Customer Reviews

Mad Mouse: A John Ceepak Mystery

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Summer Cop Danny Boyle and his friends have made a tradition of celebrating National Toasted Marshmallow Day. For the last ten years, they have gotten together every year on a beach in their town of Sea Haven, New Jersey to toast marshmallows, drink beer, and hang out.

This year, things turn serious when someone tags them with paintballs. One of the paintballs hits Becca's eye, turning a yearly tradition into a serious night.

Sea Haven is planning a huge bash for Labor Day. Naturally, this incident doesn't sit well with everyone in the business community whose survival during the next nine months rests on the huge business they expect this one weekend of the summer. Danny and his partner, John Ceepak, are assigned the case; with the implication that Danny's application to be a full time cop is riding on a quick solution.

They think they are on the right track when another attack happens. Again, Danny and a friend are the target. Only this time, the paintballs are followed by a bullet.

I'm not normally a thriller fan, but I just couldn't pass up the setting of a resort town. I loved the first one, and enjoyed this one even more. The plot starts quickly. It seems to be moving along fine, but when the second attack comes, things pick up into high gear and the pace never slows down. Since Danny is our narrator, this gives us more of a stake in the outcome, and I must admit to cheating ahead to see who lived until the end.

The only real drawback to the story involves Ceepak. Ceepak lives by a code. Actually, I like his code and respect the character because of it. However, it is mentioned so often I got tired of hearing about it. A few mentions to establish the character were fine, but it should have been dropped by the second half of the story.

Still, this is a minor complaint in an otherwise outstanding story. Give yourself plenty of time to read it because you will be hooked.

Simply put: Mad Mouse did not disappoint!!! I can only add to all the other reviews in my gushing praise of the second installment of John Ceepak and Danny Boyle's adventures at the Jersey Shore!! To the author (who I can't seem to reach by email)--cannot wait for the further adventures of the two above characters and am also looking forward to Slay Ride, your next serial....Thank you, thank you and again---keep up with the terrific writing, plot lines and most of all the giggles that just keep happening!!! Susan

In the beach town of Sea Haven, the town council is getting ready for the big Labor Day celebration, a guaranteed money maker for the town. They want everything to go smoothly and all the summer visitors to have the time of their life. Nothing can mess this up..........or can it?
When a paintball incident appears to cause a disturbing injury to Danny Boyle's friend during a beach outing, the town fathers want the incident hushed up. When it is discovered that not only paintballs were being fired, but bullets too, the demand to clear it all up and take care of any loose ends is made perfectly clear.
Unfortunately, this does not seem to be possible as repeat incidents occur.
Our heroes enter the picture, John Ceepak, an Iraq war vet who lives by a strict code of honor and Danny Boyle, a care-free guy who lives by the seat of his pants, are partnered in the police force and delve into the case looking for answers, but all they seem to get are more questions. Suddenly it seems that maybe Danny and his friends are in the crosshairs of some deranged individual but the motive for the attacks remains elusive, as does the shooter.
The story is a wild ride, fast paced with unexpected twists and turns that are put together with a deft hand!! Chris Grabenstein is a truly skilled author, creating dialogue that is both clever and sidesplittingly funny!! His characters are witty and entertaining. His story line is unexpected and captivating!!! His cast of characters, while witty and clever, range the gamut from serious cop, care-free kid, mail order brides,goth kids, beach bums to stereotypical town fathers and wealthy overbearing parents. Chris Grabenstein raises the bar to a new standard with Mad Mouse!!

If you like a good, quick paced, murder mystery peppered with humor, "Mad Mouse" is the mystery for you. Set in a normally quiet seaside town on the Jersey Shore, policemen Ceepak and Boyle track a sniper taking pot shots at people right before the big Labor Day weekend. Grabenstein uses descriptions sparingly, giving just enough backstory to allow the reader the opportunity of filling in some character details and ambience on their own... much the way horror writer Stephen King provides just enough detail for you to scare yourself silly. Even with two murders in one summer, I want to live in Sea Haven. Great story line and surprise ending.

Grabenstein is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I only wish he could write his stories faster.

Sophomore efforts don't always succeed, and Grabenstein's debut novel, Tilt-A-Whirl, was so original. But, he manages to bring back John Ceepak and Danny Boyle in a story that develops their characters, and makes the readers care even more about the two New Jersey cops.

