Peter Ash is
an Iraqi war veteran trying to acclimate back into civilian life but his PTSD
symptoms and his addiction to adrenaline rush keep getting in his way. He lives in rural Washington state with June,
his girlfriend and has completely remodeled her property but his restlessness continues
to grow. Then a photographer friend of
June’s calls for help. Wanda Wyatt is a
photographer and war correspondent who is Black and gay and lives in Memphis. She
has recently purchased a rundown century old home in a ghetto neighborhood and has
been receiving some personal threats… someone wants her out. June asks Peter to help Wanda so off he goes
in his 1968 restored Chevy pickup truck filled with tools and some weapons. By the time Peter arrives the verbal threats
have escalated to violence. An old stolen
dump truck has been driven through Wanda’s front picture window, destroying the
entire front of her house. Gangster
violence is prominent in Wanda’s neighborhood but this action seems uncharacteristic
of that world.
Meanwhile, a
group of teenage boys looking to break away from gang control, rob a jewelry
store in a nearby mall. Only Eli escapes
unharmed but he carjacks Peter’s vintage pickup truck to get away. Peter somehow feels a bond with the kid and
starts an investigation to help both Eli and Wanda from the terror and injustice
that is raining down on them. But can
Peter survive intercity gangsters, redneck white supremacists, police empathy,
and his uncooperative victims and actually make a difference?
I am
impressed by my first Nick Petrie novel.
His protagonist is bold enough to be effective and flawed enough to be
likeable… kind of a Jack Reacher with a conscience. The author takes on a boat load of social
issues and while he doesn’t solve them for all of society, the attitude of the
protagonist makes you examine your own prejudices. That’s a worthwhile achievement.
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