Tilt-a-Whirl by Chris Grabenstein

From the Publisher

There isn't much sun in the fun when a billionaire real estate tycoon is found murdered on the Tilt-A-Whirl at a seedy seaside amusement park in the otherwise quiet summer tourist town of Sea Haven. John Ceepak, a former MP just back from Iraq, has just joined the Sea Haven police department. The job offer came from an old army buddy who hoped to give Ceepak at least a summer's worth of rest and relaxation to help him forget the horrors of war. Instead, Ceepak will head up the murder investigation. He is partnered with Danny Boyle, a 24-year-old, part-time summer cop who doesn't carry a gun and only works with the police by day so he has enough pocket money left over to play with his beach buddies by night. In the first novel in a new series written in the spirit of Carl Hiaasen's work, the Tilt-A-Whirl murder pushes Ceepak's deep sense of honor and integrity to the limits as unexpected twists and turns keep the truth spinning wildly in every direction.

Publishers Weekly

An unusual setting (Sea Haven, a summer resort in an unnamed state that sounds a lot like New Jersey) and two police protagonists with contrasting personalities lift Grabenstein's debut mystery. A former military policeman in Iraq, John Ceepak has brought his considerable physical strength, crime-solving skills and morality to the beachside town; "a cop 24/7," he spends his spare time reading about forensics and watching true-crime shows on TV. Assisting Ceepak is 24-year-old Danny Boyle, a part-time summer cop who joined the force largely to impress college girls. The only thing they have in common is a love for Bruce Springsteen. But the murder of a Trump-like real estate magnate, knifed to death while meeting his young daughter at the town's sleazy amusement park, brings the unlikely pair of police officers closer together. Boyle's first-person narration can occasionally sound too cute for comfort, but his increasing respect for police work in general and Ceepak's combination of abilities in particular provide a good deal of the book's satisfaction. Agent, Eric Myers. (Oct.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

This impressive debut by New York City advertising executive-turned-mystery writer Grabenstein is set in idyllic Sea Haven, a touristy summer town that will be very familiar to readers knowledgeable about the New Jersey shore and follows cop extraordinaire John Ceepak and his part-time junior partner, Danny Boyle. Ceepak is a former military policeman just back from Iraq who lives by a strict moral code of absolute honesty and integrity, a code that is constantly challenged as he and Boyle set out to find the culprit in the murder of a real estate mogul and the subsequent kidnapping of his daughter. The story is related by Boyle, whose youthful inexperience and desire to be a kid are the perfect foil for Ceepak's mature, by-the-book demeanor. Grabenstein's writing is direct and punchy, providing many laugh-out-loud moments. Though a bit surreal, the ending is unexpected and satisfying and wraps up a good pace. Highly recommended.-Nicole A. Cooke, Montclair State Univ. Lib., NJ Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Fireworks down by the shore, and in the amusement park, a good cop almost gets taken for a ride. Just back from Iraq where he served as an MP, and where he experienced enough war horrors to corrode the souls of most, John Ceepak somehow manages to remain surprisingly level-headed. Still, a change would be beneficial, argues old friend and comrade-in-arms Chief Cosgrove of the Sea Haven PD. He hires Ceepak, supplies him with a 24-year-old part-timer, wide-eyed Danny Boyle, as a partner, and for a time things are tranquil in sunny Sea Haven. A 12-year-old girl changes everything. Blood-spattered and distraught, she emerges suddenly from Sea Haven's tiny amusement park, screaming, "He killed my father." When Ashley Hart's father turns out to be Reginald Hart, billionaire, tranquility takes a holiday. Placed by default in charge of the high profile investigation (Sea Haven PD not being rich in homicide experience), Ceepak appears at first to be in over his head, easily misled, sent careening down one unproductive garden path after another to the consternation of young Danny, primed for hero worship. But in a complex case in which almost nothing is what it seems, one thing is: Ceepak's intelligent, principled, get-the-job-done steadiness. This first book in a promising series flounders here and there but is ultimately saved by the strength of Grabenstein's protagonist.

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