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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN num: 9780786718184
ISBN number: 0786718188
Label: Carroll & Graf
Manufacturer: Carroll & Graf
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 320
Printing Date: May 21, 2007
Publishing house: Carroll & Graf
Sale Popularity Level: 639564
Studio: Carroll & Graf
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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 subsequent victim, the consequences becomes dire for Ceepak and Boyle — this is a game they must win.
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Rated by buyers -
MAD MOUSE is the second John Ceepak mystery. John and Danny Boyle are back and it's the end of the summer, so their TILT-A-WHIRL escapades are only a couple months behind them at this point. The Sea Haven Police Department is going to hire one summer cop for a full-time position, and Danny has submitted his application for the position.
A big end-of-summer, Labor Day celebration is being planned on the beach to try to renew everyone's faith in the Sea Haven vacation spot.
Danny and his circle of friends head out to the beach one night before Labor Day to celebrate National Toasted Marshmallow Day. Their celebration is cut short when they are all assaulted by an unknown shooter with a paintball gun. No one is seriously injured, but the shooter is in the wind and has left a calling card, a Phantom trading card.
The chief instructs Ceepak and Danny to investigate this incident very quietly. They don't want anyone riling folks up and scaring them away from the big Labor Day party. But the investigation doesn't remain quiet for long.
Chris Grabenstein has created a couple of absolutely wonderful characters. And while I rated TILT-A-WHIRL a five-star book, and still stick to that rating, I think MAD MOUSE topped it, but I have no where to go from five-stars. This is a five-star PLUS book.
Danny begins to take on more dimension in this book. He experienced quite an ordeal in TILT-A-WHIRL, and the results are apparent in MAD MOUSE. He's determined to become a full-time police officer and strive to be the kind of officer that Ceepak is. Grabenstein also shows Danny morphing through the use of Danny's relationships with his friends.
Ceepak has been an extremely rich character from the get-go. In MAD MOUSE we see more of who this man is. And I love him even more than I did in TILT-A-WHIRL. Grabenstein sneaks in a little environmental message with Ceepak in this novel when he and Danny are checking out a garbage can on the beach for clues. Danny tells Ceepak that he thinks the maintenance people empty the cans every day, and Ceepak's response is, "They should. They should also recycle these plastic bottles." A man after my own heart! Looking out for the environment. We also see an attraction between Ceepak and a woman in this novel, so we're permitted a little more of a view into the person, not just the cop. AND, we even see a possible slip in The Code during this novel. Regardless of that slip, Danny is spot on when he says,
"...John Ceepak has a code he tries to live by. He will not lie, cheat, or steal. He will, however, leave some damn decent footprints for you to try and trace in the sand."
As in TILT-A-WHIRL, Grabenstein has chosen a plot with a very serious tone. His humour helps to lighten the tone but not demean it at all. He walks a thin line and manages to maintain the seriousness of the plot with humour to make it fun. After both books I found myself saying, "Wow! That was a heavy theme. But it sure was a lot of fun to read."
The action is wonderful, too. I had to note in my book during a car chase because I felt my heart rate increase as I was reading about them zooming around. I could envision it as a movie director's dream. And then there was a sudden halt to the chase. You feel all that momentum as you're reading through the scene. It's wonderful.
MAD MOUSE is written so that you don't need to read TILT-A-WHIRL first, but I would recommend reading it very first if you're able to. I think that MAD MOUSE will mean more if you've already read TILT-A-WHIRL. It did for me anyway. Again, I can't recommend this book highly enough.
Rated by buyers -
WHACK A MOLE heralds the welcome return of Chris Grabenstein's series featuring the pairing of narrator Danny Boyle, a rookie police officer in the beach town of Sea Haven, New Jersey, and John Ceepak, an older, more experienced cop. Boyle, on the cusp of adulthood, is the stereotypical newbie in thrall of Ceepak, the straight-arrow Iraq War veteran with a by-the-book code of honor and an encyclopedic range of knowledge. Readers of the previous novels may be somewhat surprised with the decidedly darker turn that WHACK A MOLE takes, making it much closer to SLAY RIDE --- Grabenstein's stand-alone thriller of 2006 --- than to TILT-A-WHIRL or MAD MOUSE.
Things get rolling in WHACK A MOLE when Ceepak discovers an old class ring on the beach while treasure hunting. He identifies the rightful owner and reunites him with his ring. It turns out that the owner had given the ring to a young woman who subsequently vanished some 20 years before. Ceepak is intrigued and starts to quietly investigate the long-ago disappearance, with Boyle in tow and observing. It is not long before other objects --- grisly objects --- from the past begin to show up in highly unlikely places.
It becomes obvious to Ceepak and Boyle that years ago a serial murderer had operated, undetected, in Sea Haven and is now getting ready to end his hiatus. Grabenstein offers up a likely cast of suspects and potential victims, even as Ceepak and Boyle discover that some of their greatest obstacles to solving the case lie not from outside the police department but from within, as their investigation is hampered by professional jealousy and efforts to cover up what were apparently cold crimes in the interest of preserving the financial sucess of the current tourist season. Yet Ceepak and Boyle soon find that the mysterious killer is leaving them no choice, as he not only has picked his subsequent target but also has selected someone close to one of the team.
Grabenstein has crafted a solid mystery here. The manner in which the killer taunts the police is very unique --- I will never be able to walk into a resort town gift shop again without thinking of this book --- and the identity of the murderer, while plausible, will keep you guessing. I was absolutely sure I had his identity pegged and nailed, but I was totally wrong. This series has already won an Anthony Award in the course of its short history; after reading WHACK A MOLE, it would seem that Grabenstein, who undoubtedly will receive additional accolades, may need to add a trophy room to his domicile if he has not done so already.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Rated by buyers -
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.
Rated by buyers -
Chris Grabenstein just keeps getting better and better. The very first Ceepak mystery, Tilt A Whirl, won an Anthony. Whack A Mole ought to win a Pulitzer. Can't wait for the subsequent one.
Rated by buyers -
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.
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