The Drifter by Nick Petrie (English) Paperback Book

Description: The Drifter by Nick Petrie The first explosive thriller featuring Peter Ash, a veteran who finds that the demons of war arent easily left behind..."Lots of characters get compared to my own Jack Reacher, but Petries Peter Ash is the real deal."—Lee ChildPeter Ash came home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with only one souvenir: what he calls his "white static," the buzzing claustrophobia due to post-traumatic stress that has driven him to spend a year roaming in nature, sleeping under the stars. But when a friend from the Marines commits suicide, Ash returns to civilization to help the mans widow with some home repairs. Under her dilapidated porch, he finds more than he bargained for: the largest, ugliest, meanest dog hes ever encountered...and a Samsonite suitcase stuffed with cash and explosives. As Ash begins to investigate this unexpected discovery, he finds himself at the center of a plot that is far larger than he could have imagined...and it may lead straight back to the world he thought hed left for good. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Author Biography Nick Petrie received his MFA in fiction from the University of Washington, won a Hopwood Award for short fiction while an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, and his story "At the Laundromat" won the 2006 Short Story Contest in the The Seattle Review, a national literary journal. A husband and father, he runs a home-inspection business in Milwaukee. His novels in the Peter Ash series include The Drifter, winner of the ITW Thriller Award and the Barry Award for Best First Novel, Burning Bright, and Light It Up. Review Praise for The Drifter "As I was reading Petries exceptional debut, OBriens [The Things They Carried] buzzed at the edges of my consciousness, casting the newer book as a thematic sequel to OBriens classic...The Drifter may be about a different war, but its about the same hell, and in this book its about the things a vet carries home with him....[The] lean prose, gritty descriptions, and raw psychological depth give the novel a feel that reminded me of early Dennis Lehane."—Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel "A gripping, beautifully written novel."—The Huffington Post "The Drifter is a stunning debut. Peter Ash is one of the most complex characters Ive come across in a long time. The pace is like a sniper round, extraordinarily fast and precisely calibrated. The prose is fluid, original and frequently brilliant, the story heart-wrenching and uplifting at the same time. There is grit in this tale that will stay with you for a long time. Perhaps forever. I eagerly await Nick Petries next creation."—New York Times-bestselling author David Baldacci "A powerful, empathetic, and entertaining tale about the plight many combat veterans face when they come home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Top-notch storytelling."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "[Ashs] sharply intelligent, witty voice strikes the right tone for an honest exploration of the challenges returning veterans face, and while this wandering veteran will remind some of Jack Reacher, Peters struggle to overcome PTSD sets him apart. An absorbing thriller debut with heart."—Booklist "Petries expertly paced plot sets a colorful array of characters on a collision course. Readers will look forward to seeing more of the resourceful Ash."—Publishers Weekly "Petries impressive debut thriller is fine tuned, the action gripping, and through Ash offers a well-drawn portrait of a vet who cant escape his combat experience. Like Raymond Chandlers Philip Marlowe, Ashs philosophy of detection is to poke a stick into something and see what happens. His discoveries will keep the reader on edge and whet the appetite for more from this author."—Library Journal "Nick Petries debut novel follows the compelling story of one former Marines struggle to reacclimate himself to civilian life while honoring his commitment to a fallen soldier. That alone is reason to keep reading, but Petrie amps up the stakes in surprising fashion, creating a story that is moving, thrilling and satisfying on every level....[An] intimate story of personal discovery as well as an obsessive pageturner of a book."—BookPage "Gritty and engaging, this debut novel will capture readers from the first word. Edge-of-your-seat action keeps the plot racing to a stunning conclusion....This is a fantastic first novel and a captivating thriller."—RT Book Reviews (4 ½ stars) "With The Drifter, Nick Petrie has written just about the perfect thriller. I havent read such a well-crafted and gripping story in a month of Sundays. If this is Petries first novel, watch out for the second one. But why wait? This ones here now, and its a home run."—New York Times-bestselling author John Lescroart "A tangled tale of intrigue, action, and adventure with a battle-scarred hero who definitely rises to the challenge. The clever plot is firmly conceived and crisp writing makes this a terrific story, told terrifically."—New York Times-bestselling author Steve Berry "Nick Petries The Drifter has one of the most thrilling openings Ive ever read, involving a dank crawlspace, the nastiest, smelliest dog in creation, and a former Marine lieutenant still suffering from the trauma of his war. It cant get better than this, I figured, but it does. Petries novel keeps accelerating even as it burrows ever deeper into the dark heart of the new American dream. It is a sterling debut. And yes, the dog is a star."