Chris Grabenstein: TILT-A-WHIRL There isn't much fun in the sun when a billionaire real estate tycoon is found murdered on the Tilt-A-Whirl at a seedy seaside amusement park in the otherwise quiet tourist town of Sea Haven, New Jersey...

Debby Atkinson Margaret Coel Chris Grabenstein Louise Ure

PRAISE for TILT-A-WHIRL I really enjoyed this book. The story is told from the perspective of a part time cop who is basically responsible for driving around the real cop and the true hero of the story. It was a fresh approach, different enough that I was hooked pretty much on the first page. A quick run down of the plot is this: Millionaire is killed in front of his daughter, daughter gets kidnapped, cops try to find kidnappers in time to prevent tragedy. It seems straight forward enough, but it twists around like a snake in the sun. The further into the book I got, the more the waters were muddied, and it kept me guessing right to the end. As John Ceepak works the clues and tries to get to the bottom of what,s happening, Danny Boyle is just trying to keep up, while driving Ceepak around the resort town of Se Haven, and hopes to be done by sundown so he can go out drinking with his buddies. But as the case progresses Boyle finds himself getting caught up in it and actually enjoying the work. He may end up being a real cop after all. Grabenstein has a very easy and relaxed style that makes the book a real joy to read, and while not laugh out loud funny, it definitely has some really humorous scenes. If forced to I would not be able to pick just one thing that made this book so enjoyable to me, but it just felt right, not too over the top, not understated, just the right combination of everything. I will definitely be looking for the next in this series.    —Jon Jordan, Crimespree Magazine 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. He routinely does what Danny calls "the Starsky and Hutch moves, where he sweeps the horizon with his gun held out in front of his face with both hands." His cargo pants hold everything from power snacks to a miniature magnifying glass. 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. Grabenstein has a sly eye for the absurdities of the human landscape. Some descriptions that made me laugh: A police chief who looks like "a contemplative moose resting against a stump." An attorney in a short skirt who has "very strong calf muscles, the kind that could crack walnuts ..." A CSI team wearing "gloves and hairnets and surgical masks and white Tyvek jumpsuits that make them look like walking FedEx envelopes." 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.    —Pat Browning, DorothyL See Chris's website for more on Chris and his books!