Hell Hole

My love affair with this series and with the characters of Ceepak and Boyle continues. In this fourth book, Danny is beginning to show how much he's learned from the veteran Ceepak, whose stepson sometimes thinks of him as a combination overgrown Boy Scout/ Dudley Do-Right. Danny is beginning to shed his lackadaisical beach dude - good time boy persona. Oh, he still wants to have a good time, but he's finding that he has a knack for being a good cop, and he wants to be an even better one. Even Ceepak has mellowed a bit with the change in his home life, and readers get to see why he's been estranged from his father for so long.

This series has a lot of heart, and a lot of humor. It has two characters who can easily charm their way into show more readers' hearts, and these two do not remain static; they've been gradually changing from book to book. Heart, humor, characters-- and action sequences that grab you by the throat and don't let you go until they're good and ready. Add all those to a first-rate "locked stall" mystery filled with twists and turns and characters that are difficult to decide if they're in the Good Guy or Bad Guy categories.

My only complaint is that these books read much too quickly. Once I start, I don't want to stop, and when I come to the end, I immediately want to grab the next one and sink right down into the pages. You can start this series anywhere, but if you love marvelous characters like I do, you're going to want to start at the very beginning (Tilt-a-Whirl) so you can watch Danny Boyle grow up and John Ceepak mellow. Whichever path you choose to take, all I really recommend is that you read one. You'll be glad you did. show less

This is the best yet in the Ceepak series. Grabenstein is the best author I know at mixing humor with straight-up, scary, mentally challenging detective fiction.

In HELL HOLE, Sea Haven PD officer Danny Boyle and his partner and mentor John Ceepak investigate the apparent suicide of a returning Iraq war veteran. There are jurisdictional issues, political ramifications, the return of incompetent crime scene investigator "Slobbinsky," and Ceepak's and Danny's lives are endangered more than once. To add to the complications, Ceepak is dealing with some personal problems and there's no chaplain in sight. Also, a new character is introduced: Sam (for Samantha) Starky, a new "summer cop" doing the same job Danny had in TILT-A-WHIRL.

The plot show more and setting are as well-done as usual in Grabenstein's books, which is to say, excellently well. The description of the restroom at Exit 52 on the Garden State Parkway made me want to buy a gallon jug of Lysol. But what I'll remember longest about HELL HOLE is the continuing character development of Ceepak and Boyle.

Ceepak, as we have seen before, holds himself to a very high personal standard. In HELL HOLE, we are shown, not just told, the circumstances that led him to choose that high standard for himself. As an Army brat and a veteran, I can attest to the truth of Danny Boyle's observation about the motivations behind some of our best soldiers.

Danny Boyle, as one would expect from a 20-something, has changed and grown even more during this (so far) 4-book series. From the good-hearted but clueless young man of the first book, he has become someone who is observant, competent, and takes initiative, without becoming simply a Ceepak clone. Danny will always like to have a good time, but he knows when it's time to get serious. He still tends to think of himself as a bit of a screw-up, but he, too, is holding himself to a high standard.

I can't close without saying something more about Sam Starky. I hope she gets a full-time job with the Sea Haven force. She comes across in this book as a charming combination of Jersey girl and mini-Ceepak, and I'd love to see what Chris Grabenstein does with her character.

I highly recommend this and all the Ceepak novels. show less

Ceepak & Boyle are in deep trying to solve a suicide or murder of a corporal involving an Army platoon. Ceepak lives by the code & is having a hard time with the active military guys that are either lying, covering up or blaming others for the death. Enter in politicians, Ceepak's horrible father, a new partner for Boyle, & pirate thieves & drugs. There's a load of mystery, mayhem, and red herrings. We get a little more information on Ceepak's past and family. Can't wait till next book!

#4 John Ceepak mystery, in which Ceepak and Danny investigate the supposed suicide of a soldier in a wayside rest stop. They're doing this on the sly because the rest stop falls outside of their jurisdiction, but it's obvious to even Danny, a relative rookie, that Shareef Smith did not shoot himself and that some type of coverup is underway. The two Sea Haven cops take on some powerful enemies to bring down Smith's killer, but they get there in the end with some help from folks on both sides of the law.

