- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Avalon Publishing Group (1 May 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0786718188
- ISBN-13: 978-0786718184
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.2 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,090,737 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Whack A Mole
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Product Description
Review
"Set on a colorful Jersey Shore boardwalk, graced with a Bruce Springsteen soundtrack, and starring an awshucks charming pair of cop buddies, Grabenstein's second seaside amusement-park-ride mystery lives up to the promise of his smash-hit debut....With agile humor, neat plotting, unexpected sweetness, and an irresistible duo, Grabenstein offers a hip new form of cozy."
Product Description
John Ceepak and Danny Boyle returns with the hunt for a long-dormant serial killer who might be ready to strike again. An innocent discovery on the beach in Sea Haven pits Ceepak against a killer with a code just as rigid as his own. When the killer targets his next victim, the consequences becomes dire for Ceepak and Boyle this is a game they must win.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Believe it or not, John Ceepak has a hobby. Of course, using a metal detector to find things buried on the beach definitely fits in with his personality. His most recent discovery is a class ring given by a man to his girlfriend before she vanished. No one knows what happened to this young woman, and naturally it peaks Ceepak's curiosity.
Ceepak's partner Danny Boyle is content to let Ceepak pursue this on his own time. They've landed the cushy job of guarding the sand castle contest, which basically means sitting in the sand all day.
But this dream assignment vanishes with a gruesome discovery. Ceepak feels it ties into the ring and the missing woman. It soon looks like there is a long dormant serial killer on the island. After all this time, is he set to strike again? Why now? And can Ceepak and Danny stop him before he claims his next victim?
This thriller series is something different for me, but, thanks to the resort setting, I love it. This book started off rather slowly with several plot points telegraphed well in advance. But it picked up in the second half and gripped me until the climax. Ceepak shows his softer side here, while Danny is obviously developing as a cop. I enjoyed that character development. These are characters that are growing and not staying stagnant.
Even with the slower first half, this series continues to entertain. The perfect summer read for thriller fans.
Ceepak's partner Danny Boyle is content to let Ceepak pursue this on his own time. They've landed the cushy job of guarding the sand castle contest, which basically means sitting in the sand all day.
But this dream assignment vanishes with a gruesome discovery. Ceepak feels it ties into the ring and the missing woman. It soon looks like there is a long dormant serial killer on the island. After all this time, is he set to strike again? Why now? And can Ceepak and Danny stop him before he claims his next victim?
This thriller series is something different for me, but, thanks to the resort setting, I love it. This book started off rather slowly with several plot points telegraphed well in advance. But it picked up in the second half and gripped me until the climax. Ceepak shows his softer side here, while Danny is obviously developing as a cop. I enjoyed that character development. These are characters that are growing and not staying stagnant.
Even with the slower first half, this series continues to entertain. The perfect summer read for thriller fans.
Format:Hardcover
First Sentence: I've never been what you might call an "overachiever" but at age twenty-five I've already done the worst thing any human being can possibly do.
The Jersey shore town of Sea Haven has a serial killer, and has had since 1979, but no one knew. Now the killer has left the police evidence that he's back. He leads them on a treasure hunt with clues and skulls and evidence he's chosen his next victim. Can Ceepak and Danny get there before he kills?
John Ceepak is 36, an Eagle Scout, a Marine veteran of Iraq and lives by a strict code. He's the kind of person of which you wish there many in life. Danny Boyle is 25. a native of Sea Haven and Ceepak's protégée on the police force. They both love Springsteen, whose lyrics flow throughout the novel.
In this third book, I see growth in both characters, which is so important, and we learn more about Ceepak's past. However, while they provide a somewhat humorous element to the story, I was a bit frustrated by how incompetent some of the other police officers were portrayed.
Being a Jersey girl myself, at least for 11 years, I love books set there. Grabenstein brings the Jersey shore to life through his strong sense of place. His dialogue is natural and very well done.
It was the plot that really kept me going. I love a plot that that builds on itself, and this one did that. There were lots of suspects and excellent suspense. It was nice to see Danny have a skill Ceepak did not.
While not perfect, the book was an absolute page turned. I look forward to reading the next in the series.
WHACK A MOLE (Pol Proc-Danny Boyle/John Ceepak-New Jersey-Cont) - VG
Grabenstein, Chris - 3rd in series
Carroll & Graf, 2007, US Hardcover- ISBN: 9780786718184
The Jersey shore town of Sea Haven has a serial killer, and has had since 1979, but no one knew. Now the killer has left the police evidence that he's back. He leads them on a treasure hunt with clues and skulls and evidence he's chosen his next victim. Can Ceepak and Danny get there before he kills?