—New York Times-bestselling authorWilliam Lashner "A timely, intelligent thriller, as much an indictment as a gripping page-turner. Nick Petries debut simmers and seethes until it finally boils over in a masterfully-drawn final showdown. Teeming with grit and desperation and told in spare, vivid prose, this is not a debut youll want to miss."—Owen Laukkanen, author of The Stolen Ones Review Quote Praise for The Drifter "As I was reading Petries exceptional debut, OBriens [ The Things They Carried ] buzzed at the edges of my consciousness, casting the newer book as a thematic sequel to OBriens classic... The Drifter may be about a different war, but its about the same hell, and in this book its about the things a vet carries home with him....[The] lean prose, gritty descriptions, and raw psychological depth give the novel a feel that reminded me of early Dennis Lehane."-- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel "A gripping, beautifully written novel."--The Huffington Post " The Drifter is a stunning debut. Peter Ash is one of the most complex characters Ive come across in a long time. The pace is like a sniper round, extraordinarily fast and precisely calibrated. The prose is fluid, original and frequently brilliant, the story heart-wrenching and uplifting at the same time. There is grit in this tale that will stay with you for a long time. Perhaps forever. I eagerly await Nick Petries next creation."-- New York Times -bestselling author David Baldacci "A powerful, empathetic, and entertaining tale about the plight many combat veterans face when they come home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Top-notch storytelling."-- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "[Ashs] sharply intelligent, witty voice strikes the right tone for an honest exploration of the challenges returning veterans face, and while this wandering veteran will remind some of Jack Reacher, Peters struggle to overcome PTSD sets him apart. An absorbing thriller debut with heart."-- Booklist "Petries expertly paced plot sets a colorful array of characters on a collision course. Readers will look forward to seeing more of the resourceful Ash."-- Publishers Weekly "Petries impressive debut thriller is fine tuned, the action gripping, and through Ash offers a well-drawn portrait of a vet who cant escape his combat experience. Like Raymond Chandlers Philip Marlowe, Ashs philosophy of detection is to poke a stick into something and see what happens. His discoveries will keep the reader on edge and whet the appetite for more from this author."-- Library Journal "Nick Petries debut novel follows the compelling story of one former Marines struggle to reacclimate himself to civilian life while honoring his commitment to a fallen soldier. That alone is reason to keep reading, but Petrie amps up the stakes in surprising fashion, creating a story that is moving, thrilling and satisfying on every level....[An] intimate story of personal discovery as well as an obsessive pageturner of a book."--BookPage "Gritty and engaging, this debut novel will capture readers from the first word. Edge-of-your-seat action keeps the plot racing to a stunning conclusion....This is a fantastic first novel and a captivating thriller."-- RT Book Reviews (4 Excerpt from Book Chapter 1 There was a pit bull under the front porch and it didnt want to come out. Young Charlie Johnson said, "That dang dogs been there for weeks, sir. It already ate up all the cats and dogs around here. I cant even let my dang little brother out the front door no more." The hundred-year-old house sat on a narrow lot on the edge of a battered Milwaukee neighborhood that, like the house, had seen better days. It was early November, not warm, not even by Wisconsin standards. The leaves had already fallen from the skeletal trees that towered overhead. But the sun was out, which counted for something. And the sky was a high, pale morning blue. Not a morning for static. Not at all. Peter Ash said, "Just how big is this dog?" Charlie shook his head. "Never seen it up close, sir, and never in daylight. But its awfully dang big, I can tell you that." "Didnt you call animal control?" "Oh, my mama called," said Charlie. "Two men came, took one look under there, got right back in their truck and drove away." Charlie wore a school uniform, a light-blue permanent-press dress shirt, dark-blue polyester dress pants, and giant polished black shoes on his oversized feet. He was the kind of skinny, big-eared, twelve-year-old kid who could eat six meals a day and still be hungry. But his eyes were older than his years. They didnt miss a thing. He was watching Peter Ash now. Peter sat on the closed lid of a wooden toolbox, his wide, knuckly hands on the work-worn knees of his carpenters jeans, peering through the narrow access hatch cut into the rotted pine slats enclosing the space under the porch. He had to admit the dog sounded big. He could hear it growling back there in the darkness. Like a tank engine on idle, only louder. He had a .45 under the seat of his pickup, but he didnt want to use it. It wasnt the dogs fault, not really. It was hungry and scared and alone, and all it had was its teeth. On the other hand, Peter had told Charlies mother, Dinah, that he would fix the rotting supports beneath her ancient porch. She hadnt mentioned the dog. Peter really couldnt blame her. Her husband had killed himself. And it was Peters fault. ** Peter was lean and rangy, muscle and bone, nothing extra. His long face was angular, the tips of his ears slightly