It's the end of the summer that started with the events in Tilt-A-Whirl, and part-time cop Danny is celebrating with his friends on the beach. Their National Toasted Marshmallow Day party is violently disrupted when someone attacks them with paintballs. They think it's bad enough that a girl's eye was injured, but it could have been worse. When Ceepak shows up, he discovers a bullet. It seems that Danny and his friends may be targets for more than a paintball competition.

Danny shows signs of maturity as he helps Ceepak dig into his own past, and tries to become a full-time cop. The town's annual Labor Day celebration hinges on the crime's solution, as does Danny's promotion. Most of all, Danny's life, and that of his friends may hinge on the solution.

Mad Mouse is as fast-paced as the amusement ride it's based on, with twists and turns to the story. Ceepak and Danny are characters revealing more of themselves to the reader, and they're attractive, interesting characters.

Terrific sense of place and descriptions made me see, hear, and smell the tourist-packed boardwalk. The scene from the past on which events hinge rang true and brought back memories of off-hand cruelty and humiliation from my teen years. Nice plot twist near the end caught me 80% unprepared.

The second installment in the John Ceepak series is very good. The summer resort town of Sea Haven is preparing for an end of summer Labor Day bash. Ceepak's partner Danny Boyle and his friends become the targets of a sniper. This book is full of the silly summer storefronts - Captain Scrubby's, Salt Water Tammy's, the Pancake Palace and the roller coaster - Mad Mouse. Some characters are new - the police chief and a love interest for Danny. The plot takes an interesting turn just when you think you have it figured out. Funny lines, quick read - looking forward to the next book in the series.

Danny's on the upswing in Grabenstein's second Ceepak novel (after Tilt-a-Whirl) due to the fact that he just helped solved Sea Haven's biggest case, he looks good for a full time position with Sea Haven's finest, and is looking to be "friends" with gal pal Katie. Danny and his friends have an annual cookout on the beach and all is going well until the group is splattered with paintballs. The matter is deemed serious, but not urgent, until the paintballer strikes again, this time mixing in real bullets. And when Danny's girl gets hit, they realize it isn't only urgent, it's personal. Plus, they're working on a deadline. The mayor and the chief want this solved fast because of the big Labor Day BBQ party planned. Hey, it isn't every day MTV comes to Sea Haven.

Grabenstein does a fantastic job of mixing murder, mayhem, and humor. Danny's voice is solid and funny. The appeal of Ceepak is that he remains, well...Ceepak. The Man With A Code sticks by his code no matter what, even if that means writing his partner a ticket! While you might roll your eyes at some of the things Ceepak doesn't let slide, it's nice to think there might be a person out there whose word is bond. And Ceepak might think it's nice there might be a woman out there who agrees with him...and there just might be in a nice little subplot.

Check out Mad Mouse!

The John Ceepak mysteries by Chris Grabenstein are great reads! Good mystery with lots of hilarity thrown in, you won't be disappointed.

As others have noted, the second installment of the adventures of Danny and Ceepak is a hoot. It's Labor Day weekend at the Jersey Shore with thousands of party-goers headed to the beach and the only thing standing between them and a great time is a killer with a sniper rifle. And the only thing standing between the evil doer and a blood bath are Sea Haven's best - Danny and John - the new dynamic duo.

I was hooked by the first novel - Tilt-a-Whirl - and just had to jump right into Mad Mouse. Normally, when I'm enjoying a book I savor it and try to make it last but this one was so fast paced, I finished Mad Mouse in a day and a half - reading at breakfast, on the exercise bicycle and in the, errr, "library" - the one with all the tile and plumbing.

Grabenstein's characters are three dimentional with well described good good-guys, bad bad-guys and the appropriate amount of respect shown for politicians, liars (is that redundant?) and people too full of their own importance (is that also redundant?).

I plan on reading my way through the series and then anxiously await each new release.

As for the reviewer who has not been able to reach the author by e-mail, I received a response and a free autographed book plate within a couple of days. I went to his web site and followed his instructions. In fact, he wrote a brief e-mail back to me - clearly not a form letter and quickly followed up on his promise of an autograph sticker for my copy of Tilt-a-Whirl. Seems to me, Mr, Grabenstein also has a "code"...