
#7

The Investigators

1998

A brutal crime...A group of urban terrorists...An investigation of dirty cops...The leads in these supposedly unconnected cases have become tangled in some very ugly—and dangerous—knots. Now Special Operations detective Matt Payne and his colleagues find themselves fearing not only for their jobs, but also for their very lives...
Final Justice book cover
#8

Final Justice

2002

Just as with his remarkable military novels, millions of readers have been captured by the rich characters and vivid realism of W. E. B. Griffin’s police dramas. “Griffin has the knack,” writes The Philadelphia Inquirer . He “sets his novel before you in short, fierce, stop-for-nothing scenes. Before you know it, you’ve gobbled it up.” Now, in Final Justice, Detective Matt Payne of the Philadelphia police department—newly promoted to sergeant and assigned to Homicide—finds himself in the middle of three major assignments. The first case, a fatal shooting at a fast-food restaurant, seems simple, but rapidly becomes complicated. The second, a rape that tumbled into murder, begins complicated and only gets more so, as it becomes apparent that the crime may be part of a disturbing, and escalating, pattern. The third is the most bizarre, as Payne becomes involved with a local figure who long ago fled the country, leaving behind the mummified body of his girlfriend in a trunk. Ever since, the murderer has been sending taunting postcards from his safe haven—but all that may be about to change. Weaving in and around this already hectic schedule are the visit to Philadelphia of the self-absorbed star of a series of improbable police movies, who wants Payne to show him “the real stuff,” and the appearance in Payne’s life of two very different women. Either one of them alone would be enough to set his head spinning, but together . . . this might be the most complicating thing of all. Filled with color and detail and plots as real as the headlines, this is a riveting novel of the men and women who put their lives on the line, from the cop on the beat to the commissioner himself. It’s a story of fears, dangers, courage, loyalty, and genuine storytelling at its best.
The Traffickers book cover
#9

The Traffickers

2009

Homicide Sergeant Matthew Payne is used to murder, but lately there’s been an awful lot of it in Philadelphia. A gangland shooting in a popular tourist location has left six dead, most of them innocent bystanders, and days later the body of a headless Latina turns up in the Schuykill River. Everybody assumes they’re not related, but Payne can’t shake the hunch that there’s something more to it—and that hunch leads him far from the City of Brotherly Love to the Texas–Mexico border. There, he finds a world where the lines of law and order are murkier than he ever imagined possible, and the daily question is “ O Plato o Plomo?” Silver or lead. Cash or death. Which will Matt Payne take? Or will he just go home, glad to be alive . . . ? Filled with authentic color and detail, this is a riveting novel of the men and women who put their lives on the line, from the cop on the beat to the commissioner himself. It’s a story of fears, dangers, courage, loyalty, and genuine heroism: storytelling at its best.
The Vigilantes book cover
#10

The Vigilantes

2010

The dramatic new novel in Griffin's New York Times - bestselling chronicle of the Philadelphia police force. There's a sudden spike in murders in Philadelphia, but no one seems to mind much because the victims all seem to be lowlifes. The more Homicide Sergeant Matthew Payne investigates, however, the more he gets a bad feeling-one that only gets worse when vigilante groups spring up claiming credit for some of the hits, even though Payne knows it can't be true. As the targets get bigger and events start moving out of control, Payne realizes that if he and his colleagues can't figure out who's behind this very soon, the violence could overtake them all. Filled with authentic color and detail, this is a riveting novel of the men and women who put their lives on the line-storytelling at its absolute best.
The Last Witness book cover
#11

The Last Witness

2013

The dramatic new novel in the Philadelphia police saga by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author. For Philadelphia homicide detective Matt Payne, the news from an old law-enforcement friend sends a shiver down his spine: a connection between the Mexican drug cartels and the Russian mob. Russian girls are being smuggled in to work in the sex trade, and now some of them are dying or just disappearing. The trail leads right to Philadelphia—where Payne learns that’s not all. It isn’t just Russian girls who are vanishing. Teenage girls are being lured from foster homes. Police department sources are turning up dead. The lone living witness has gone into hiding, with everybody—the Russians, the cartels, some of Philadelphia’s most powerful politicians—all looking for her. It’s up to Payne to find her—and hope he gets to her first.
Deadly Assets book cover
#12