Although the bad guy was obvious to me from the start and I was pretty sure what the motive was (at least in general,) how the murder was achieved was a bit of a puzzle until Ceepak tells all at the end. I have enjoyed every one of these show more books in this series--they're light reads with just the right amount of humor, interesting characters and an easy-to-read style. show less

If you’ve read any of the John Ceepak series, you already know the setup. If you haven’t read any of the series, what are you waiting for?

The book opens with Danny and another officer investigating a noise complaint. When they arrive, they find some soldiers celebrating a bit too zealously. While there, a phone call comes in that one of their troop has been found dead in the bathroom at a rest stop nearby, an apparent suicide. Danny offers to drive the soldier to the rest stop to identify the body. While observing the scene of the crime, something about it bothers Danny and he takes the opportunity to take a picture using his cell phone. The next day Danny shows the picture to his partner, Officer John Ceepak. The two officers show more proceed to launch their own investigation and quickly determine the soldier did not die of suicide but from murder.

I was relieved to find that John Ceepak is still a man who does the “right thing”, someone you can rely on and admire. And the secrets of Ceepak’s past are being slowly revealed with each book. Danny is slowly growing as an officer and a man, but retains the “golly gee” enthusiasm that makes him such an appealing character. And I’m glad he seems to have finally found a girlfriend. The setting of the book, a New Jersey resort town called “Sea Haven”, is just fun to read about. I look forward to the next book, which I’m now assuming will be set mostly in Ohio. I can’t wait. show less

The fourth outing for John Ceepak and Danny Boyle, policemen in the fictional summer resort town of Sea Haven on the New Jersey shore, sees them inveigle their way into an investigation of the apparent suicide of an American soldier who is home on leave from Iraq. Things are not, of course, what they seem to be and Ceepak and Danny battle orchestrated misdirection on a grand scale and, for good measure, a couple of attempts on their lives.

As always the story is narrated by relatively inexperienced Danny Boyle who jumps to the conclusions that readers might jump to, asks the questions that readers might ponder and generally forms a link between the brilliant but reserved John Ceepak and the reader. He does this in a funny, self show more deprecating way that manages to make him appear less foolish than the offsiders of other famous detectives. Danny has matured a lot since the first book in the series which is evidenced when his partner’s drunkard father starts causing problems and Danny, realising Ceepak is not able control himself as he normally would, steps in to diffuse the situation.

I did find it a bit easier to spot the culprit in this book than I have done in the past although I hadn’t fathomed most of the details provided in the classic dénouement and the plot, as always, threw up a thought-provoking thread or two. Reading between the lines I’d guess that Grabenstein has an opinion about America’s war in Iraq but, unlike the couple of vitriolic reviews I found at Amazon, I didn’t think the book was trying to portray a particularly anti-war or anti-army stance. Heck Ceepak is a war hero as well as being the best detective in Sea Haven.

I love the way Grabenstein creates pictures of the people and places he writes about. He manages to use just the right amount of detail to enable me to create terrific mental pictures. Reading Hell Hole had me creating a vivid mental image of a public toilet with a gruesomely dead body in it but I guess you can’t always have sunlit beaches as a backdrop.

I am a confirmed fan of these books so perhaps not their most objective reviewer. On the other hand I have given up on many series that stopped meeting my expectations and I wouldn’t hesitate to do the same again should the situation arise. Happily there’s no need to here because Hell Hole as told by Jeff Woodman provides a thoroughly entertaining tale in which, after doing the hard yards, the good guys triumph. I read (and enjoy) plenty of books where that doesn’t happen but it is occasionally nice to have things work out the way you wish they would always do in the real world (rating is 3.5)

Re-read this again 18 months later and actually thought it a 4-star read this time. show less

An excellent addition to this series. It has the same tone and humor and setting as the first 3 books but the story has a bit more punch to it.

It's probably a bit far-fetched in that I don't think so many people in real life would be complicit in such bad goings-on, but it's believable within the story, and suspenseful...

It's fast and enjoyable - though I think it has more swearing than the other books so that might put some people off, but it all fit with the storyline.