The Drifter

A Peter Ash Novel

By: Nick Petrie

Narrated by: Stephen Mendel

Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Thriller Award winner, Best First Novel, 2017.

An explosive thriller debut introducing Peter Ash, a veteran who finds that the demons of war aren't easily left behind....

Peter 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 man's widow with some home repairs. Under her dilapidated porch, he finds more than he bargained for: the largest, ugliest, meanest dog he's 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 he'd left for good.

Suspenseful and thrilling, and featuring a compelling new hero, The Drifter is an exciting debut from a fresh voice in crime fiction.

©2016 Nicholas Petrie (P)2016 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“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])

“[Ash’s] 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, Peter’s struggle to overcome PTSD sets him apart. An absorbing thriller debut with heart.” (Booklist)

"Petrie’s 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)

excellent suspense/thriller

I very much enjoyed this book. I found the story and characters engrossing, and the plot was unique. First novels can be a bit loose, going off on unimportant tangents. But the storytelling here is tight and paced just right.

The main character, Peter Ash, is home from two tours in the Marines, having served on the front lines in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He has PTSD, which for him results in extreme claustrophobia. Thus, he lives his life outdoors in an effort to keep the panic at bay. He hears about the suicide of his sergeant, who is also his good friend, and gets in touch with the widow to see if he can help in any way. While repairing her rotted-out front porch he finds a suitcase with $400,000 in it, along with plastic explosives. Peter begins to investigate, and ends up uncovering a conspiracy.

For me, the only flaw was in the narration. The reader's voice was a bit flat most of the time, and for some reason he spoke more loudly when he used Peter's voice. As if he was trying to be heard from a long distance or something. Overall, he was all right, but he missed a lot of the nuance of the story by using that reading style.

The book focuses a great deal on the plight of returning vets, and the challenges they face. There is a lovely afterword regarding this, so don't turn the recording off too soon.

The story is set not long after the financial crisis of 2008, and he captures the mood of that time very well...the anger, the desperation, the grief of those adversely affected are all beautifully portrayed.

All in all, I recommend this to those who like fast-paced thrillers, soldier of fortune stories, or books about veterans learning to cope with civilian life. 4½ stars from me, dinged down from 5 because of the narration.

Excellent read. Fast paced, entertaining.

Enjoyed the book start to finish.
The narrator did a wonderful job. I would recommend this book to everyone!

Worth your time for sure! I RARELY give 5 stars.

Solid from getting to back! Still trying to fill the impossible void left by Flynn but have discovered several good reads. Bad Country and Orphan X are both great as well!

Good story-horrible language

My wife and I enjoyed the story. The reader was excellent. We both cringed, however, at the unnecessary and incredibly excessive use of the “f” word. Other authors are able to project realism without such extensive vulgarity. We will not be purchasing anymore Nick Petrie books.

Great story... Narration is hard to stand

Affter reading many other series comprable to this, I found the story to be very worthy. the problem with this book is the narrator seems to make every character sound like Wally Beaver. it was hard to make it through the book, because of the narration, but the story was good enough to make it worth it.

Good Story - Narrator Made It a Tough Listen

I generally like my crime thrillers to have a little more action in them than was present in this book, but the story was solid enough that I would say it was a good listen. Not great, but worth the time.

However, the narrator was a little hard to get used to. There was very little variance from character to character and it was not read with the emotions that should have been present, which confused me. The narrative part of the story was excellent as he was clear, easy to understand, and well paced.

But when it comes to the dialog, whether a character was angry, sad, excited, or happy, the cadence and inflection of the voice was always the same. Only the character of Louis was distinguishable.

So the book was hard to get through based on the dialog contained in it. I think this narrator is skilled and with a little effort would be someone that I would listen to again and again. As stated previously, the narrative parts of the book were well above average. The dialog sections though were not.

okay story, horrible narrator

I had a really hard time getting through this book. The premise is okay and feels somewhat realistic, but the characters come off a bit flat. The deal breaker for me was the awful awful narration when it came to character dialogue.

Love it

First time reading this Author and plan on reading the rest of his works. Great characters, well developed story line .

Hard to stop listening...

This is my second Nick Petrie book and it won't be my last. I love thrillers and have read and listened to most of the big authors but I'm always looking for ones I don't know.

This book elicits the full heart thumping experience I expect from the thrillers I read, but it was not quite as formulaic as a lot of the genre, which is fun. The same was true of the other book of his I read. So you can listen to this without trepidation if you're looking for a fast moving thriller. It will make your commute, household chore or photo editing (for me) go a lot quicker. But you'll also enjoy the characters with their flaws and struggles. No one is perfect, no one knows exactly what to do at every moment.

I look forward to many more Nick Petrie books and a little more of Peter Ash.

A new series for me, looking forward to next book

I enjoyed this mystery and have already purchased the second book in the series. I highly recommend this book for mystery and suspense fans.