Deep Shaker: A Milan Jacovich Mystery (Paperback) [Paperback]

Les Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2005

#3 in the Milan Jacovich mystery series . . .

No one is as loyal to old friends as Cleveland private investigator Milan Jacovich (it's pronounced MY-lan YOCK-ovich). So when a grade school chum worries his son Paulie might be selling drugs, Milan has no choice but to help.

Milan turn up Paulie's connection, a handsome Jamaican named Deshon who pals around with two baseball-bat wielding thugs and a German shepherd dog who looks like he's all business.

The narcotics business makes curious bedfellows, as Milan discovers during his investigation of a particularly brutal murder; he butts heads with a wily realtor named Christmas, a flamboyant automobile dealer with lofty political ambitions, an edgy street pusher, and his old friends from the Little Italy mob, Don Giancarlo D'Allessandro and Victor Gaimari.

Milan also encounters a drug gang unparalleled in their savagery, and unearths a relic from every Clevelander's childhood that proves to be deadly.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Again employing his Cleveland, Ohio, setting (as in Full Cleveland ) Roberts presents private eye Milan Jacovich in his third appearance. Here Jacovich becomes embroiled in the drug trade while trying to help childhood friend Matt Baznik, whose son Paul has undergone a worrisome personality change. After talking with the sulky, uncooperative teenager--who seems to have a considerable amount of cash--Jacovich suspects him of dealing drugs. Some schoolyard snooping and conversations with his own son, formerly a buddy of Paul's, lead the PI to a group of black kids and a Jamaican drug dealer. Warned off the politically sensitive turf by a narcotics cop, Jacovich turns to Giancarlo D'Allessandro, the drug-hating head of the local mob, for information. After the dealer is murdered and D'Allessandro's leads point to a wealthy citizen with political aspirations, Jacovich is badly beaten. Only by joining forces with the ex-athlete principal of the boys' school is Jacovich able to unravel a devious plot. Roberts displays a sure sense of place in this involving mystery, and his decent, likable detective is firmly aware of the consequences of his actions.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Slovenian sleuth Milan Jacovich (Full Cleveland, Pepper Pike), in an attempt to wrest an old pal's son from drugs, again must call on a Cleveland don for help and, at the same time, avoid the ``Jamaican Connection,'' a bloodthirsty island gang that uses school kids as dope-runners. In the midst of saving Paulie, Milan uncovers crack houses owned by rich car-dealer/would-be power-maven Waco Morgan and his mistress, the dumb but luscious Barrie Tremont. Several lethal and near-lethal hits later, Milan concludes that Waco, the Jamaicans, and the don's boys are not the brains behind the drug-racket--and then, in a grisly confrontation in a warehouse storing the Thriller, an old Euclid beach roller-coaster ride, he eliminates (at least temporarily) Cleveland's drug-kingpin. The divorced, middle-aged Milan's best scenes are with his two sons, the most clich‚d with young Mary, his disenchanted lover. And if he seems a shade too written-to-formula, his food is still as mouthwatering as anything Lawrence Sanders has come up with. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Gray & Co., Publishers (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598510037
• ISBN-13: 978-1598510034
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #633,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Les Roberts is the author of 15 mystery novels featuring Cleveland detective Milan Jacovich, as well as 9 other books of fiction. The past president of both the Private Eye Writers of America and the American Crime Writer's League, he came to mystery writing after a 24-year career in Hollywood. He was the first producer and head writer of the Hollywood Squares and wrote for the Andy Griffith Show, the Jackie Gleason Show, and the Man from U.N.C.L.E., among others. He has been a professional actor, a singer, a jazz musician, and a teacher. In 2003 he received the Sherwood Anderson Literary Award. A native of Chicago, he now lives in Northeast Ohio and is a film and literary critic.

Visit his web site at www.lesroberts.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, February 3, 2011

By 

Gavin Ramsey (Cleveland, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deep Shaker: A Milan Jacovich Mystery (Paperback) (Paperback)

I've read 4 of these Les Roberts books now, including Pepper Pike, and I am now officially "hooked" on the series and the characters. Les has a great ability to keep the pace moving and the books never seem to have slow spots. Well done.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ex- Clevelander "Returns Home", August 2, 2007

By 

M. King (Marin County) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deep Shaker: A Milan Jacovich Mystery (Paperback) (Paperback)

Growing up in Chagrin Falls (not far from Shaker)left me with an interest in northern Ohio. Great fun to read about familiar landmarks as a setting for Milan Jacovich's exploits as recorded by Les Roberts.