Rolling Thunder

This is an outtake from a blog post discussing John Ceepak Mysteries 6-8 over at The Irresponsible Reader. It probably works better in the context of the whole, but, you never know.
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It infuriates me that I haven't written anything on this book – Ceepak and Boyle (and, probably, Grabenstein) deserve better. But...here's something, at least.

The points I've had all along are still here – I like Grabenstein's voice and tone. I like the subtle character growth. Ceepak is a super-hero. Danny, on the other hand, is the real star of this series (no matter what it's called) – we're watching him grow in to a real cop, into a man. Yes, he's trying to model himself off Ceepak, but he's the focus, he's our entry into this world and Ceepak's mission.

The biggest problem with this series is that I just can't bring myself to listen to enough Bruce Springsteen to appreciate all the references. I've tried. Really I have.

Not much worse than a prominent citizen dying on the initial run of the new Roller Coaster that was supposed to guarantee one of the best tourist seasons in recent years for Sea Haven. The resulting investigation is as filled with the typical twists and turns, heroics from Ceepak and good tries from Danny.

Not that Danny doesn't get his chance to shine – and brightly, I should add.

I liked this one, not as much as I wanted to, but spending time with good friends in NJ is always a treat.

I'll take a moment to say that I'm not crazy about the whole arc about Ceepak's father. Initially, I liked it – but now? I don't know – maybe they're just spending too much time with it without resolving anything, but I'm done with it. There's another arc kicked off here that works much better (particularly as its a subtle kick-off here, that grows into prominence).

I love this mystery series. It's a little gritty, funny and engrossing.