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Nick Petrie is an award-winning author that writes action thrillers. He is a husband and father that has worked as a carpenter and a remodeling contractor. A former student of the University of Washington from where he got his MFA in fiction, Petrie also studied at the University of Michigan.
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Order of Peter Ash Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Drifter | 2016 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Burning Bright | 2017 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Light It Up | 2018 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | Tear It Down | 2019 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | The Wild One | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | The Breaker | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | The Runaway | 2022 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | The Price You Pay / The Heavy Lift | 2024 | Description / Buy |
It was during his stint in Michigan that he won the Hopwood Award for Short Fiction. The author is best known for his series of action thriller novels featuring Peter Ash, a former Marine that was severely scarred by his experiences in the war. Now Ash must contend with the so-called white static, a consequence of the PTSD that complicates his life.
Nick Petrie’s books are choked with actions. The author’s plots always progress at a break-neck pace, giving readers little or no time to breathe. Petrie wants to entertain his readers. This is why so much happens so quickly.
Because he also wishes to highlight the harrowing consequences of war on veterans. He wants Americans to understand what happens to soldiers when they sign up to fight for their country, This is why PTSD plays such an important role in his books.
Petrie wants people to see all the ways it can destroy individuals and their ability to form substantive relationships. People keep comparing Pete Ash to Jack Reacher. Petrie understands these comparisons.
Both characters are veterans with incredible skills that spend their days wandering from place to place. According to the author, Peter Ash stands out because he isn’t a loner by choice. Jack Reacher wants to live a life of isolation. He wants to travel the breadth of the United States. The notion of settling down doesn’t appeal to him.
Peter Ash, for his part, wants a domestic life, one that is filled with love and companionship. He wants all the things he left behind when he joined the army. But his PTSD prevents him from grasping those things for himself.
So he wanders from place to place, sticking his nose into other people’s business and coming to the aid of the weak and desperate. Ash has a strong moral code that won’t let him sit idly by while the strong bully their victims.
When Petrie was first conceiving Ash, he had no idea that the protagonist would eventually become a symbol of strength for some veterans. At the time, the author had the image in his mind of a young man standing on the edge of town. He was hungry and lonely but he did not want to enter the town and Petrie had no idea why.
The notion of telling a military story came to Petrie after he started interacting with veterans. He was working as a home inspector. His work kept bringing him into contact with former soldiers that were looking to buy houses after coming home.
Petrie thought he understood the lives they lived overseas and the lives that met them when they came back home. But his interactions with them showed the author that there was more to the story than he had realized.
So he started poking and prodding and the conversations he had shaped Peter Ash.
Nick Petrie Awards
Petrie has received nominations for Anthony, Edgar, and Barry Awards. He has won the Barry and ITW Thriller Award.
Best Nick Petrie Books
Petrie’s fans love his stories because they are almost relentless in their action, with some of the best books in his bibliography including:
Drifter: Peter Ash left Army but he can’t escape the white static that has forced him to spend his days out in nature, sleeping in the open. When a military friend commits suicide, Ash confronts his fear of civilization and comes to town to help the widow. In his attempts to perform some basic repairs on the dead man’s house, he finds a case of cash and explosives.
Burning Bright: Peter Ash normally finds relief from the white noise caused by his claustrophobia by wandering through nature and sleeping under the stars. But today, things are different. The trees are too dense and the fog is too thick.
Ash feels trapped. When he encounters a grizzly, Ash runs up a tree to escape. From this new vantage point, Ash learns that men with guns are walking the woods, searching for a journalist on a run.
When Does The Next Nick Petrie book come out?
Nick Petrie doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is The Price You Pay / The Heavy Lift and was released on February, 6th 2024. It is the newest book in the Peter Ash Series.
Hi Nick, I just watched your recent presentation at Boswell tonight. I also just reread THE WILD ONE and wondered how you picked Iceland. Peter Ash has severe PTSD in it and I’m hoping future books show him healing more. I worked at the Milwaukee VAMC for over 30 years as a psychologist and saw many veterans with PTSD. Peter’s talk with the elderly Icelander seemed to have helped him and I hope he will do more of that. I also suggest that when you thank booksellers in your Acknowledgement that you also mention libraries because many of us read your books from libraries. Thank you for doing the hard work of writing. Also, in your first book when you described going between trees but high up in them that I found this amazing!