Order of Peter Ash Books

Peter Ash may be the name on the book covers, but behind this rugged, battle-hardened, yet deeply empathetic war veteran is a quiet literary craftsman: Nick Petrie, the real-life author who gave this unforgettable character a voice, a past, and a pulse. And make no mistake—Petrie’s own story is just as layered and driven as the hero he penned into being.

Nick Petrie was born in the United States (exact birth date not widely publicized), and unlike his fictional protagonist, he never served in combat—but you’d never know it from the sheer authenticity of his writing. What Petrie did do was study hard, think deeper, and write like a man possessed. He earned his MFA in fiction from the University of Washington, where his literary bones were sharpened and his storytelling muscles forged. Before writing novels, Petrie held a string of gritty jobs—carpenter, remodeling contractor, handyman—experiences that seep into the physicality and realism of his books. You can practically smell the sawdust in his sentences.

Petrie exploded onto the thriller scene in 2016 with his electrifying debut The Drifter, introducing readers to Peter Ash—a former Marine with PTSD and a magnetic need to fix what others won’t. And with that, a new series was born. Fans of Jack Reacher and Jason Bourne found a kindred spirit in Ash, but with something more—a mental fragility that makes his heroism even sharper.

What makes Nick Petrie’s biography ironic is how quietly he crafts these high-octane, adrenaline-soaked novels. He’s not a loud public figure. He doesn’t chase fame. He lets Peter Ash do the shouting. While Ash leaps from rooftop to rooftop, dodging bullets and unraveling conspiracies, Petrie prefers quiet Midwestern writing time, preferably far away from any limelight.

Petrie’s literary accolades are well-earned. The Drifter won the ITW Thriller Award and the Strand Critics Award for Best First Novel, and it was nominated for the Edgar Award—a trifecta most debut authors would kill for (figuratively, of course... unless you're writing crime thrillers).

There’s a brutal elegance in Petrie’s work. His books are more than action—they’re psychological thrill rides. He digs into what happens to people after the fight, the long emotional war that no one sees. He makes readers ask: what happens when a soldier comes home, but the war doesn’t leave his mind?

Each Peter Ash novel is like a chapter in Nick Petrie’s own growing legend. As of now, Petrie is alive, well, and still crafting the next harrowing mission for his Marine-turned-handyman-turned-drifter. And if you’ve read even one of his novels, you know he’s not slowing down anytime soon.

So here’s the irony: the man behind one of fiction’s most battle-scarred badasses lives a life of relative calm. But don’t be fooled—Nick Petrie may not carry a weapon, but he’s armed with a pen sharper than any blade, and he’s still very much in the fight to thrill your every reading moment.