Tilt a Whirl

by Chris Grabenstein

Book Overview

Just back from the horrors of the Iraq War, ex-MP John Ceepak has recently accepted a job on the Sea Haven police department. But any thoughts of enjoying some fun in the sun are put on hold when the body of a real estate tycoon is found on the Tilt-A-Whirl at a seedy local amusement park.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786715847
• ISBN13: 9780786715848
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers
• Length: 321 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Very entertaining!

This book is a quick read that has some very funny moments. Love the characters! I want to read more of this series!

great introduction to series

1st book in the Ceepak series. John is a by the book military hero just home from combat overseas. His former platoon buddy offers him a job in sea Haven, where's he's chief of police. A sleepy place except for summer when the tourists descend upon the town. Ceepak is partnered with Danny who is a young, part time, summer cop who is used to parking tickets & drunk scuffles. A high profile murder turns the town upside down. The story (told by Danny as he & Ceepak work the crime) is a joyride of a motley assortment of clues, suspects, victims. Throw in that Danny is "in training" with Ceepak and Ceepak has a code that makes him unable to tell a lie. A great twisty ride that keeps you guessing all the way to the end. Who really committed the murder?

Crazy, lovable, wicked, dangerous and sweet!!!

Tilt-a Whirl is a rapid fire, laugh out loud, novel that will leave you wanting to read Chris Grabenstein's next book!! At a typical sea-side New Jersey town, where the crime consists of jay-walking and kids drinking on the beach, things are about to get serious! In the middle of the summer beach season,a wealthy man is found murdered on the tilt-a-whirl ride at the local amusement park and his daughter is found running in the street covered in blood, screaming. Two cops go to her aid. This has got to be the funniest pairing of cops since..........well, talk about the odd couple. John Ceepak is a former military man, who fought in Iraq. Danny Boyle is a happy go lucky, lookingfor a good time kind of guy. Ceepak lives by a rigid code of honor, Danny lives by the seat of his pants. As the investigation into the murder proceeds, the dialogue is fast-paced and funny,the Bruce Springsteen quotes flow, the clues are collected and examined and the level of danger rises quickly! This is one of the funniest mystery/detective novels that I have read in a long time. Think of the New York version of Carl Hiaasen and you may be close. Chris Grabenstein is irreverently humorous, unbelievably focused and has the gift to pull it all together! Crazy, lovable, wicked, dangerous, sweet all are words that easily come to mind when reading this book.

Funny business down the shore

TILT A WHIRL kept me laughing. It's written in present tense but Chris Grabenstein makes it easy to read. It's as if we're sliding into a booth at The Pancake House and he's saying, "You won't believe what happened to me." While Grabenstein lulls me into thinking that TILT A WHIRL is just a funny book, there's some nasty business going on in Sea Haven, New Jersey, a small barrier island favored by tourists. The Playland amusement park makes an ideal setting for a maze of distortions, deceptions and lies. TILT A WHIRL'S narrator is Danny Boyle, an unarmed summer cop who acts as chauffeur for regular cop John Ceepak, an ex-Military Police who lives by The Code and has Iraq flashbacks. On a sunny Saturday morning Ceepak is about to roust a boy for stealing tip quarters at The Pancake House when a girl covered with blood comes screaming down the street. Her name is Ashley. Her father, Sea Haven's richest developer and slumlord, has been shot while sitting with her in the Tilt A Whirl. The murder scene appears to be a homeless hangout. Ceepak and Danny find castoff syringes and a shallow tunnel under the park fence. They also get a whiff of seductive perfume. Before the investigation can get underway, Ashley disappears. Word is out that she's sole heir to her father's fortune. Can a ransom note be far behind? There's funny/ha-ha and funny/witty. This book is both. There's a hilarious scene where a possible witness tries to escape through an automated car wash. The author has referred frequently to Bruce Springsteen's lyrics. I'm thinking that Jim Croce's "Workin' At The Car Wash Blues" would fit nicely here. Grabenstein has worked in New York's improvisational comedy troupes. If you want to know what TILT A WHIRL is really like, see the author's photo on the back flap. His grin says it all.

A Wild Ride

Summer usually means lots of tourists to visit the stores, restaurants and attractions with cutesy nautical names in the resort town of Sea Haven, New Jersey. It is not a sunny "funderful" day that the Chamber of Commerce tries to promote after a billionaire real estate tycoon is found brutally murdered on the Tilt-A-Whirl at the local amusement park. John Ceepak and summer cop, Danny Boyle are first on the scene after the victim's daughter shows up in front of the diner where they are eating breakfast. Ceepak is new to the force after being hired by the chief of police who is an old army buddy. Ceepak was looking for a quiet job after returning from a tour of duty in Iraq as an MP. At first it appears that billionaire Reginald Hart was murdered by a local old hippie and drug addict known as Squeegee, who had a grudge and called Hart a slumlord. As Danny and Ceepak dig deeper, after state officials muddle things, they realized the crime is not as simple as it first appears and there may be more than one suspect. The story is told in a first person narrative, but with a twist, since Danny is the narrator. He gives a different perspective on the true protagonist, John Ceepak, as he gets to know him. The reader comes to view Ceepak as not just a by-the-book cop, but a man of true integrity, who must deal with a past that always haunts him and directs his daily life. There are plenty of quirky secondary characters, who offer wry humor along with poignant pearls of wisdom. Although this is a debut novel, the author has all the polish and pizazz of a seasoned storyteller. His past experience of working in advertising for twenty years,after being hired by James Patterson, and doing comedy writing shines through in a tale full of twists and turns. Mr. Grabenstein's exceptional descriptive style brings the setting to life. This is the first novel in a series. I can hardly wait for another trip to the Jersey shore. TILT-A-WHIRL is a must read for mystery lovers, no matter what the season.

Buckle up for a fun ride!

Buckle up, mystery lovers, because Tilt-a-Whirl is one fun ride! Chris Grabenstein's use of character development is one of the many aspects of this story that made it such a great read. John Ceepak is so unusual a character that the more that was revealed about him, the more intriguing he became. The story is clever, and it unfolds in a way that made it hard for me to put the book down because I just had to know what happened next! It's also told in a way that is so visual that I almost felt as if I were watching a movie. And Chris Grabenstein's humor is hilarious -- what a treat to have a new author to follow. I hope this is just the beginning!

fabulous police procedural

After leaving the military former MP, John Ceepak relocates in the summer resort town of Sea Haven where he becomes the full time cop. He eats and sleeps law enforcement even when off the job as he studies anything and everything he can find related to the subject. He is currently assisted by summer cop twenty-four years old Danny Boyle, who hopes to pick up the visiting college females due to his uniform. Except for a love of Boss (Springsteen not Steinbrenner), these two officers share nothing else. That abruptly changes when someone knifes to death realtor Reginald Hart meeting his daughter Ashley at the TILT-A-WHIRL in the nearby rundown amusement park. Ashley blames druggie Squeegee, but working as a team for the first time, John and Danny investigate the homicide, which begins to take them elsewhere. TILT A WHIRL is a fabulous police procedural in which the murder investigation that seems solved before the cops even start brings the two law enforcement officials, so different in attitude and life goals, together. A special camaraderie forms as the professional Ceepak and the semi-amateur Boyle (whose only claim to semi is he does get paid) work a case that whirls away from the obvious into the opposite side of the tracks. Like the two police officers, readers will wonder who is telling the truth and what the motive for deception is. Harriet Klausner