From Amazon.com
Milan Jacovich's newest client doesn't trust his newest employee and with good reason. When toy magnate Armand Treusch hires the Cleveland PI to check up on his accountant, Milan quickly discovers that David Ream isn't who he purports to be. But Treusch turns out to be just as duplicitous as Ream and a lot less ethical. The security problem he's paying Milan to fix is a lot more serious than industrial espionage, with the potential to endanger millions of unsuspecting families. While Milan's working out the moral dilemma involved in squealing on his client, he's also working on another, more interesting case involving the murder of an elderly Native American and the kidnapping of the man's great-grandson. Cleveland's a long way from the reservation, but Milan manages to connect the kidnapping to a baby-stealing ring run by a local mobster and the lowlife lawyers on his payroll.
This is the 11th outing for Milan, an eminently likable guy who knows his Midwestern territory like a native and limns Cleveland's back alleys and hidden byways with a spare, telling style. The writing is crisp, the pacing steady, and the violence minimal. Les Roberts is a dependable craftsman with a good hand at characterization, and Milan's a solid guy with just enough brass to make him interesting. --Jane Adams
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Milan Jacovich is the kind of guy who insists on telling you about everything he puts in his mouth. Some of it is moderately interesting (where else could you learn that Winston cigarettes are "the vice of choice of most Slovenians"?). But does knowing where the middle-aged Cleveland PI buys his steaks ("Mister Brisket on Taylor Road") or chocolates for his date ("Mitchell Fine Candies on Lee Road") or his fresh-baked bagels ("I don't buy the packaged ones") really add anything but coy padding? These attempts at verisimilitude mostly get in the way of what could be two interesting storylines: Milan snoops (for money) on a toy-company accountant with a secret agenda while also searching (for free, out of guilt) for a kidnapped Native-American infant. The missing baby's great-grandfather squatted for two chilly February days on a bench across from Milan's house. Later, when the old man's body is fished out of the river, Milan regrets not having spoken to him. Investigating the accountant, Milan discovers that their mutual employerAa toy tycoonAis not only sleazy but positively lethal. In his 11th book about Milan, Roberts shows a strong social conscience on such subjects as poisonous toys and illegal adoptions. But he also overrates readers' interest in his hero's personal life. When a woman with whom Milan's had a loving relationship tells him she wants to just be friends, he says, "ConnieAdid it ever occur to you that this isn't about you?" Yeah, MilanAit has. Agent, Dominick Abel. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
