Thomas Perry, a best-selling, critically acclaimed novelist whose 32 inventive thrillers were known for their intricate plots, unexpectedly sympathetic villains and intriguing heroes, among them a Native American woman who helps people take on new identities, died on Sept. 15 in Los Angeles. He was 78.
His death, in a hospital, was caused by an aortic dissection, a tear in the body’s major blood vessel, said his wife, Jo Perry, who is also a mystery writer.
Mr. Perry produced gripping stories populated by a singular cast of characters, including a ruthless professional hit man in his prize-winning 1982 debut, “The Butcher’s Boy,” and Jane Whitefield, a member of the Seneca Nation who guides vulnerable individuals to safe havens. (She is scheduled to reappear early next year in the finale to a 10-book series.)
Otto Penzler, the founder of the Mysterious Press in New York, which published most of Mr. Perry’s recent books, said in an interview that Mr. Perry “was that rarity among thriller writers: He was able to concoct precise stories that compelled readers to keep turning pages, aching to know how it will turn out.”
“And he did it with clear, straightforward prose,” he added, “that often soared into the realm of poetry.”
Mr. Perry’s books were entertaining, but he didn’t intend them as pure escapism. “I want the five quarts of blood to go out on the ground so that people know that this is real, a big deal to kill somebody,” he told Identity Theory, an online literary magazine, in 2003. “When I write something violent, afterward, I am depressed. It depresses me. What I am trying to do is have other people affected by it in the same way I am. That is, both to be afraid and then to be sad about it.”
Critics raved about his novels, which were witty, cerebral and even instructive, titillating readers with practical tips on how to climb a staircase quietly or how to smuggle diamonds. Reviewing “Pursuit” (2001), about a mass murderer, in The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote that Mr. Perry’s books “unfold methodically, in extremely sharp focus.”
“His attention to detail is so intense that it generates its own brand of quiet suspense,” she added.
Mr. Perry’s “The Butcher Boy” won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of America. Reviewing it in The Times, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt wrote, “The particular literary coup that Mr. Perry pulls off is to make the reader root for both the protagonist and the antagonist.”
His writing was laconic and evocative. In “The Old Man,” a 2017 novel about a retired intelligence agent that was adapted into a TV series starring Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow, one character vividly defines the protagonist’s age: He is old “in the way a seven-foot rattlesnake was old.”
In “Strip” (2010), a would-be criminal mastermind offers this advice: “Look, you’ve got to kidnap the guy you have, not make up some imaginary guy who would leave more cash lying around.”
Jane Whitefield, whose series debuted in 1995, advises her troubled clients — fugitives from the law, the draft and abusive spouses — to vanish like a rabbit being chased by a dog, because “when the rabbit wins, he doesn’t get to kill the dogs and eat them. He just gets to keep being a rabbit.”
Thomas Edmund Perry was born in Tonawanda, N.Y., near Buffalo, on Aug. 7, 1947. His father, Richard Perry, was a junior high school social studies teacher who became the superintendent of Tonawanda’s schools. His mother, Elizabeth (Prohaska) Perry, was a teacher.
Mr. Perry received a bachelor’s degree in English from Cornell University in 1969 and a doctorate in English literature from the University of Rochester in 1974, writing his dissertation on William Faulkner.
He worked as a laborer, fisherman, teacher and university administrator, and as a weapons mechanic in the Air National Guard, before beginning his literary career. But that career wasn’t unexpected.
“I’ve written from the time I was in junior high,” he said in a 2019 interview for the University of Rochester. “I always assumed that’s how I would make a living.”
He sent a synopsis of “The Butcher’s Boy” to literary agents on a list he had compiled in alphabetical order. Mr. Perry recalled, “One of the B’s, Lurton Blassingame, replied: ‘Send the manuscript. I’ll read it.’ A couple of weeks later, he said: ‘I like it. I’ll try to sell it.’ And he did.”
In 1980, Mr. Perry married Jo Anne Lee, with whom he worked as a television writer and producer on shows like “Simon & Simon,” “21 Jump Street” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his daughter, Alix Perry; his son, Ian; and his brother, Richard.
Earlier this year, Mr. Perry told Writer’s Digest that the dialogue in his books emerged from his being a “shameless eavesdropper.”
“When I start” a book, he said, “I know who’s in it and who will be standing at the end of it. That’s all I know. That’s all I allow myself to know because I don’t believe in outlining. I’m somebody who goes by feel.”
But along with that pure instinct was careful craft.
“I’ve been working at developing narratives in which we see and understand the complexity of motive, temperament and history that a character brings when he comes into collision with other characters,” Mr. Perry said. “This has required steady, uninterrupted attention and kept me fully amused and preoccupied.”
Sam Roberts is an obituaries reporter for The Times, writing mini-biographies about the lives of remarkable people.
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