John William Steakley, Jr. (July 26, 1951 – November 27, 2010) was an American SF writer, best known for his two novels, Armor and Vampire$.
Armor is science fiction: it's the distant future, and humanity is embroiled in a Bug War with the implacable, incomprehensible Ants. There's an epic Space Opera backdrop, but the story takes place among the little people at ground level, for whom their own high command also seem distant and incomprehensible. The central characters are a new recruit in the Antwar, named Felix, and a mercenary, named Jack Crow.
Vampire$ is contemporary Urban Fantasy: Vampire$, Inc. is a small group of hardy individuals who will solve your vampire problem for you in return for a monetary consideration. Early in the novel, the hunters destroy a nest of vampires who, unknown to them, are minions of a vampire mastermind, and shortly thereafter they find themselves going from vampire hunters to vampire hunted. The central characters are the leader of Vampire$, Inc., named Jack Crow, and a new recruit to the war on the undead, named Felix.
Vampire$ inspired the film John Carpenter's Vampires, which takes the basic concept of a group of professional vampire hunters attracting the attention of a big bad vampire and runs with it in a completely different direction.
