#6 in Ceepak series. " Rolling Thunder" is the brand new roller coaster on the boardwalk the O'Malleys have built & it's grand opening time! Ceepak & Boyle are patrolling the grand opening when Mrs. O'Malley has a heart attack on the inaugural ride with her family. Whispers of it may not being an attack when another girl is found dead swirl in the community. Ceepak & Boyle uncover a rich man's playground for mayhem and murder while investigating the dead girl and clues pointing back to the O'Malley heart attack. Town leaders want the investigation swept under the rug and gone as to not hurt tourism money, but Ceepak has a code" He cannot lie, cheat, or steal and doesn't tolerate those who do. He & Boyle uncover things that are not what they seem. Ceepak's criminal father turns up in town hellbent on destroying his son. Unpredictable and interfering with the investigation tests Ceepak & Boyle's skills at finding the killer or killers. ( )

Finished three books in the John Ceepak series on my road trip: Rolling Thunder, Ring Toss, and Fun House. I am enjoying them as audio books. Jeff Woodman, the Audible narrator, does an excellent job portraying the various characters and has a great Jersey accent, male or female, when he needs it. He also nail the ironic comments often made by Office Danny Boyle, who narrates the story. These are NOT cozy mysteries so be warned: there are often multiple, gruesome mysteries with psychopathic killers. But, even though they aren't my normal style, I really enjoy them.

John Ceepak is an ex-military man who lives by the West Point Code and, over the course of the series, has mentored his sidekick Danny Boyle to do the same. Together, they keep the citizens of Sea Haven, a fictional but very authentically portrayed, Jersey shore town, safe, or mostly safe since there are a couple murders in every book. Each book is connected in some way to a boardwalk ride and we meet the quirky inhabitants of the town, most of whom Danny has known all his life as he grew up in Sea Haven. We watch summer cop Danny grow into his job and straight-laced Ceepak soften a bit under the influence of his friends and family.

I would recommend all the books, and they are best read in order as the various stories are linked. Ring Toss is a short story that revolves around Danny's friend Rebecca who is managing the family motel.

Another great entry in an entertaining series. I love Ceepak and Danny (Ceepak Jr.) This case has the two following up on the suspicious death of the wife of the owner of the new roller coaster ride, Rolling Thunder. Her death is determined to be a heart attack, but then the girlfriend of the coaster owner is found dismembered. I love how in these books Danny seems to be everyone's friend or "buddy". ( )

If you like wonderful characters, action sequences that can curl your hair, and a delicious sense of humor, you can't go wrong with Chris Grabenstein's Ceepak and Boyle mystery series. Ceepak is the straight arrow, "an ex-military man who looks like he could still jump out of a helicopter with a Humvee strapped to his back." Young Danny Boyle looks up to him as a father figure, and he's the older man's Watson-like sidekick who takes us through their investigations. Danny has been learning and taking on more responsibility with each book, and it's a pleasure to watch him grow. Even Ceepak the Magnificent is slowly being revealed-- mostly through the presence of his no-good father, Joe. Once you learn about Joe, you know why straight-and-narrow Ceepak doesn't contradict people when they denigrate their parents.

Grabenstein is an expert with his fast-paced stories, and Rolling Thunder is no exception. The problem in this installment is the O'Malley clan. Most of the O'Malleys are unpleasant (starting with the father), most of them have a motive for committing the crimes, but it takes time for Ceepak and Boyle to work their way through them-- and that clock is ticking away precious minutes.

New Jersey seems to have its own special breed of mystery writers with a wonderful sense of humor. Chris Grabenstein, Brad Parks, and Jeffrey Cohen immediately spring to mind. Whenever I need a break from the psychologically dark crime fiction that I read, I know I can journey to Sea Haven to experience a fun and exciting investigation with two of my favorite policemen: John Ceepak and Danny Boyle. ( )

I love this series set at the New Jersey shore! This was one of the better ones in the series, too. Straight-arrow Iraq war vet John Ceepak of the Sea Haven PD is back with his sidekick Officer Danny Boyle, whose irreverent first-person narration makes for great reading.

As a new roller-coaster opens on Pier 4, the wife of the coaster's developer has a heart attack on the first run. Or is it a heart attack? Then a beautiful woman is brutally killed (no doubt that this one is murder) and Ceepak & Danny must find out what's going on.

The atmosphere of the Jersey Shore permeates the whole book, from the putt-putt miniature golf to the tacky boardwalk eateries. Love it! ( )