As in his first novel - Tilt-A-Whirl - featuring New Jersey cop John Ceepak, Grabenstein uses young aspiring cop Danny Boyle as narrator. The end of summer is approaching and as the small beach community copes with the hordes of tourists and summer renters while planning a Labor Day end of season festival, Danny and his group of twenty something friends endure a distressing series of attacks. At first it seems that just vandals with paint ball guns are on a spree. But one evening one of Danny's best friends is shot in the back with a rifle bullet and gravely wounded. It's very clear that something more ominous is afoot.

Those who enjoyed Peter Benchley's novel JAWS and the movie of the same name will recognize city fathers who desperately want to downplay any publicity which involves mortal peril to citizens and summer visitors.

Danny has received his hoped for promotion to full time cop, but he has also been identified as a potential target of the sniper. Walking a fine line between peace officer and frightened citizen, Danny works with his partner John Ceepak to end the crisis before the upcoming Labor Day celebrations.

The answer to the puzzle lies in Danny's childhood years. Most of us will recognize the juvenile teasing which crosses the line into cruelty. We will also recognize the one compassionate member of the "in crowd" who has the courage to speak up in defense of the underdog. Can Danny come to terms with his participation in hazing which happened so long ago?

Readers of Grabenstein's first book will recall that John Ceepak is learning to be comfortable in the civilian life after an unsettling tour of duty in the Middle East. Grabenstein skillfully draws nice a parallel between Ceepak's expanding horizons and Danny's new found maturity.

REVIEWED BY WOODSTOCK