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Sunday, Aug. 03, 2008

A man of action

Paso writer Andrew Peterson’s first action-adventure novel features Nathan McBride —a larger-than-life Rambo type yet as believable as Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan

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Like the main character in his debut novel, Andrew Peterson is a helicopter pilot and an expert marksman.

Yet, aside from that, the fictional Nathan McBride doesn’t outwardly have a lot in common with his creator. And from a marketing standpoint, that’s probably a good thing.

“There’s really nothing very interesting about a real estate developer who’s also an architect,” said Peterson, who lives near Paso Robles.

In “First to Kill” (Dorchester, $7.99), McBride is a former CIA operative and Marine sniper called upon to thwart a gang of domestic terrorists threatening to sell deadly explosives. And he’ll stop at nothing — including torture — to get the job done.

“He definitely does things that I could never do,” Peterson said. “Like shooting people, for example.”

Peterson plans to tour the East and West coasts promoting his novel, which comes out next month.

From reader to writer

Peterson’s writing career, which received a huge boost from bestselling author Ridley Pearson, is rooted in his childhood, when the La Jolla native would read science fiction books in his room.

“My mom, bless her heart, had four sons, and we were all 21 months apart,” he said. “We did everything but tie her up and cook her. So we spent a lot of time in our rooms because we were unruly. And I would read.”

In junior high school, an English teacher predicted Peterson would one day become an author, but Peterson didn’t believe him. Instead, he studied architecture at the University of Oklahoma. Becoming a draftsman didn’t interest him, though, so he got into real estate development, specializing in storage units.

The career switch fared well for Peterson, who drives a Hummer and took lessons to become a helicopter pilot. But he still had the bug for writing.

After reading authors like Stephen King, Dean Koontz and John Saul, Peterson tried writing a horror novel in 1990.

“It was an absolutely dreadful novel,” he said. “Burning this thing would have been an insult to fire.”

Forming a character

Several years later, he took another stab at writing, this time channeling some things from his personal life into the life of his main character. Peterson, who began shooting guns at age 6, has won statewide marksmanship awards in both Arizona and Nevada.

“Since I was going to write and I was interested in guns—and have been a marksman and a sharp shooter—I figured why not use that theme and move forward with it,” he said. “So snipers came to mind. Then I actually made (McBride) a former CIA operative, who used to kill people for a living.”

Peterson got serious about writing after taking a class with best-selling thriller writer Ridley Pearson during a writer’s conference in 2005. After reading Peterson’s book—the first featuring Nathan

McBride—Pearson was impressed enough to recommend his student to Ed Stackler, a freelance editor who has worked with best-selling authors including Greg Isles, Pearson and David Dun.

Tough lessons

Yet, Stackler wasn’t as impressed.

“It wasn’t any one thing,” Stackler recalled. “It was a lot of different things.”

Stackler told Peterson he didn’t think the book could be salvaged.

“I went, ‘Wow, Ed—I just spent two years on this thing. What shall we do?’ ” Peterson said. “And he goes, ‘Well ... write another one.’ ”

Later, he would learn that it takes the average author 10 years and six books to score a book deal. Still, “write another one” wasn’t the reaction he’d hoped for.

“It’s a hard message to hear,” Stackler said. “To his credit, he took it to heart.”

While the plot and concept of the first book didn’t work for him, Stackler liked Peterson’s writing style. And he liked Nathan McBride, who he calls “a crystal clear, unforgettable character” that compares to Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. So, working on Stackler’s suggestions, Peterson heeded Stackler’s advice and started over.

“He knows what he’s talking about, and I don’t,” Peterson said. “And I didn’t hire him to tell me what I wanted to hear. I hired him to tell me what I needed to hear.”

A new story

Using the same character from that first book, Peterson formed a new plot. This time, McBride — once tortured by interrogators in Nicaragua — is called upon to find a trio of ex-military brothers who have killed an FBI agent and acquired a powerful explosive the feds fear will be sold to foreign terrorists.

Not officially affiliated with a government agency, McBride resorts to any means necessary — including torture — to get information.

Knowing that torture is currently a hot issue, Peterson is concerned about alienating some readers.

“I don’t agree with the general philosophy,” he said, careful with his words. “But if the stakes are high enough ...”

The story takes place mostly in Sacramento and Fresno (though there’s a nod to Paso Robles with a quick mention of Tobin James wines). As the plot develops, McBride encounters a love interest and discovers that he and his partner have become pawns of the FBI director.

A quick read

While some of the violence in the book is graphic, “First to Kill” is a quick read, with genuine dialogue and smooth pacing. Nathan McBride is a bit of a larger-than-life Rambo-type character, but he’s no less believable than Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.

After Peterson’s agent failed to secure a book deal with the largest publishing houses, Peterson decided to send the book to Dorchester, a mass market paperback company mostly known for romance novels. Eight days later, Dorchester responded.

While it typically doesn’t feature best-sellers, Dorchester has published older paperback editions by Nora Roberts, Louis L’Amour and the late horror writer Richard Laymon.

Dorchester signed on for one book, but it has the rights to a first look at Peterson’s follow-up —another McBride novel.

“In this next book I’m writing, he’s going to come face to face with his former interrogator from the botched mission he had in Nicaragua 13 years ago,” he said. “He’s going to get a real test of character.”

Reach Patrick S. Pemberton at 781-7903.