Chasing the Squirrel: The Pursuit of Notorious Drug Smuggler Wally Thrasher Paperback – 27 May 2020

Very interesting account of Wally Trasher, a local hero (or villian), depending on your personal take on his life. The author leaves just enough wiggle room for you to decide if Wally survived, or if he met his end in Belize. I enjoyed the book, and would recommend, especially if you enjoy reading about the nation's 'colorful characters'.

Peterson takes us along the roller coaster life of Wallace Thrasher with an intimate examination of the man himself, his relationships, and his drive. This true story pulled at my emotions since my late husband was a boyhood friend/classmate of Wallace's. (My husband never called him Wally though.) They were in scouts together, participating in highly-scripted "Indian" fights and worked at Claytor Lake, swimming the mile across. We met Wallace and Olga at a Pulaski High School reunion picnic at the lake. In reading Peterson's well-researched account, I found out that Wallace, who was one day older than my husband, had often used my husband's first and middle names as an alias.

This author really knows how to write a book so you doesn’t want to stop reading.

Like, Under The Trestle, this book is hard to put down. Peterson has the ability to keep things interesting, and obviously does his research really well. I remember seeing Thrasher at Claytor Lake State Park and like the book pointed out many times, he was always surrounded by people because of his good looks and charm. A movie based on this with Leonardo DiCaprio as Thrasher would be great.

Once again Ron Peterson Jr. has tackled the job of turning legal documents and newspaper articles into an intriguing tale. This time the interviews with the family enhanced the story. I look forward to more true crime dramas from Ron.