Mary Soderberg walks back into Milan Jacovich's life when she asks him to help out her boyfriend, the man she left him for, when he is the main suspect in the murder of a high profile television reporter. Milan finds that he still can't resist Mary's pleas and puts himself in what proves to be quite an awkward situation. Milan has to put professionalism ahead of his personal feelings when he agrees to take on the case because, although he hates the man who stole Mary away from him, he is, after all, taking his money to help try to prove his innocence.

As far as private investigator series go, the Milan Jacovich is proving to be a very strong and involving one. Milan is a continually developing character that is consistently interesting and likable. For fans of private investigator books, this is a very worthwhile series and this particular episode doesn't let it down.

While Sue Grafton's "alphabet" series dominates 90s detective fiction, Les Roberts is giving her a run for her money with his Cleveland-based series of gumshoe adventures. Milan Jacovich is a humane, brooding investigator who resorts to his considerable size and strength only with reluctance; his observations on modern life are oddly hard to disagree with. Roberts plots adroitly, letting the mystery and its solution coalesce slowly and tantalizingly. He also makes Cleveland come alive in a most affectionate and specific way (in a way that Cincinnati does not in Jonathan Valin's Harry Stoner series). Recommended with all possible enthusiasm to fans of the genre.

This is the second Milan Jacovich mystery that I've read and I'm finding that he's growing on me. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the first book I read - I did, but as I get to know Milan better, he's becoming like an old friend and I've felt comfortable slipping back into Cleveland to visit him again. "So why should I read this book?" you ask. Well, if you like a good private investigator mystery with little violence, only a bit of swearing (Milan Frowns on it) and interesting, believable characters, I think you'll enjoy this book.

Milan is hired by a beautiful young heiress to find her boyfriend, a middle-aged artist who has also disappeared with $18,000 that she loaned him. When Milan starts asking around, he finds that the guy he's looking for is a hustler and there are quite a few people in town that would also like to get their hands on him. The Cleveland art scene, or more specifically the ceramic art scene, comes under the spotlight as Milan conducts his investigation.

By the way, as Les Roberts goes to great pains to explain, Milan Jacovich is pronounced (MY-lan Yacovich), so make sure you get the pronunciation right.

Ethical Milan Jacovich mixes with Victor Gaimari, the Cleveland mob figure. Even though Milan despises what Victor stands for, Milan respects Victor in a strange way. Victor likewise shares the same sentiments about Milan. Their friendship becomes cemented in a delightful, captivating read in "The Duke of Cleveland."

This book made very little impression on me, and if it had been the first one in the Jacovich series, I probably wouldn't have read any more. I came to admire Milan Jacovich in stories like PEPPER PIKE and A SHOOT IN CLEVELAND. With his last two books, one about baby-selling and this latest about physical appearance and computer sex, Roberts has gotten so preachy he should probably write a self-help novel next. Milan is flat and seems to have lost much of his hard-edge. He has no lover, just a woman woman he uses for sex and in this book, he isn't even really that into his sons' lives anymore, except for leering at Milan Jr.'s girlfriend. That's not Milan! We want our Milan back!

I am a real live 100% Slovak. I have lived in Cleveland my entire life. I can relate to lot of Milan's memories, though I think he eats a lot better than I do and I've never smoked a cigarette in my life. I've enjoyed this series since the first book, "Pepper Pike". I wish Mr. Roberts had stayed with naming the books after the Cleveland 'burbs. (For you non-Clevelanders, Pepper Pike is one of Cleveland's wealthier suburbs). We have lots of neat city names in this area and that would have been fun. Anyway, I stopped reading the series for awhile after Mr. Roberts killed off Marko. I still don't see the point of that. Milan is a good guy who does a good job. Except for some street names (Avenue vs. Road, etc.), Roberts gets the Cleveland stuff right. This was a good story. It's well worth your time and money, especially if you know Cleveland. I read a lot of mysterys and I usually don't figure 'em out, but I did on this one. Must be my Slovak blood, right?

The book is about an apparent suicide of an Internet executive and Milan Jacovich's assignment as a P.I. to determine why a beloved daughter would kill herself. It's smooth, well-written and accurate in its description of how an Internet ISP operates.

Others seem to find the book preachy, but after a half-dozen Jacovich novels Roberts undoubtedly finds it necessary to do some explaining why Milan does what he does.

Roberts writing has become smoother during the series and characters are well-developed. Local Cleveland color is excellent, but some aspects are well-developed and others are dropped in without contributing to the story. For example, his description of the bridge at the site of the suicide is excellent, complete with historic context. But his mention of a Cleveland Heights' passion, Mitchell's Candies, is superficial -- even though the store has a history as interesting as the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge.