pointed, his dark hair the unruly shag of a buzz cut grown wild. He had the thoughtful eyes of a werewolf a week before the change. Some part of him was always in motion--even now, sitting on that toolbox, peering under that porch, his knee bobbed in time to some interior metronome that never ceased. Hed fought two wars over eight years, with more deployments than he cared to remember. The tip of the spear. Hed be thirty-one in January. As he bent to look through the narrow access hatch under the porch, he could feel the white static fizz and pop at the base of his skull. That was his name for the fine-grained sensation he lived with now, the white static. A vague crackling unease, a dissonant noise at the edge of hearing. It wasnt quite uncomfortable, not yet. The static was just reminding him that it didnt want him to go inside. Peter knew it would get worse before he was done. So he might as well get to it. The space under the porch was about three feet high. Maybe twelve feet wide and twelve deep, with a dirt floor. About the size of four freshly dug graves, laid sideways. The smell was rank, worse than a sergeants feet after two months in a combat outpost. But not as bad as a two-week-old corpse. Light trickled in through the slatted sides of the porch, but shadows shrouded the far corner, some kind of cast-off crap back there. And that growl he could just about feel through the soles of his boots. It would be good to do this without being chewed on too much. He went out to his truck and found a cordless trouble light, some good rope, and a length of old handrail. White oak, an inch and three-quarters thick, maybe eighteen inches long. Nice and solid in the hand. Which was a help when you were contemplating something spectacularly stupid. Serenaded by the growls from the crawl space, he sat down on the toolbox and took out his knife while young Charlie Johnson watched. Not that Peter wanted an audience. This certainly could get ugly. "Dont you have someplace to go, Charlie? School or something?" Charlie glanced at a cheap black digital watch strapped to his skinny wrist. "No, sir," he said. "Not yet I dont." Peter just shook his head. He didnt like it, but he understood. He figured he wasnt that far from twelve years old himself. He cut three short lengths from his rope and left the remainder long, ten or twelve feet. Tied one end of a short piece of rope tight to each end of the oak rail. Looped the last short rope and the remainder through his belt a single time, so he could get at it quickly. Then he looked up at Charlie again. "You better get out of here, kid. If this goes bad, you dont want to be around." Charlie said, "Im not a dang kid. Sir. Im the man of the family." He reached inside the door, brought out an aluminum baseball bat, and demonstrated his swing. "Thats my dang porch. My little brother, too. I aint going nowhere." Charlies dad always had the same look behind the Humvees .50 turret gun. Eyes wide open and ready for trouble. Daring any motherfucker to pop up with an RPG or Kalashnikov or whatever. But when his wife, Dinah, sent cookies, Big Jimmy Johnson--known inevitably to the platoons jokers as Big Johnson, or just plain Big--was always the last to eat one. Peter missed him. He missed them all. The dead and the living. He said, "Okay, Charlie. I can respect that." He put his eyes on the boy and held them there. "But if that dog gets loose you get your butt in that house, you hear me? And if you hit me with that bat Im going to be seriously pissed." "Yessir." Charlie nodded. "Cant promise anything, sir. But Ill do my best." Peter smiled to himself. At least the kid was honest. After that there was nothing more to do but lean back and kick out the slats on one side of the porch, letting in more daylight. The space was still small. The tank engine in the shadows got louder. But no sign of the dog. Must be lurking in that trash pile in the far corner. Not that it mattered. He wasnt turning away from the challenge. He was just planning how to succeed. The familiar taste filled his mouth, a coppery flavor, like blood. He felt the adrenaline lift and carry him forward. It was similar to the static, rising. The bodys preparation for fight or flight. It was useful. He peered under the porch, and the static rose higher still. The static didnt care about the snarling dog. It cared about the enclosure. It jangled his nerves, raced his heart, tightened his chest, and generally clamored for his attention. It wanted him to stay outside in the open air, in the daylight. Breathing deeply, Peter took the piece of oak and banged it on the wood frame of the porch. It rang like a primitive musical instrument. Despite everything, he was smiling. "Hey, dog," he called into the darkness. "Watch your ass, Im coming in!" And in he went, headfirst on his elbows and knees, the stick in one hand and the trouble light in the other. What, you want to live forever? Details ISBN0735215200 Author Nick Petrie Short Title DRIFTER Pages 464 Language English ISBN-10 0735215200 ISBN-13 9780735215207 DEWEY 813.6 Series A Peter Ash Novel Year 2017 Publication Date 2017-03-07 Series Number 1 Country of Publication United States AU Release Date 2017-03-07 NZ Release Date 2017-03-07 US Release Date 2017-03-07 UK Release Date 2017-03-07 Publisher Penguin Putnam Inc Format Paperback Imprint G P Putnams Sons Audience General We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:101829929;

Price: 28.99 AUD

Location: Melbourne

End Time: 2024-12-23T03:21:46.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 AUD