3.5 stars out of 5
This one started off like gangbusters. But about halfway through, my enthusiasm started to drop off, and by the end, I decided that my actual rating is 3.5 stars. The book is good enough, though, that I rounded up to 4 for the websites that don't allow half-stars; the story was well-written (if implausible in several places), and I'm sure many readers of murder mysteries/police procedurals will find lots to love about it.
In addition to an enticing description, I was intrigued because the story takes place in Cleveland - just over an hour's drive from my northeastern Ohio home and a city I've visited way too many times to count. It might, I figured, rank up there with the books from author Les Roberts, whose private investigator Milan Jacovich, who ranks high on my Top 10 list of favorite characters, lives and works in the city once dubbed the "mistake on the lake." Like Jacovich (and Roberts), I love the place - except maybe when we're driving on East 9th on a day the Indians or Browns are at home.
Sure enough, I got what I wanted in terms of setting; right from the start came references to loads of places familiar to me including University Circle, Terminal Tower, the Old Stone Church and the incomparable West Side Market (for that alone I thank the author and publisher, via NetGalley, for giving me an advance copy in exchange for a review). Forensic investigator Maggie Gardiner makes her way, often on foot, in and around these places, initially as she tries to identify the body of a teenage girl who is found in an historic cemetery. Then, another body turns up, and another - and Maggie tries to connect the dots together with cohorts that include an ex-husband (he, BTW, doesn't play much of a role, making that relationship next to meaningless as far as anything in the story goes).
Also working with the department is sociologist Jack Renner, who first meets Maggie during a department meeting and then later on the downtown streets, where he entices her into a local pub for a bite to eat. She's not terribly impressed with him during either meeting, but she becomes more curious when some of the dots she's been chasing start to line up in his direction. What she doesn't know at first (but readers do, from the beginning), is that Jack is a killing machine. In fact, he's got an agenda close to the heart that hides his .22 revolver: Taking down, vigilante style, dastardly career criminals who have thus far managed to escape the prosecution he's convinced they deserve.
As much as anything, the book is a treatise on the age-old question of whether the end ever justifies the means. For Jack, the answer is crystal clear; Maggie, though, has a more difficult time making up her mind (and for that matter, so does Jack, although his agonizing leans more toward whether or not he cleaned up every droplet of blood or other trace evidence that could lead to his identity).
And therein lies is the reason I didn't give the book a higher rating. If I had a quarter for every drawn-out "what if," "why should/shouldn't I," "did I or didn't I," "maybe he's thinking this or maybe that" coming from the two of them, I'd easily have enough to buy a pre-game dinner for two at the House of Blues on Euclid Avenue.
Of course, I won't reveal anything about how the investigation proceeds or ends or Maggie's much-overthought conclusions, although I will say there seems to me to be a probability that she and Jack will be reunited and this is the first of a series. If that happens, I hope all the extraneous (to me) mental "stuff" will be absent and the focus will turn more toward serious character development. But in any event, I'm more than willing to give the pair another go. Bring 'em on.
That Darkness by Lisa Black (Kensington, April 2016); 336 pp.
4.5 stars out of 5
I've been a fan of Cleveland writer Les Roberts for too many years to count, and while he's written dozens of books, my favorites are the ones featuring private investigator Milan Jacovich (who is, for the record, is on my list of Top 10 favorite book "heroes"). By now, he's getting a bit longer in the tooth and losing some hair, but other than that, by golly, he's still got it.
The stories themselves are always a treat to read (I finished this relatively short one in a single day), but one of the reasons I enjoy the series so much is that my proximity to Cleveland and other parts of northeast Ohio is such that I've been there, seen that - and it's fun to get a view of it from someone else's perspective. This one in particular struck a chord; the action takes place in and around Ashtabula County - the county just north of ours (Trumbull) that borders Lake Erie - specifically, in the towns of Ashtabula and Conneaut. My husband and I visit the area fairly often; Just last week, in fact, we were sitting at a small restaurant in Conneaut Harbor chowing down on that delicious Lake Erie perch.
The story begins as Milan's lady friend, Cleveland homicide detective Tobe Blaine (pronounced "Toby"), gets sent to the ultra-small (and for the record, fictitional) community of Queenstown, somewhere in between Ashtabula and Conneaut. Murders of two fairly prominent and local men just occurred there, and solving such heavy duty crimes is well beyond the capabilities of local law enforcement. Tobe drags Milan with her, and right from the start, they hit a brick wall: Tobe happens to be African-American and she and Milan are out-of-towners - two pulls from under of the welcome mat in this close-knit place.