Good detective fiction; a must read for Clevelanders and ex-Clevelanders like myself.

The good stuff:

This book features a very strong, well-defined, quite likeable private-eye. His personality shines through in every chapter. And he's not too cynical or angry for my tastes. He's just--very stubborn.

As for the interwoven plots, plus romantic subplots (more than one, if you count all the flirting), splendidly realistic dialogue and reactions from Jacovich fueled story material that should leave a reader wondering what he or she would do, as Jacovich does, at every step.

But:

The only spot where the novel takes a bit of reduction in my rating is in the ending. I had hoped for a stronger whodunit element for at least one of the puzzles presented in the book. If Les Roberts could apply--or has applied!--all of this terrific writing to a real "Puzzle for the Ages", then I'm in for a treat sometime in the future, because I will definitely revisit this author, oh, at least once or twice. The only other Les Roberts book that I have in fact read was Pepper Pike when it first came out, and it was arguably the better entry, because of the trickier whodunit content.

At least one review has called Les Roberts a 'hard-boiled' writer. Not so! "The Indian Sign" is a mystery of intricate structure, and overtones of Greek tragedy...with traditional elements from the tragic hero/stoic Indian grandfather to the chorus of whining women who populate the novel and comment mournfully on the action. And it all rests upon the human shoulders of Milan, the flawed detective whose very human-ness moves the action to the surprising ending.

"The Indian Sign" was the second Milan Jacovich novel by Les Roberts that I have read. I really like the character, as well as Roberts' writing style. Milan has two cases in this novel. He is working for Armand Treush, owner of TroyToy, who is suspicious that his accountant might be a corporate spy. His other case comes to him by circumstance. He notices an old Native American sitting all day on a bench outside his apartment in the frigid February cold. When he hears that the old man has been murdered, he goes to the police and identifies the man as the one he had seen. He then gets a visit from Eddie Ettawageshik, who is the grandson of the old man, Joseph Ettawageshik. Eddie tells Milan that his grandfather was in Cleveland looking for his great-grandson, Andrew Takalo, a baby who had been kidnapped from his home in Cross Village, Michigan. Milan agrees to help Eddie locate his nephew. This book is an excellent addition to the series and is highly recommended.

To make the long story short, when I started to work as a CSR in a bank, I kept this book as a reference on my desk. Before that I tried to ask the branch manager - he didn't have a clue. In the end, I put it in bank's "Better Practices Manual" binder and used it it explain products to the customers.

I used this book for an online course that I took from BYU. It was very informative and interesting.

Les Roberts books about the adventures of PI Milan Jocovich are like a window to an old familiar place for me. I was raised in Shaker Heights, part Milan's city (Cleveland). I haven't been back in twenty years and I am pleased to still be able to reconize almost all his localities. I especially enjoyed the chase scene that took him around Cain Park to Taylor Rd., where I used to sled ride. His trips to restaurants on Kelly Hill, Little Italy, were so familiar. I wonder if a beer joint named "The Library", is still there?

The Mystery of who killed the Serbian immigrant is all too timely. Age old hatreds don't die, even in a free country.

I really enjoyed this book as well as all of Mr. Robert's Milan Mysteries.

This is a good crime novel set in Cleveland, OH - probably late '90's. Have several Cleveland co-workers here that say Roberts knows his town. In fact am handing off a copy to a friend from there who is of Slovenian/German Ohio ancestry. Normally I am a Paretsky/Chicago crime authors buff.

Milio is Slovenian/American - the characters in the book are Serbian/American so it references the news of today on some of the background material with a part of the plot tied to WWII actions in the then Yugoslavia.

It moves well, Milo Jacovich is not a superhero of a detective but has all the buddies and side characters that any good mystery should have - to help flesh out the plot. Cleveland sounds like New York City on a smaller scale but with similar ethnic turf in the neighborhoods woven into the plot.

I read it in 1 night - albeit a long one - but it kept my interest up and I will buy more "Milo" books. This would adapt well to a TV movie, too, I think.

Buy it!

This is the perfect book for you if you know nothing about business and you want to learn the basics. I had to read it four times from cover to cover for a test, but I kept on finding new information each time I read it. Unfortunately, this edition has some outdated information about computers and credit card processing, but the rest of the book is pretty accurate. If you want to learn more about consumers, the government's role in the economy, and financial institutions, I would suggest using this as your basic reference book. It doesn't use complex language or strange jargon to explain things - it's perfect for the school or the office. There's lots of colorful graphs and pictures that really helped me understand the concepts presented.

