Peter Ash has come home from war, having served in Iraq and Afghanistan with a single souvenir that he calls ‘White Static’ but we know to be PTSD.
This Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder has also driven him to spend a full year roaming in the wild.
However, a friend of his from the Marines dies, and Ash returns to help his friend’s widow with home repairs.
Yet then, underneath an old porch in her home, he finds exactly what he wasn’t expecting to find.
He finds a mean, ugly hound, as well as a suitcase stuffed full of explosives and cash.
Ash is shocked and starts to investigate this discovery, but ends up finding himself seemingly at the center of a plot he never thought he would be in.
It would even lead him right back to where he least wants to go.
This book is a favorite due to its touch on Ash’s PTSD, but also its community feeling and action.
Pros
Unique reading style – Reads a lot like an action movie.
A very exciting and gripping read.
Realistic protagonist with flaws.
Action-packed adventure.
Deep and meaningful storytelling.
Cons
Perhaps too dark for some readers.
More action than ‘crime’ for most of the book.
Possibly triggering for veterans suffering from PTSD.
Peter Ash tried to find some peace in the redwood forests of Northern California, however, it was not quite the vacation from the chaos he had hoped for.
The forest is too dense and the fog too heavy, which causes his claustrophobia to spark off, and then he stumbles across a grizzly.
In his fight with the bear, he knows that he will lose, so he flees up a sapling, but find a strange, out-of-place climbing rope, leading through the canopy of the forest and finishing at a hanging platform, where he finds a woman fleeing, and below, gunshots and angry men.
Only days prior, June Cassidy, an investigative journalist escaped a kidnapping, but the men are still hot on her trail.
She believed that they were hunting for something that belonged to her mother, who was a well-known software designer who recently passed away.
June has to find out what is really going on, and Peter Ash is a man with the skills she needs.
They are only a mere step ahead of those pursuing her but are in a rush to unravel the threads of this mystery.
They get led to an eccentric recluse, a shadowy pseudo-military organization, but most shocking of all, an incredible tool that has the potential to change the world indefinitely.
This is a fan favorite due to its new setting, but the continuing need for Ash to face his PTSD.
Pros
Changing scenery – Reader’s likely to stay interested and not get bored.
New characters as well as the protagonist.
New mystery.
Good clear writing.
Action-packed.
Cons
PTSD is used as a primary storyline which some readers do not find so appealing.
Totally new mystery – Not appealing to all readers.
Ash lives a very simple life now, he builds hiking trails in Oregon as a helping hand to Henry Nygaard, his friend, whose daughter runs a security company that helps all kinds of people in Denver.
All is well, until Henry’s son-in-law and the operations manager of the company carry a large chunk of client money and suddenly the vehicle vanishes, with no trace, leaving the company, and Henry’s daughter very vulnerable.
When Ash rides on another cash run, he finds that he and the cargo are under attack. Just escaping with his life, they investigate.
The assaults grow more regular, Ash grows more curious and wonders if the criminals are so sophisticated, can this really only be about the cash they carry?
Eventually, Ash has enough and puts together his resources and digs to uncover the truth of a very big and lucrative scheme.
His enemy won’t go down quietly though, and now Ash faces danger.
This book is a favorite of fans due to its heavy action and realism.
Pros
Works as a stand alone, even if you have not read previous books.
Action-packed scenes.
Realistic characters.
Intricate storytelling.
Cons
Predictable.
Repetitive action.
Works as a stand alone, even if you have not read previous books.
Veteran Ash is stressless at home, where he now lives with June Cassidy.
Ash needs to be on the go, and so, she sends him to Memphis to help her friend who is a photographer and war correspondent, Wanda, who has been on the receiving end of some rather odd threats.
However, when he gets there, someone has driven a dump truck to Wanda’s living room, but Ash and Wanda can’t quite figure out why.
While this is happening a young street musician is hooked into a robbery plan, but the heist goes awry, and now he is holding a sack of stolen Rolexes and is running for his life, but when his car breaks down, he gets a new one, Ash’s pickup truck, which he steals at gunpoint.
Ash is a fan of the attitude and smarts of the kid, but finds he is in a much more serious situation than he is aware of, all while Wanda’s situation is just getting worse!
Ash ends up stuck in between some peculiar situations, on one hand, he’s dealing with some Memphis gangsters who are hunting for revenge and Rolexes.
On the other hand, he is also dealing with an ex-con and his hog butcher in Mississippi who are hunting for a piece of family history that dates back to the Civil War!
This is a favorite for fans due to the continuing storyline of June, and the multiple-villain storyline.
Pros
Familiar feeling with familiar characters, but a new adventure.
Ash’s fight against his PTSD is not going well, he has absolutely no intention of ever getting on a claustrophobia-inducing airplane.
