The Wild One

Starred review from November 25, 2019
Thriller Award–winner Petrie’s terrific fifth novel to feature PTSD-stricken Peter Ash (after 2019’s Tear It Down) sends the Iraq War vet to Reykjavík on a mission—an old member of his squad has asked him to help a wealthy woman locate her eight-year-old grandson, Óscar, who seems to have been abducted and taken to Iceland by the boy’s father, who’s charged with murdering Óscar’s mother. No sooner does Peter’s plane land than he’s nabbed by the local police and told by a suit from the U.S. embassy that he’s not welcome in Iceland and must return to the States within 48 hours. Peter has no intention of obeying that mandate, but before he can lay his plans, he’s mugged and beaten outside a nightclub. The intrepid Peter patches himself up, steals a car, eludes a squadron of police, and heads off into the wilds of Iceland searching for Óscar and his fugitive father. This is where the book begins to soar, as Peter pits his war-honed resourcefulness against the unforgiving weather and topography of Iceland, all the while being chased by a dogged police chief. This kinetic, breathless masterpiece illustrates why Petrie is here to stay. Author tour. Agent: Barbara Poelle, Irene Goodman Literary.