Milan Jacovich is in Lake County this time away from his turf in Cleveland Heights. Many characters revolve around a tiny, upscale Lake Erie Shores' election. While the book is a good read, the other Jacovich books read more quickly and are more intense, providing a more captivating read.

This is the first Milan Jacovich book of Les Roberts' that I've read and I was very happy that I gave it a try. Milan makes for an interesting protagonist. He's an ex-footballer; ex-policeman turned private investigator living in Cleveland, Ohio. While he's big and impressive in bearing, I wouldn't call him an overtly macho man, giving his character the extra bit of credence required in private investigator books, I believe.

In this particular case, Milan is asked, or more correctly, ordered by a mafia boss, to help a friend's wife in her mayoral election campaign. She is running for mayor in a small lakeside community. But Milan wonders what could possibly command the mafia's interest in a small, out of the way town. Like all stories involving election campaigns, whether big or small, political intrigue is the order of the day and the tactics can get dirty. Luckily, Milan has a cool head on his shoulders, and also the size to intimidate most opponents, ensuring there's rarely a dull moment when he's around.

I enjoyed this book, purely because the main protagonist is a very refreshing character and I'll be on the lookout for the other books in the series. Residents of Cleveland and surrounding areas would find an extra incentive to read the series because Roberts does go into quite a bit of detail when describing the city, while not exactly adding much to the story, I didn't feel as though it compromised it either.

Where in the back of a dusty closet shelf did Roberts pull THIS masterpiece of drek? The short stories are so unremarkable, it's difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins. He promises that some of the stories are supposed to be "amusing". Oh, yeah? Ok, sure. It's necessary to take a break between stories just to give one's mind a chance to reset. It's a cold winter up here with lots of snow, but not that cold...

I think one must come from Roberts' adopted hometown of Cleveland Heights,Ohio to appreciate this book, or else he is going door to door to solicit good reviews. While I found the stories mildly entertaining, I wasn't quite breathless over them. I read them as any casual reader would, not delving into the whys and wherefores of the stories. I took the book along to a doctor's appointment and was finished with it and my visit at the same time--and the doctor was on time that day. If any of the stories brought me to tears, they came from yawning too much.

Roberts is a witty, intelligent writer, and if not Nobel Prize material, is certainly worth the time and effort it takes to really read his books. He is talented at crafting a fine tale, even if his most recent books don't do that talent justice. I am hopeful that his next novel, hopefully in the serious works right now, will be a return to his style of writing when Milan and Saxon were first created.

From the hands of a capable (even when unknown) writer, short stories are often better reading than the overblown, over-written, over-pretentious stuff that sometimes passes for novels these days. I found this to be true of this volume, even though the author is hardly unknown to me, whereas all but two of the stories were. Indeed, Les Roberts is a very well-known and well-regarded author of a good many full-length books, although this is his first volume of just short stories. I laughed a lot, caught my breath a few times, and came close to tears once, but I thought the stories were rather uniformly excellent. Better yet, they were all highly enjoyable.

All ten of the stories in this collection had been previously published elsewhere, which means, I suppose, that it'll be a while before we'll be graced with another such compilation. Too bad. Roberts is a smooth, descriptive writer; not only do the well-chosen words resound in your head as you read, but the images he creates present themselves full-blown for your visual inspection. This collection also demonstrates his sense of humor along with the wry tone he usually provides.

If I had to pick a favorite, it might be "THE CATNAP". But then again, it might be "THE FAT STAMP" or even "THE BRAVE LITTLE COSTUME DESIGNER". 'Catnap' is one that I'd read in the collection for which it was written. I thought it the best of the litter then, and still do, I think. 'Stamp' was new to me, and it evoked a chuckle or two as I read, while reminding me of various sightings, etc. 'Costume Designer' appealed to me for other reasons; the story satisfied all of them.

On the other hand, the weakest one, in my opinion, was "GOOD BOYS", which is the other story I'd read previously. I didn't care too much for it the first time around, either, thinking that perhaps a few more words would have allowed the magic to generate a bit better. But, still it was a whole lot better than many shorts I've read in other more highly publicized anthologies.

I was especially pleased to find a short version of Milan Jacovich, my personal favorite of Roberts' creations. Being reasonably familiar with the event that provided the impetus for the story made it more compelling to read.

The author states in the introduction to one of the stories "I am often called 'retro' and wear the mantle proudly." Me, too. Maybe that's another reason why I found this such an enjoyable book to read! If only more publishers would catch on to the allure of the short story, and provide more such collections, readers who find this genre to be so fascinating would be greatly enriched. And who knows? There might even be a good many new converts! And then, they'd have to publish even more such collections!