Peter Ash Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of Peter Ash Books
| The Drifter | (2016) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Burning Bright | (2017) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Light It Up | (2018) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Tear It Down | (2019) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Wild One | (2020) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Breaker | (2021) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Runaway | (2022) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Price You Pay / The Heavy Lift | (2024) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The name Peter Ash refers to a series of suspense thriller novels written by Nick Petrie. The books follow a war veteran who has a tendency to take drastic measures whenever he encounters injustice.
This is a series that I have recommended to every Jack Reacher fan and we always get back e-mails praising the series or thanking me for the recommendation. Out of all the book series I’ve recommended to Reacher fans, this is always the biggest hit!
+The Story
Peter Ash went to war. He fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, and when he came back, Ash found a world that had no place for him. Like most veterans, Ash would have loved nothing better than to pick up where he had left off in his life.
But the war broke him. Ash had severe PTSD that would overwhelm him with a buzzing noise he called white static whenever he was indoors or within closed spaces. So the soldier resolved to live an isolated life, one spent out in nature, where his white static could be kept at bay.
Peter Ash did well enough for himself, at least for a little while. But then a friend of his from the Marines committed suicide and everything changed. Ash only returned to civilization to help the man’s widow cope for a little while.
But then the veteran began helping around the house—fixing doors, replacing bulbs—and his work led him to a mean and ugly dog protecting a suitcase filled with cash. Suddenly, Ash had a mystery on his hands, one which suggested that maybe his friend hadn’t committed suicide.
Nick Petrie brings this particular story, Peter Ash’s introductory tale, to readers in ‘The Drifter’, the first novel in the Peter Ash series. The novel marks Ash’s first real adventure away from the army.
The character is, for all intent and purpose, a vigilante. The first novel proves as much. Peter Ash doesn’t seek out trouble. In fact, the protagonist would rather abandon civilization all together; though, a lonely, silent life wouldn’t be Ash’s ideal.
He understands his needs. He knows that, eventually, he will desire companionship. But the character also understands that the scars of his past won’t permit him to live a normal life.
No woman would ever attach themselves to a man who can’t live under a solid roof. And no individual or group of individuals would ever form bonds of friendship with a man that spends all his time out in nature.
So Ash lives a quiet existence because he doesn’t believe he has a choice. However, for all his determination to give other people a wide berth, the veteran’s path keeps leading him into the lives of the needy and the desperate, innocent persons that are being threatened for reasons beyond their control.
Whenever Ash comes across these poor souls, he does not hesitate to leap into action, using his advanced combat skills and considerable intelligence to dispatch those that would bring his acquaintances harm.
Ash doesn’t play by the rules. The veteran will go to any lengths to stop the bad guys, even if it means crossing some lines.
Each novel finds Peter Ash stumbling into the life of a new character or group of characters, and then getting roped into their problems. His army background and penchant for drifting have earned Ash several comparisons with Lee Child’s Jack Reacher.
Like Reacher, Ash is a military veteran with incredible physical abilities who always attacks problems with a heavy hand. Despite his affinity for violence, like Reacher, Ash is also an intellectual. He is just as effective at reasoning his way out of problems as he is at using his fists.
Ash has an interesting origin. In those early days, all Nick Petrie, the author, could see was a young man walking along a winding trail down the mountain, hungry and alone.
Petrie had no idea what to do with the image. But at that particular point in time, the author was talking to a lot of war veterans many of whom had served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Petrie was able to access the veterans via his job as a home inspector. The stories they told him blew Petrie’s mind, opening his eyes to the horrors of the conflicts overseas, not to mention the difficulties veterans faced whenever they came back home.
The more Petrie’s veterans talked, the more questions he asked, the more they revealed. Over time, the author began to associate those stories with the image he had in mind of that lonely, young man.
Slowly and steadily, Peter Ash took shape. Even though Ash and Reacher are so similar, they are primarily differentiated by Ash’s PTSD. Ash just wants to put the war behind him.
He wants to forget all the things he did and saw, and all the friends he lost. But his mind won’t let him. And even though Ash has returned to a quiet, serene home in the United States, the veteran is still a warrior at heart.
He cannot help but feel drawn to the adrenaline rush that comes with conflict.
+The Author
Nick Petrie is an American author who attended the University of Washington from where he got his MFA in Fiction. The husband and father has worked as a home inspector and a carpenter.
+The Drifter
Peter Ash might have left the war in Iraq but the war never left him. Now Ash can’t live under a roof. His claustrophobia and the white static that assaults him won’t permit Ash to live a normal life.
For a while, Ash was able to find some comfort in nature where he had begun to camp. But then a friend from the Marines committed suicide and Ash came out of his exile to help the widow.
The last thing the veteran expected to find was a briefcase filled with cash and explosives.
+Burning Bright
Peter Ash was happy in the redwoods of Northern California. His trip was a quiet and peaceful one. But then he came across a grizzly which sent him scampering up a tree. It was there that the war veteran found a climbing rope which he followed all the way to June Cassidy, an award-winning reporter.
Someone was out to get June, probably because of something her mother, a deceased software developer, had done. Fortunately, Ash was just the person June needed to escape her predicament.
Book Series In Order » Characters »
Any issues with the book list you are seeing? Or is there an author or series we don’t have? Let me know!
Thank you Mr. Petrie for writing such a great series. I learned of you from our library groups called “Books for Dudes”. I appreciate how you created a character with PTSD issues yet with a strong moral foundation and desire to help others. I especially appreciate the relationship Peter has with Lewis which transcend their racial differences. Especially now with this insane political climate we are in,we need these stories which show humanity and brotherhood. I am truly looking forward to the next book in the series.
Hi there, good books! Don’t forget to add Peter Ash #8
The Heavy Lift
He’s changed the name of that one prior to publication to The Price You Pay, which is listed above. Cheers
Just came across this series. I have read two so far and love the character Peter Ash. Looking forward to reading the rest in order.
Really enjoyed The Drifter. I now will read the entire series. Keep up the good work
Thanks for the recommendation. I love the Jack Reacher books so I just ordered book 1 of this series. Great website! I can’t wait to explore more!
Excellent! Hope you enjoy 🙂
Thank you for the header recommending this author. Really love listening to his books. Love your website. It has become my go to within the last several months. Thank you for all your hard work.
You’re welcome and thanks for taking the time to say that! And really glad you enjoyed that author and the series. I recommend it constantly because everyone seems to respond the same way and love seeing that 🙂
I would like to have a complete list of all of Rachel Hanna’s Books.Something I can Print out on my computer and take with me to bookstores to find them.
She is the GREATEST author I have ever read.
Hi Karen – we have Rachel listed here: https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/rachel-hanna/
Best author since sliced bread……….. waiting for the next adventure of peter ash
Glad you enjoy 🙂 He’s an author who I have recommended many times and always get positive feedback in return which is always nice!
Great job, Nick! I have read all but The Wild One! Really enjoyable.
I have just read The Drifter after recommendation by Book Series in Order and thoroughly enjoyed it, so thank you very much. The Reacher books I read randomly over many years, which did not matter at all. Conversely for Philip Kerr’s great Bernie Gunther series publication order is simply wrong and reading should be chronological. My query is whether Peter Ash has recurring characters, etc, and thus should be read further in order of publication?
Hi Alan – glad you enjoyed. Yes 100% read in publication order (which is the same as chronological at the moment). Couple of recurring characters 🙂
Is Peter Ash a white or black man?
I believe he is white although I can’t remember if it has ever been said or not.
White, in Tear it down, he is referred to as a “saltine” a white cracker