However, when a grieving woman asks him to find her grandson, who is only 8 years old.
The daughter of the woman has been murdered, and Erik, the husband of his deceased wife, is the primary suspect.
He took his son and fled the country to Iceland to protect himself and his lawless family.
Ash tries to find the boy, but it all gets much more complicated when Peter is met by a man from the US Embassy at the airport.
For some bizarre reason, it would seem that the government does not want him to go to Iceland.
They allow him two days of seeking Reykjavík before he needs to get on the next available seat back home.
However, when they discover that Ash is not returning until his mission is complete, they are on the hunt for him as well, and the hunter ends up the hunted.
From the Northern capital to a small farm just away from the arctic, Ash is forced to confront his ever-worsening PTSD, as well as the most powerful snowstorm his generation has ever seen.
He fights all this and more to find a killer, save a young boy, and stay as far as he can be away from Icelandic prison, or a very cold arctic grave.
This is a fan favorite because of its unique setting and new environment.
Pros
Landscape building is delicately done.
The unique and different setting from previous books.
More character-building for the protagonist.
Cons
Minimal dialogue.
Less intricate character-building than in previous books.
Ash is now a man wanted by 2 different governments, but he has found reprieve in a simple and low-key life in Milwaukee.
He and June live together, while he renovates old buildings with a friend, Lewis.
He knows that keeping out of trouble is the best way to keep the peace he craves.
However, he ends up stopping a strange armed man walking into a bustling market, and with Ash being who he is, he cannot just stand idly by and do nothing!
He interrupts a crime, but it was not quite what he thought.
A gunman appears to only have a single target and mission, but he escapes and his victim vanishes before the police turn up.
There was more going on here than anyone would’ve guessed.
Ash is proven correct when an associate from his past appears with a crime interest and an offer.
If it is possible for June and he to solve a certain mystery then Ash can get his record wiped squeaky clean.
Ash and Lewis track down the gunman, while June looks into the victim.
As these two investigations grow closer, they are put into the path of a tech thief, an inventor, and a weirdly upbeat assassin, as well as horrendous technology that could bring calamity if the wrong people got their hands on it.
For Ash, it is even worse, however, this is the only path to freedom, and he needs to fight even harder than before, or freedom could be more expensive than he ever imagined.
Ash is on his way through the North of Nebraska when he comes across a young pregnant woman on a gravel road, alone.
He offers her a lift, but this simple act of kindness manages to become a ruthless chase.
Racing across highways with the young woman’s lawless ex-cop partner on their trail, she ends up seeing what she was never meant to, but protecting her could prove more than Peter is capable of.
To save them both, he needs to use every skill he developed as a marine to escape a vicious killer who is more skilled than he is.
This is a fan-favorite book due to the intense crafting of a truly dark and evil villain.
Lewis, Ash’s friend has helped him out countless times and has saved his life many times also. This means that when Lewis asks for a favor, Ash says yes immediately.
Lewis has left his life of crime behind him, but a former associate and friend seem to be in trouble, so Lewis and Ash need to go and check in on him.
But, as you’d expect, this visit quickly turns quite grim when they find a cabin smoldering.
Quickly they discover that someone has decided to steal a notebook full of the incriminating secrets of Lewis’ life of crime long ago.
It is now up to Lewis and Ash to uncover the location of these notebooks, as what is in them is very dangerous.
Not only do their contents endanger the home and the family Lewis has built from the ground up, but his life as well.
With the help of June, they start searching.
Eventually, they find themselves faced with professional criminals.
Forced to take on the dark sides they have worked so hard to keep hidden away, they face these vicious enemies.
This book is yet to be released but is greatly anticipated.
Pros
A great follow-up to previous books.
A real test for the characters.
All 3 primary characters are included.
Cons
The book is released in mid-2023.
Paperback is not yet available.
Final Thoughts
Many fans of the Nick Petrie books compare Peter Ash to Jack Reacher, and I can see the comparison here.
However, there is something unique about this character, and the way the stories are crafted.
The way Petrie includes June and Lewis as the books go on, but also has solo adventures with Ash is unique and allows readers to enjoy a variety of reading options.
Overall a good series for action-thriller fans.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is The First Nick Petrie Book?
‘The Drifter’ is the first book Nick Petrie ever published, and is the first in his Peter Ash series.
However, the books do not have to be read in order, but it is best to do so.
Who Writes Like Nick Petrie?
Other authors who write like Nick Petrie include Lee Child, Robert Crais, David Baldacci, and Michael Connelly. Among others.
Hi, my name is Anna Davis and I have been working with books for five years now. I got a job at my local library, so I could be closer to all of the books! I created this website in the hopes of inspiring others to start reading again. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your new favorite book from my site!
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