Critic Oline Cogdill recently reviewed Nick Petrie’s latest Peter Ash novel, The Dark Time. Petrie appeared at The Poisoned Pen on book tour, and there are signed copies of The Dark Time available in the Webstore. https://tinyurl.com/3yv62bhe
Cogdill’s review appeared first in the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Thank you for sharing, Oline.
Book review: ‘The Dark Time’ is more than a thriller, diving deep into the lives of veterans
‘The Dark Time’ by Nick Petrie; Putnam; 400 pages; $30
Nick Petrie’s finely calibrated novels about Peter Ash continue to explore how this former Marine deals with the aftermath of war, channeling his post-traumatic stress disorder into helping others and saving lives. The fast-paced, intelligently plotted “The Dark Time” illustrates how Petrie has evolved the character of Peter, who continues to grapple with lingering memories of war and claustrophobia.
In “The Dark Time,” Petrie’s ninth installment, Peter is now a soldier of a different kind, whose battlefield of helping others as a civilian continues to be a major focus.
“The Dark Time” finds Peter out of his comfort zone of Milwaukee and in the Pacific Northwest helping a friend when he receives an urgent call from longtime girlfriend June Cassidy, an investigative reporter. June’s friend, Katelyn Thorsen, also an investigative reporter in Seattle, has been receiving threats related to a story she’s pursuing. But Katelyn, who goes by K.T., has no idea which story it is, nor who has targeted her and her 13-year-old daughter.
Peter doesn’t hesitate to show up, but things quickly go bad. Soon, Peter is on the run with his charges, whom he is trying to protect. He traces the threat to an underground group that wants to wreak havoc on the country. Peter calls on several of his friends as reinforcements, the only people he knows he can trust.
Petrie again melds high-octane action with deep character studies in “The Dark Time.” Peter’s complicated, compassionate personality continues to drive the series. His eight years as a Marine had “rewired him, turned him into a man with war inside him like a sleeping dragon, waiting for a chance to wake up.”
An ongoing theme of Petrie’s novels is examining the lives of veterans — both their time on battlefields and adjustment to civilian life. The series fits well with this ongoing trend.
“The Dark Time” delivers a gripping plot that is both timely and timeless.