Hell Hole

A John Ceepak Mystery

By: Chris Grabenstein

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman

Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

Hell Hole is the fourth book in the mystery series featuring hardened former military PD and current Sea Haven, New Jersey, police officer John Ceepak and his partner, wise-cracking Danny Boyle.

In Hell Hole, Ceepak is confronted with his most personal case yet when he must investigate the alleged suicide of a military corporal who recently returned from Iraq. When it turns out that this "locked stall" rest-stop suicide is anything but an open-and-shut case, Ceepak and Boyle realize that the corporal might have been privy to information that opens up a much larger conspiracy - one that strikes at the heart of our involvement in the Middle East and puts them on the wrong side of some very unpleasant people.

Don't miss other adventures featuring Sea Haven's finest, including (in order) Tilt-a-Whirl, Mad Mouse, and Whack-a-Mole.

©2008 Chris Grabenstein (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Grabenstein again shows his intimate knowledge of Jersey shore towns, whose populations swell in the summer....But this series offers far more than a beach-book romp; Hell Hole is taut and satisfying crime fiction." (Booklist)
"Hell Hole - named after an amusement park ride, like his other novels - moves at a brisk pace...The relationship between John and Danny, how each grows and learns from each other, continues to be the heart of Grabenstein's four novels." (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
"Jeff Woodman's natural exuberance is a fine fit for Hell Hole's ingenuous, smart-alecky cop, Danny Boyle....Additionally, Woodman creates a perfect foil in Boyle's NJPD partner, hard-nosed, by-the-book John Ceepak....Chris Grabenstein writes a tight, well-constructed mystery, and Woodman's performance keeps the interest high and the listening upbeat." (AudioFile)

In Ceepak’s world R & R = Rendezvous & Rub Out

The best of the series so far, the mystery is smartly written. While the tone is mostly beachy and typically police procedural, this is not a cozy series. Book 4 drops the F-bombs a lot more than the previous books and features military characters and war-stories that get very dark. The last hour especially could be very triggering in terms of atrocities and very unheroic, unAmerican acts.

I disagree with some reviewers who criticized the author for ugly military stereotypes; this author’s main character in particular exemplifies the best and most honorable characteristics of military vets. While the characters and plot are a bit too movie incredible, that is sort of the point in a mystery series. Real cops solving real murders don’t end up in gun fights or other contrived plots, much less do it often enough to merit multiple books.

I also enjoyed this book more because I’m now comfortable with the series regulars. The main characters’ personalities are settled in, with Danny Boyle like a more earnest Mahoney from Police Academy and Ceepak is like the by-the-book Tackleberry, except not crazy. Actually, Ceepak reminds me of the retired agent, Don Fitzgerald, in We’re the Millers played by excellent straight man Nick Offerman. Yes, Ceepak is the world’s biggest hall monitor, but that works for this series. I like that there are some other recurring supporting characters, including Boyle’s new partner, who is hilariously like a Ceepak mini-me on the whole by-the-book thing, only with a super sweet, chipper personality…which brings me to the other aspect that has settled in nicely: the humor. Boyle’s Jersey sarcasm is the perfect odd-couple balance to Ceepak’s earnest adherence to his code. Finally, I still get a kick out of all the Bruce Springsteen references.

Entertaining

Kind of a light hearted mystery that had me chuckle a few times. Easy to listen to, and entertaining. The main characters make a good pair.

Worth the wait!

I really enjoyed this one as I did the three that preceded it. I thought it was very well thought out and it left me going until the very end. I think Grabenstein gets better at this with each Ceepak mystery he writes. I highly recommend this. I'm going back to read Hell for the Holidays but hope that Grabenstein releases his next Ceepak mystery real soon!

Fun series set at the Jersey Shore

This is a fun series to listen to -- Jeff Woodman does an amazing job with all of the different voices required and really distinguishes them. I have to laugh when I think of some of them.

I can't remember how I found these -- probably through a Kindle bargain day where I could get a an amazing deal on the audio, too. I listened first to one of the later books from the series, but then wanted to hear them from the beginning, so I am working my way through them. The books are named for amusement park rides found at many Jersey Shore boardwalk amusement piers

Grabenstein does bring the listener into the fold in each book by explaining a bit about the main characters and the setting. The two main characters are straight-arrow John Cepak and his young sidekick Danny Boyle, cops in the town of "Sea Haven" New Jersey, which is a south Jersey town at the shore that's a cross between Seaside Heights, Beach Haven, and Wildwood. So they can be read as stand-alones, but why do that when you can enjoy following the relationship of these two cops and their adventures from their first months on duty?

Hell Hole is a more complex mystery and a bit darker than the first books, and the puzzle here is not so much whodunit but HOW-dunit. The language is not for the faint of heart, because this tale is peopled with a lot of young Army guys who do not mince words and some additional characters who use the F-word as their choice of language for about one third of the words out of their mouths (one of which is a salty older lady, by the way). It's actually pretty funny, if you don't mind that sort of thing, since it helps paint pictures of these characters.

I won't say more about the story except to recommend this one, and tell you if you want to start from the first in the series, it's called Tilt-a-Whirl.

A more serious topic, still lighthearted writing

This deals with a more serious topic, but the characters and lighthearted tone of the overall series is still intact. I like the way Grabenstein continues to move the world of the characters forward -- Ceepak is now married with an adopted son, Boyle has "graduated" to occasionally partnering with a new part-time seasonal cop, the same position he was in when he met Ceepak. But in this case he also moves it backwards, bringing back Ceepak's history in Iraq to meet with the current mystery of the apparent suicide of a young corporal just recently returned from Iraq. In this book "Hell Hole" refers to not just the so-named carnival ride on the Boardwalk, but also to the sandbox of the fighting in Iraq. Definitely a lot of politics involved in this story, unlike the previous installments.

The narrator does an excellent job, keeping the voice of young-for-his age, perennial-kid-turned-cop Danny Boyle walking the line of believability and humour without allowing it to fall over into farce.

Liked it Better Than Mad Mouse or Whack a Mole

I love the John Ceepak series. I started with the newest Rolling Thunder and then went back to the first. Was not that crazy about either Mad Mouse or Whack a Mole, which were too gruesome for this light mystery series, but this book was just right. Interesting story, good mystery and the Ceepak humor. If it had more meat, I would give it 5 stars, but then it would have used too much concentration for a commuter book. Recommended and certainly worth a credit.

i love this series!

I reccomend books 1-4. I plan to buy them all! the setting and characters are delightful.

Awesome Read

This was a great listen, I didn't want to stop, stayed up way too late listening. Great story, lots of twist and turns. Love the characters Ceepak and Doyle!

Addicted

I love the John Ceepak Mysteries! Jeff Woodman is a wonderful narrator. You feel like you are peeking into the room where the story is taking place and you can visualize all of the characters.

Thanks for the books and keep them coming!

I love this whole series

It's nice to have a series that doesn't disappoint and here is one. This, I think, is book five (or maybe four) but so far it hasn't let me down. Great characters with interesting interactions. Start with book one and you'll enjoy seeing the protagonists grow.