Book a long time coming for officer-turned-author

Friday, March 2, 2001 | 10:14 a.m.

Retired homicide detective Kent Perry has solved the mystery of writing a novel -- tenacity.

The former investigator with the Portland (Ore.) Police Department spent four years on his first published book, "Quarter Moon Rising" (Firewood Publishing, $15.95), released in August.

"Quarter Moon Rising," is a crime story centered on the theft of an art collection -- the most valuable piece being the one after which the book is entitled.

But the theft is merely a device Perry uses to explore the many facets of the characters in the novel who walk opposing sides of the law. While there is enough sex and violence to satiate the prurient interests of most readers, the book's strong point is in the way he balances different elements of the story -- plot, action, description.

The novel is available only through amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

Perry, 51, retired in 1999 after 28 years as a policeman. Two weeks after retiring he went to work as an investigator for the state Gaming Control Board, and he and his wife, Georgette, moved to Las Vegas.

Development of the novel, he said, "was very gradual."

"I first got the idea six or seven years ago, but the actual writing took about four years."

He credited his editor, Lesley Payne, with keeping him on track throughout the writing process.

"I was interested in writing a story about a present-day crime that was tied into an old crime and, in that context, work out a falling out between the criminal conspirators," Perry explained. "That was the framework I hung the story on."

It is evident from the author's vivid, detailed descriptions that he has been to the San Francscio Bay Area (where the story takes place) and he has known people similar to those he portrays so richly.

"All of them are composites," Perry said. "None are specific individuals. When I first started writing, Merle (the main antagonist) was one-dimensional, evil and violent. My editor said, 'That's great, but think how much more interesting he would be if you had this contradiction in his personality -- he was an intelligent guy and self-taught?' It was like a light bulb going off. I thought it was a great idea, and so I redid his character."

Perry, who investigated 116 homicides during his career (successfully resolving 104), wrote an earlier novel that was never published.

"In hindsight I see a lot of things I did wrong. I was a little out of my depth, so I decided to concentrate on what I knew. 'Quarter Moon Rising' is strictly cops and robbers. I felt real comfortable with that," he said.

Two of his favorite authors are Elmore Leonard ("Get Shorty," among dozens of other novels) and Ed McBain (who writes the "87th Precinct" crime series).

"My goal (in 'Quarter Moon Rising') was to make it realistic and believable, whether the reader is a cop or not. I want the reader to think, 'Yeah, that's how it would happen. That's what the characters would say,' as opposed to someone thinking, 'That would never happen, it's just not credible.' "

Perry likes the deceptive simplicity of stories written by Leonard and McBain (who also authored such classic novels as "The Blackboard Jungle" under the name Evan Hunter).

"Most situations in real life are simple," Perry said. "These kinds of criminal situations (in 'Quarter Moon Rising') usually are not complicated. They are not 'Mission Impossible'-type things."

Perry is currently working on another novel, drawing from his rich background in police work.

"I always wanted to write. When I was a kid I always thought somehow I would do it," Perry said. "But as they say, life gets in the way of your plans."

He served stints in the National Guard and the Merchant Marines before joining the Portland Police Department in 1971, working in vice, narcotics and burglary before becoming a homicide detective in 1980.

Perry's childhood desire to write was re-ignited in 1989 when he submitted an essay about the criminal justice system to the "My Turn" column in Newsweek magazine, which was printed and then reprinted by Reader's Digest.

"I got a lot of reaction from that article," Perry said. "I thought, 'Gee, that was easy. I can write a book.' "

Eleven years later one was published.