John Ceepak is 36, an Eagle Scout, a Marine veteran of Iraq and lives by a strict code. He's the kind of person of which you wish there many in life. Danny Boyle is 25. a native of Sea Haven and Ceepak's protégée on the police force. They both love Springsteen, whose lyrics flow throughout the novel.
In this third book, I see growth in both characters, which is so important, and we learn more about Ceepak's past. However, while they provide a somewhat humorous element to the story, I was a bit frustrated by how incompetent some of the other police officers were portrayed.
Being a Jersey girl myself, at least for 11 years, I love books set there. Grabenstein brings the Jersey shore to life through his strong sense of place. His dialogue is natural and very well done.
It was the plot that really kept me going. I love a plot that that builds on itself, and this one did that. There were lots of suspects and excellent suspense. It was nice to see Danny have a skill Ceepak did not.
While not perfect, the book was an absolute page turned. I look forward to reading the next in the series.
WHACK A MOLE (Pol Proc-Danny Boyle/John Ceepak-New Jersey-Cont) - VG
Grabenstein, Chris - 3rd in series
Carroll & Graf, 2007, US Hardcover- ISBN: 9780786718184
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
22 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
No Junior Slump here!!
8 May 2007
Format:Hardcover
This is quickly becoming one of my favorite mystery series. The books have 2 main characters: Danny, the world-wise narrator who has one of the best voices in PI fiction since Archie Goodwin, and Ceepak, the morally upright vet who lives by his own code. The tone of the book is rather dark, and the level of violence is pretty high with the body parts of fallen women showing up all over town. The book includes some interesting points on how the serial killer has developed a code that is even more rigid that Ceepak's and the results of that code.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Ceepak Rocks!
4 July 2007
Format:Hardcover
Oh, that there were more men like Ceepak, and more writers like Chris Grabenstein. Grabenstein never disappoints in his plot twists, characters or humor. One of the best mystery writers of his kind and a worthy winner of awards.
Read one of Grabenstein's Ceepak mysteries and you'll be wanting more and more.
Read one of Grabenstein's Ceepak mysteries and you'll be wanting more and more.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Why I love John Ceepak and Danny Boyle
19 Jun 2007
Format:Hardcover
John and Danny are back, working together in Sea Haven, New Jersey in Chris Grabenstein's latest book WHACK A MOLE.
This may be the most complex story yet, as John finds jewelry buried in the sand of the beach that leads back to the unsolved disappearance of a young woman. This mystery quickly leads to a series of murders, all of young woman during the same time period during the 1980s. Eventually all the crimes are tied to a ministry among run aways, and just when you are sure you know who the killer is, you find out how wrong you are!
But more than just the pure pleasure of the story, and the delight of being surprised at who the real killer is, I realized what it is that makes me love the characters of John Ceepak and Danny Boyle.
John, who grew up in a troubled family and made something of himself, lives a life of honor. He is a cop because it defines his life in a way he has always desired - to be a good man.
Danny, who grew up secure and with a full life of friendship, but no real ambition, finds in John Ceepak the guide who makes him a better man. It is not that Danny was ever a bad person, but John brings out the best in him.
Together, they are the very definition of what is good about people. The desire to find a way to live a better life, and be someone who is a benefit not only to their friends, but to their community and world.
You can't help but admire them, and they are also people you can truly like.
Personally, I can't wait for more adventures with these two young cops in Sea Haven. They make my world a better place.
This may be the most complex story yet, as John finds jewelry buried in the sand of the beach that leads back to the unsolved disappearance of a young woman. This mystery quickly leads to a series of murders, all of young woman during the same time period during the 1980s. Eventually all the crimes are tied to a ministry among run aways, and just when you are sure you know who the killer is, you find out how wrong you are!
But more than just the pure pleasure of the story, and the delight of being surprised at who the real killer is, I realized what it is that makes me love the characters of John Ceepak and Danny Boyle.
John, who grew up in a troubled family and made something of himself, lives a life of honor. He is a cop because it defines his life in a way he has always desired - to be a good man.
Danny, who grew up secure and with a full life of friendship, but no real ambition, finds in John Ceepak the guide who makes him a better man. It is not that Danny was ever a bad person, but John brings out the best in him.
Together, they are the very definition of what is good about people. The desire to find a way to live a better life, and be someone who is a benefit not only to their friends, but to their community and world.
You can't help but admire them, and they are also people you can truly like.
Personally, I can't wait for more adventures with these two young cops in Sea Haven. They make my world a better place.
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