NICK PETRIE THE WILD ONE

The idea that led Nick Petrie to create his character Peter Ash, a decorated Marine combat veteran whose PTSD makes him so claustrophobic that he is most comfortable outdoors, came in a basement.

- Oline H. Cogdill

At the time, Petrie owned a home inspection company that often put him in contact with veterans returning from their military service. The conversation with one veteran who was buying a home especially made an impact. Chatting with the young man in the basement, Petrie said what so many people say to returning soldiers. “I thanked him for his service,” Petrie remembers. “He said he wished people wouldn’t say that but would instead say ‘Welcome home.’ I thought that must be how it feels. The soldiers want to be welcomed back.”

That conversation kicked Petrie “into high gear,” and eventually led to his 2016 debut, The Drifter, which won both the 2017 International Thriller Writers’ Thriller Award and the Barry Award for Best First Novel, and was a finalist for the Edgar, Anthony, and Hammett awards. His third novel, Light It Up, was Apple iBooks’ Thriller of the Year and a finalist for the Barry Award. His recently released fifth novel, The Wild One, already is earning glowing reviews.

Those conversations in basements, attics, and front yards with men and women returning from their tours of duty gave Petrie an insight into their struggles with civilian life, and helped him concoct his characters and plots.

“I’m a curious guy,” says Petrie, who owned his home inspection company for about 15 years. “I always ask questions. I learned so much from these veterans. It blew my mind that so many were young when they decided to sign up. Many signed up after 9/11 because they wanted to go help, they wanted to be part of the solution.”

He continues: “Their experiences [back home] really stuck with me and I began to be a bit more deliberate when I talked to them.”