Before they can get very deep into the investigation, though, a third murder is reported - this time a local woman. The modus operandi is different in all three cases, adding to the mystery. Further, it appears the town's rowdy, insolent teenagers may have clues to whodunit, with a trail that stops on the doorstep of the pastor of the local Baptist church. Every Sunday (and apparently every chance he gets in between), he rails about sinning - specifically homosexuality and the evils of people whose skin isn't pearly white.
To help, Milan brings in his young assistant, Kevin O'Bannion (K.O.) - an experienced armed services vet who loves animals and is working on keeping his hair-trigger temper in check but is great with kids. He has some success, and the trail veers off toward a possible meth lab and the now privately owned prison in Conneaut where a man known as "The Prophet" rules supreme and just may have some answers.
More than that you'll have to learn by reading the book, but I will say I'm glad that I've never encountered this kind of behavior anywhere in Ashtabula County. Neither has the author, for the record; in the acknowledgements he emphasizes that he's been to the county many times and enjoys the places and people. But the fact is - I'm paraphrasing here - stories about nice people don't tend to sell well.
In the end - maybe because the people involved were just too nasty - I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the others. But ask me again down the road a bit; I did learn of a new-to-me place to eat in Conneaut - a pizza cafe that's one of the 25 oldest Italian pizzerias in the United States (founded in 1934). If it's anywhere near as good as the book claims, the discovery will more than make up for that half-star.
The Ashtabula Hat Trick by Les Roberts (Gray & Co., August 2015); 243 pp.
5 stars out of 5
Wish I could remember who got my husband Jack and I started reading books by Les Roberts, but all I know for sure is that it happened many years ago (this latest one, Whiskey Island, is the 16th featuring cop-turned-private detective Milan Jacovich). Initially, our interest was piqued because the P.I. lives and works in Cleveland, Ohio. Since it's a little more than an hour's drive from our home, we're fairly familiar with the city, and it's fun to read about places, and sometimes people, we know about.
Over the years, we've enjoyed many of Roberts's other books (The Strange Death of Father Candy and We'll Always Have Cleveland: A Memoir of a Novelist and a City among them). The latter, by the way, offers an up-close-and-personal look at what brought Roberts from the sunny climes of California to the more dismal Lake Erie shores of northeast Ohio. Out west, among other accomplishments, he was a writer for the TV show "Hollywood Squares," "The Andy Griffith Show" and others and has been a professional actor, jazz musician and teacher.
It is the books in the Jacovich series that remain our favorites, though, and Whiskey Island doesn't disappoint. The topic of disappointment does crop up in the context of Roberts's books, though, since none are available for the Kindle (if you've got a Nook ebook reader, you're in luck, but we have to settle for a hard copy, and that does not make me a happy camper. The only reason I'm willing to consider that option, in fact, is that so far, at least, I enjoy the books so much that I don't want to miss one.
Here, Jacovich - who's pushing 60 - takes on a brash young apprentice who's trying to make his bones as a private investigator and maybe even earn a full-time job as well. Sometimes, their relationship mixes no better than oil and water, but for the most part, they get along fairly well. Even before Kevin O'Bannion - known as "K.O." - gets a desk and computer, the firm is hired by a city councilman who's been indicted on many counts of bribery and other deeds unbecoming a public official and is looking at serious jail time. Apparently, or so he claims, someone is trying to murder him - and Jacovich and K.O. take on the job of finding out who that someone is before it becomes mission accomplished.
All that leads the dynamic duo through a maze of dishonest politicians and businessmen, a call girl who turns up dead and hanky-panky on Cleveland's Whiskey Island - hence the name of the book. Along the way, both Jacovich and K.O. get lucky in the female department, although it's hard to tell which of the guys is more surprised.
The chapters alternate from the point of view of Jacovich and K.O., and interestingly (well, to me, anyway), the Jacovich chapters are written in the first person just as in past books, while K.O.'s are written in the third person. I'm not sure what the significance of that is other than to keep things changed up a bit, but the thought certainly occurred to me that perhaps K.O. has a future in a spin-off series - perhaps even taking over when Jacovich decides he's too old for the private eye life and calls it a day.
Whiskey Island: A Milan Jacovich Mystery by Les Roberts; Gray & Co. Publishers (August 2012); 259 pp.
This one started off like gangbusters. But about halfway through, my enthusiasm started to drop off, and by the end, I decided that my actual rating is 3.5 stars. The book is good enough, though, that I rounded up to 4 for the websites that don't allow half-stars; the story was well-written (if implausible in several places), and I'm sure many readers of murder mysteries/police procedurals will find lots to love about it.
