Boyle & Ceepak are back! Taking place almost a year after Fun House the guys have been through Hurricane Sandy & the town has rebuilt and ready for business. A brand new ride called "Free Fall" is new on the shore with a brand new operator who is none other than Ceepak's father who shouldn't even be in town after last year's restraining order. Between him and one of Danny's friends being accused of a murder and being an "angel of death" to the elderly, the duo have a full plate of investigation, sleight of hand, lies, threats, & a list full of suspects. ( )

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.

It's with a real sense of sadness that I've come to the end of this marvelous series. I live in hope that Chris Grabenstein will see fit to continue it. It's always been filled with (often) laugh-out-loud humor-- and Free Fall certainly isn't an exception-- but the real reason I love these books is the growth of Danny Boyle's character. At the beginning, he's a rather lazy kid who wants to do good and have a good time on the beach, but he lacks real direction. That's where John Ceepak fits in. Ceepak is a truly good man who sometimes seems to be too much of a straight arrow to be real, but he's the role model Danny Boyle was hungering for. Now in the eighth book, Danny has grown up. He's had to do some really tough things in the line of duty. He's been affected by them and is still facing the consequences, but he's no longer a kid. Now the team of Ceepak and Boyle is a true partnership. And it makes you proud... as though you had something to do with it.

The suspect pool in Free Fall is long and distinguished, and it's simply a matter of narrowing it down to the right person and the right motivation. Sometimes those are the most enjoyable mysteries to solve.

If you enjoy mysteries filled with action, intriguing investigations, marvelous characters and emotions that run from gales of laughter to (now and then) brushing a tear from your eye, I heartily recommend Chris Grabenstein's Ceepak and Boyle mysteries. Begin at the beginning with Tilt-a-Whirl. The entire series is a delight. ( )

I had been disappointed in the book just before this one in the series. I thought in that book Danny was getting tiresome, and Ceepak was not featured very much. This book has gotten back on track.

The mystery is a bit more detailed than usual, and there is a huge personal component to the story that had been missing in the last book. Some things were resolved in a very unexpected (but much welcome) way... I am not sure what this will mean for the next book in the series (assuming there is one), but I think the resolution here was fitting, and necessary.

Otherwise... the tone and pacing, and mystery level of this novel are pretty much the same quality as they were in the other books in the series: A+. ( )

Ceepak and Danny are faced with the possibility of the murder of a 97 year-old man. As usual, Danny knows several of the people tangled in the web of murder, including a young woman who was serving as a home health aide, Christine.

There are several complications, one of which is the arrival from Ohio of Ceepak,s father, Joe "six pack" Ceepak. Joe is after his ex-wife again, living under the delusion that they are not married nor annulled, and he is entitled to $1 million of her inheritance.

There is a nod to the devastation from Hurricane Sandy but some hope in the fact that the town of Sea Haven is recovering and looking forward to a good summer season.

For me the Ceepak books aren't about the mystery, although I love the mystery they are about the relationships. Danny and Ceepak, Ceepak and his parents, Danny and his legion of friends, Ceepak and his wife and step-son.

There wasn't enough of Rita and TJ in this book but that's okay, I'm sure they will be back soon.

The bad thing about reading these books is the long wait for the next in the series. Thankfully Grabenstein writes several series and I can get a fix with with Riley Mack, Zack or any of the other marvelous characters he knows how to craft. ( )