Chris Grabenstein

Chris Grabenstein is the author of the John Ceepak Jersey Shore mysteries Tilt A Whirl, Mad Mouse, Whack A Mole, Hell Hole, Mind Scrambler, and Rolling Thunder.

He also writes thrillers and award-winning ghost stories for middle grades readers: The Crossroads, The Hanging Hill, and the forthcoming The Smoky Corridor.

From his Q & A with Jack Getze at Spinetingler Magazine:

Tell us about the new Ceepak [novel]. What’s the story about? Does the relationship between Danny and Ceepak make any change?

The new Ceepak (mystery number 6 in the series) is called Rolling Thunder. After going down to Atlantic City in Mind Scrambler, I wanted to get the boys back home in Sea Haven. The story starts on opening day for a brand new wooden roller coaster (The Rolling Thunder) built on the refurbished boardwalk that had some arson issues in Hell Hole. The owner and his family take the first ride around the rails and, halfway up the third hill, his wife has a heart attack. Or did she? Things get even more complicated when a local beach babe is found dead one week later. Danny has to really step up in this story and, in fact, at the climax is basically on his own! Ceepak’s skeevy dad shows up again, too....

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Where did Ceepak come from? Is he all imagination, or did you pull things from real people? A Jersey policeman?

Ceepak was a conscious effort on my part to create a memorable character that had not yet been done in the genre; almost the polar opposite of the bitter, hard drinking, burnt-out ex-cop. He is an amalgam of an FDNY fire captain friend of mine, a nephew who was a Marine in the first Gulf War, and some soldiers I met at a wedding, one of whom was named Jon Cepak.[read on]

Learn more about the author and his work at Chris Grabenstein's website.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Chris Grabenstein & Fred.

--Marshal Zeringue