PERRY, Steve

(1947-)

   US writer who began publishing sf with "With Clean Hands" as by Jesse Peel for Gal in 1977, and whose first novel, The Tularemia Gambit (1981), combines sf with elements of the hardboiled detective genre. After two ties for the Time Machine sequence produced by the Byron PREISS packaging enterprise - Sword of the Samurai * (1984) with Michael REAVES and Civil War Secret Agent * (1984) - and an effective sf adventure, Hellstar (1984) with Reaves, SP finally came into his own with the Matadorsequence: The Man who Never Missed (1985), Matadora (1986) and The Machiavelli Interface (1986), along with a prequel, The 97th Step (1989);plus The Omega Cage (1988) with Reaves,Black Steel (1992) and Brother Death (1992), all set in the Matador universe. Khadaji, the sequence'shero, rebels against a violent military dictatorship using his skill at martial arts to mock the enemy into impotence; in his raffish insouciance, he rather resembles Leslie CHARTERIS's Saint. The first volume takes its title from the fact that Khadaji has stolen a fixed number of non-lethal poison darts and proceeds to knock out precisely that number of government figures with them, never once missing, and generating a revolt through mirth; the book might be called an exercise in muscular pacifism. Subsequent volumes do not build on the success of the first, but neitherdo they significantly decline. Of SP's remaining singletons, Dome (1987) with Reaves makes efficient use of its post- HOLOCAUST submarine setting, as AIs come gradually to dominate the new world.

   JC

   Other works: Several Conan SWORD-AND-SORCERY fantasies, including Conan the Fearless * (1986), Conan the Defiant * (1987), Conan the Indomitable * (1989), Conan the Free Lance * (1990) and Conan the Formidable * (1990); The Albino Knife (1991); The Hero Curse (1991 chap); several Aliens ties: Earth Hive * (1992), Nightmare Asylum *(1993), The Female War * (1993), plus one volume also tied to the Predator film sequence, Aliens vs Predator: Prey *(1994) with Stephani Perry; Spindoc (1994); Stellar Ranger (1994), a space opera inWestern style; The Mask * (1994), novelizing the film.