I had the pleasure of meeting Andrew C. Peterson at the Pembroke Public Library. Andrew is the author of the soon-to-be-released novel Unraveling.
Andrew grew up in the Bryantville section of Pembroke and graduated from Silver Lake High School in 1983. He began college after high school, but life events altered his academic path. Andrew went on to work for Verizon, where he discovered the company would pay for college courses. Taking advantage of that opportunity, he returned to school, completing his undergraduate studies in 2014 and earning a graduate degree in 2021 through the Harvard University Extension School.
As part of a college writing exercise, Andrew was required to write a scene. Although he was not particularly pleased with the scene itself, he liked the character he had created. Over time, he found a voice for Adrian Tannhauser, the protagonist of his soon-to-be-released first novel, Unraveling.
Andrew shared some of the creative process behind Adrian and the development of the novel. He noted that the Europeans who settled America brought with them traditions of heroes and legends, such as the knights of King Arthur’s Round Table. In America, he sees the equivalent as the mythology of the cowboy—a figure with a clear moral code and heroic purpose. More recently, Andrew believes that role has evolved into the private investigator or detective, someone operating according to a personal code while striving to right wrongs. He wanted to explore what such a character would look like in the modern world.
Having had the pleasure of reading Unraveling, I can tell you that we now know the answer. Adrian Tannhauser is a young man from Middleborough, Massachusetts, who joins the Army in response to the events of September 11. After suffering a serious injury that leads to post-traumatic stress disorder, he begins a new career as a private investigator. As the description on the back cover states, “Carrying a cane, a gun, and his ghosts, he keeps moving forward one case at a time.”
Andrew’s protagonist is reminiscent of contemporary literary investigators such as Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch, Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, and Robert B. Parker’s Spenser. Yet Adrian Tannhauser stands on his own. He combines the familiarity of a traditional hero with enough emotional baggage and unpredictability to keep readers guessing. He is a character who suggests what might happen if Don Quixote had successfully defeated the windmill and chivalry once again became a popular way of confronting evil.
I was able to read Unraveling because Andrew’s daughter gifted an advance copy to the Pembroke Public Library to make a book by a local author available to patrons. The library happily accepted, and I was able to check out the novel, enjoy it, and return it for others to read.
I would encourage readers to see whether the Pembroke Public Library has Unraveling available. If it is currently checked out, ask to reserve a copy. Otherwise, you can wait until September 15, 2026, when the novel becomes available for purchase through Amazon.
