Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
Sea Haven, N.J., is the kind of resort town where crime means stolen tricycles,
and the police interrogation room is used to store Christmas decorations. So
when a billionaire tycoon is shot dead on an amusement park ride, it's fortunate
that ex-military policeman John Ceepak is the first officer on the scene. To
hear his partner, "summer cop" Danny Boyle, tell it, Ceepak is such a straight
arrow that he probably can't bend at the waist. But his code of honor gets tested
to its limits as he tries to find the tycoon's missing daughter. Funny, smart,
and smoothly written, Tilt-A-Whirl is all kinds of twisty fun. Grade:
A- Christian Science Monitor
About the Author
Chris Grabenstien was the first writer hired as a result of James Patterson’s famous advertising aptitude test that ran in the New York Times when Patterson was Creative Director of J. Walter Thompson. Now he is following in his mentor’s footsteps with his debut mystery novel. Chris spent several years at the nations top ad agencies. Before he started in advertising, Chris also worked with Bruce Willis (among others) in some of New York’s most acclaimed improvisational comedy troupes. A member of Mystery Writers of America, Chris lives in New York City.