Deadly Assets

2015

The dramatic new novel in the Philadelphia police saga by #1 New York Times–bestselling author W. E. B. Griffin. In Philadelphia—suffering among the country’s highest murder rates—the tension between the Philadelphia Police Department and its Citizens Oversight Committee has long been reaching a boiling point. That turmoil turns from bad to worse shortly after the committee begins targeting police shootings—especially those of twenty-seven-year-old Homicide Sergeant Matt Payne, the “Wyatt Earp of the Main Line”—and then the committee’s combative leader is found shot dead point-blank on the front porch of his run-down Philly row house. As chanting protesters fill the streets, the city threatens to erupt. Payne, among many others accused of being complicit in the leader’s death, becomes quietly furious. He suspects there’s something deeper behind it all, but what? Ordered to stay out of the line of fire, he struggles ahead to do what he does best—his job. He’s been investigating the murder of a young family. A reporter, working on an illicit drug series for Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Mickey O’Hara, has been killed with his wife and child, a note stapled to his chest warning that the drug stories are to stop. Period. While Payne knows that he, like his pal O’Hara, cannot back down, he also knows that they damn sure could be among the next to die...
Broken Trust book cover
#13

Broken Trust

2016

The dramatic New York Times bestselling adventure in W.E.B. Griffin's Badge of Honor series about the Philadelphia police force. Having investigated his share of gruesome murders, Philadelphia Homicide Sergeant Matt Payne is beginning to think nothing can shock him - until the case of a young socialite's death lands on his desk. The Camilla Rose Morgan he'd known as a teenager was beautiful and brilliant - how was it possible she'd jumped to her death from her own balcony? Her brother tells Payne she'd tragically been battling a lifetime of mental demons, and there is plenty of evidence of it, but still...something just doesn't sit right. The more Payne digs, the more complications he discovers. Reputations are on the line here, and lives - and if Payne doesn't tread carefully, one of them may be his own. ©2016 William E. Butterworth IV. (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Authors

W.E.B. Griffin
W.E.B. Griffin
Author · 57 books

W.E.B. Griffin was one of several pseudonyms for William E. Butterworth III. From the Authors Website: W.E.B. Griffin was the #1 best-selling author of more than fifty epic novels in seven series, all of which have made The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and other best-seller lists. More than fifty million of the books are in print in more than ten languages, including Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, and Hungarian. Mr. Griffin grew up in the suburbs of New York City and Philadelphia. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1946. After basic training, he received counterintelligence training at Fort Holabird, Maryland. He was assigned to the Army of Occupation in Germany, and ultimately to the staff of then-Major General I.D. White, commander of the U.S. Constabulary. In 1951, Mr. Griffin was recalled to active duty for the Korean War, interrupting his education at Phillips University, Marburg an der Lahn, Germany. In Korea he earned the Combat Infantry Badge as a combat correspondent and later served as acting X Corps (Group) information officer under Lieutenant General White. On his release from active duty in 1953, Mr. Griffin was appointed Chief of the Publications Division of the U.S. Army Signal Aviation Test & Support Activity at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Mr. Griffin was a member of the Special Operations Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Army Aviation Association, the Armor Association, and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Society. He was the 1991 recipient of the Brigadier General Robert L. Dening Memorial Distinguished Service Award of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association, and the August 1999 recipient of the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award, presented at the 100th National Convention in Kansas City. He has been vested into the Order of St. George of the U.S. Armor Association, and the Order of St. Andrew of the U.S. Army Aviation Association, and been awarded Honorary Doctoral degrees by Norwich University, the nation’s first and oldest private military college, and by Troy State University (Ala.). He was the graduation dinner speaker for the class of 1988 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He has been awarded honorary membership in the Special Forces Association, the Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association, the Marine Raiders Association, and the U.S. Army Otter & Caribou Association. In January 2003, he was made a life member of the Police Chiefs Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and the State of Delaware. He was the co-founder, with historian Colonel Carlo D’Este, of the William E. Colby Seminar on Intelligence, Military, and Diplomatic Affairs. (Details here and here) He was a Life Member of the National Rifle Association. And he belongs to the Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Pensacola, Florida, chapters of the Flat Earth Society. Mr. Griffin’s novels, known for their historical accuracy, have been praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer for their “fierce, stop-for-nothing scenes.” “Nothing honors me more than a serviceman, veteran, or cop telling me he enjoys reading my books,” Mr. Griffin says. Mr. Griffin divides his time between the Gulf Coast and Buenos Aires. Notes: Other Pseudonyms * Alex Baldwin * Webb Beech * Walker E. Blake * W.E. Butterworth * James McM. Douglas * Eden Hughes * Edmund O. Scholefield * Patrick J. Williams * W. E. Butterworth * John Kevin Dugan * Jac

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