Review: Tear It Down by Nick Petrie

Title: Tear It Down by Nick Petrie
Peter Ash Series Book Four
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 384 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

In the new edge-of-your-seat adventure from national bestselling author Nick Petrie, Peter Ash pursues one case–and stumbles into another–in the City of the Blues.

Iraq war veteran Peter Ash is restless in the home he shares with June Cassidy in Washington State. June knows Peter needs to be on the move, so she sends him to Memphis to help her friend Wanda Wyatt, a photographer and war correspondent who’s been receiving peculiar threats. When Peter arrives in Memphis, however, he finds the situation has gone downhill fast–someone has just driven a dump truck into Wanda’s living room. But neither Wanda nor Peter can figure out why.

At the same time, a young homeless street musician finds himself roped into a plan to rob a jewelry store. The heist doesn’t go as planned, and the young man finds himself holding a sack full of Rolexes and running for his life. When his getaway car breaks down, he steals a new one at gunpoint–Peter’s 1968 green Chevrolet pickup truck.

Peter likes the skinny kid’s smarts and attitude, but he soon discovers that the desperate musician is in far worse trouble than he knows. And Wanda’s troubles are only beginning. Peter finds himself stuck between Memphis gangsters–looking for Rolexes and revenge–and a Mississippi ex-con and his hog-butcher brother looking for a valuable piece of family history that goes all the way back to the Civil War.

Review:

Tear It Down by Nick Petrie is a high-octane mystery that is full of suspense. This forth installment in the Peter Ash series can easily be read as a standalone.

Noticing that he is feeling on edge, Peter Ash’s girlfriend June Cassidy suggests he go to Memphis to help her friend, Wanda Wyatt.  Wanda, a combat photographer, has recently purchased a home in foreclosure and she is receiving threats to force her to move. Ash arrives just as the threats are turning more violent.  Just as he is starting his investigation, his truck is carjacked by Eli Bell, a young man who is being hunted by drug kingpin Robert Kingston. While trying to reclaim his beloved truck, Peter also ends up crossing paths with Kingston, his shooter Charlene Scoot and driver Dennis Brody.  As both of the situations continue to escalate, Ash’s close friend Lewis joins him in Memphis. The formidable crime fighting duo soon find themselves in danger as they attempt to save Eli while working to identify who is gunning for Wanda.

Peter’s time with June has helped him manage his PTSD better but he still struggles with his intense claustrophobia.  He thrives on the adrenaline fueled adventures he finds himself in and he is not one to back down from a fight. With the help of overworked Detective James Gantry, Peter finally begins to unravel the mystery of who might behind the threats to Wanda. Ash is also very concerned about his reluctant client who is clearly struggling with the horrors she has witnessed over the course of her career.

With plenty of action, Tear It Down is an thrilling mystery with an eclectic and colorful cast of characters. Peter might be becoming a bit domesticated, but he never loses his zest for fighting for the underdog.  Underlying themes of race, poverty and gang violence add depth and interest to the storyline.  Readers will have to suspend their disbelief as Nick Petrie brings the novel to an edge of the seat, adrenaline-laced conclusion. I highly recommend this exciting addition to the Peter Ash series to fans of the genre.