NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, June 27, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The audiobook rights to the true crime best-seller “Chasing The Squirrel,” by Ron Peterson, Jr., have been acquired by Tantor Media, a division of RBMedia, the world’s largest audiobook publisher. The book will soon be available on all popular audio formats, including Audible, Apple Books and Google Play. Award-winning voice talent Kyle Tait will provide the narration for Peterson’s book.

“Chasing The Squirrel” tells the amazing true story of Virginia drug smuggler Wally Thrasher, a daredevil airplane pilot nicknamed “Squirrel” for his elusiveness in evading law enforcement. Thrasher made millions in the ‘70s and ‘80s, smuggling marijuana and cocaine into the U.S. from Colombia, Mexico and the Caribbean. In 1984, with federal authorities hot on his tail, Thrasher allegedly died in a fiery plane crash in Belize, his body burnt to ashes. His beautiful Portuguese-born wife Olga Thrasher then became an informant, assisting the DEA in an undercover operation that resulted in the largest drug bust in Mid-Atlantic U.S. history, when over $150 million in drugs and cash were seized in 1986. Twelve international traffickers were brought to justice, including Bolivian drug lord Roberto Suarez Gomez, known as the worlds’ “King of Cocaine.” The Feds’ focus later turned back to finding Wally Thrasher, who U.S. Marshals believed staged the plane crash, faked his own death and may still be living the good life in some faraway tropical land.

Ron Peterson, Jr. interviewed over 100 sources in his research for the book, including Thrasher’s family and former smuggling associates. Three key law enforcement sources who pursued Thrasher provided extensive access for Peterson’s research: retired U.S. Marshal Wayne Pike, former Virginia State Police special agent David Dean, and retired DEA agent Don Lincoln.

“I’m very excited to have ‘Chasing The Squirrel’ produced in audiobook format,” Peterson said. “Tantor Media did an awesome job a few years back producing my first book, ‘Under The Trestle,’ and Kyle Tait is an incredible voice talent. The audiobook market has shown double-digit growth for the past eight years running and Audible, especially, is increasingly popular among younger listeners.”

It was announced in February that “Chasing The Squirrel” is also in development as a television series with Los Angeles-based Urban Legends Film Company and producer/director Doug Tower. A three-decade Hollywood veteran, Tower has developed award-winning content for Fox, Discovery, TLC and TNT. Also attached to the project is Jeff Dolen, cinematographer for HBO's "McMillions," which was nominated for a Primetime Emmy in six categories.

Peterson’s previous work includes the 2018 true crime classic “Under The Trestle,” which tells the compelling story of the 1980 disappearance of Radford University student Gina Renee Hall and Virginia’s first “no body” murder trial. “Under The Trestle” was selected as one of the Top 100 true crime books of all time by Popsugar. That book is also optioned as a film/television project, currently in development with acclaimed documentary filmmaker Scott Mactavish of Mactavish Pictures.

Peterson’s next book is titled “Eyes of a Monster: a detective’s relentless pursuit of a serial killer.” It tells the inside true story of detective Randy Mayer’s recent cold-case investigation of a suspected serial killer linked to three murders in Hampton, Virginia in the ‘70s and ‘80s. “Eyes of a Monster” is slated for release in paperback and eBook format later this summer.

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