Susan R. Matthews
Susan R. Matthews (born July 1952) is an American science fiction writer. Matthews was born in Fort Benning, Georgia. She lives in Seattle. She served in the US Army as operations and security officer of a Combat Support Hospital, later worked as an auditor for Boeing and graduated from Seattle University with an MBA in accounting. Her debut novel, "An Exchange of Hostages", was published by Avon Books in 1997. It was nominated for the 1997 Philip K. Dick Award and for the 1998 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer; it also obtained fourth place  in the poll for the 1998 Locus Award for Best First Novel. Like its sequels, "An Exchange of Hostages" is set in a dystopic space opera future ruled by an autocratic judiciary. The novel and most of its sequels follow Andrej Koscuisko, a state torturer, and are primarily concerned with his reactions to the violence he is called on to commit. The seven-book "Under Jurisdiction" series concluded in 2017 with "Blood Enemies".