Outside the Line
A Peter Ellis Mystery
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Peter Ellis is a rookie probation officer in interior British Columbia when he gets saddled with a file that goes sideways. He’s not in the best headspace to start with, since his marriage broke down last winter. Now it’s the middle of summer, the rodeo’s coming to town, and the one solid thing left in his life, his job, suddenly bucks him hard.
Former NHL player Todd Nolin is Peter’s new "client." Peter’s job is all about risk management, and Nolin is a good bet to commit more mayhem. The victim is Todd’s wife, Marina Faro, who has been badly beaten and feels her estranged husband is bent on killing her.
Peter grapples with his need to keep Marina safe while maintaining a rein on his own attraction to her. There’s no doubt that the local hockey hero is dangerous, but Marina’s something of a puzzle herself. All Peter knows is he’s drifting outside the line, and what lies beyond may be death.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A well-drawn, appealing protagonist helps offset the lack of tension and suspense in Petersen's first novel. Peter Ellis, a British Columbia probation officer, takes on a celebrity client, former hockey star Todd Nolin, who's been arrested for spousal abuse. That Nolin has come down in the world he's now the assistant manager of a sports store hasn't tempered his arrogance. Since Nolin's bail order prohibits him from going near the condo he once shared with his wife, Marina Faro, Ellis offers to pick up some clothes for Nolin from his former home. After meeting the lovely Marina, Ellis begins inventing excuses to see her. The smitten Ellis makes a number of bad choices that lead to a predictable finale orchestrated by Nolin, a stereotypical domestic bully. Petersen, a probation officer himself, is also the author of a story collection, Let the Day Perish (1999).
