The Irish Sports Pages

by Les Roberts

Book Overview

#13 in the Milan Jacovich mystery series ... A slick con man, posing as a recent immigrant from County Mayo all alone in America, is preying on the clannish loyalties of the Irish community in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312286619
• ISBN13: 9780312286613
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Length: 277 Pages
• Weight: 1.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.7" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

One of the best Milan Jacovich Mysterys and I've read them all

This is by far one of the best Milan Jacovich novels I've read. Needless, to say I'm a big fan of the Milan Jacovich novels and all of Les Roberts writings. As always the case involves a friend who needs help. This person's mother just happens to be a prominent Judge in Cleveland. During the investigation he goes into your typical Irish Pub. You'll find a pub like this in every city in the US. You can visualize yourself sitting at the bar as Milan walks in. Later on in the investigation Milan needs some help from Victor Gamari, the heir appartent to the mob in Cleveland which causes some problems of conscience for Milan. Milan meets a nice girl who works at City Hall during this investigation and I hope this romance takes off in the next book. It's time Milan stops dating these upper class snob types. Get him a girl that is just as comfortable in a fancy restaurant as a local pub sitting at the bar drinking a beer with him. Of course, when Milan finally figures it out, he's goes in like gang busters instead of waiting for the police and almost get's himself killed but two others do die in the process.

Milan Goes Irish

This is the 13th book in the Milan Jacovich series, which is set in Cleveland and once again showcases the city to its best advantage while Milan does his investigative work. Milan is a middle-aged, clear-thinking, single and sensible private investigator who always seems to get things done with a minimum of fuss.Although there?s a minimum of fuss, there?s still plenty to enjoy about this latest book in the series. Milan explores the unfamiliar territory of Irish bars when hired to track down a conman posing as an Irishman who is new to the country, He preys on Irish ex-pats, taking them into his confidence before disappearing with a modest haul. He oversteps the mark when his prey is Judge Maureen Hartigan and she demands a chance at a shot of revenge, using Milan to find him. Things become a bit more complicated when it is revealed that the judge hasn?t been completely forthright about what was stolen. When Milan works out what some of the items were, their significance changes the tone of his investigation completely.This is another enjoyable private investigator story, which I would term as semi-hardboiled. It?s not going to offend any sensibilities with Milan remaining a gentleman throughout the entire case. As it?s part of a series, I would recommend that a couple of the earlier books could be read to give you a bit of an insight into Milan and the other regular characters.

Well, Gosh!

Maybe there's something wrong with me (many people would wholeheartedly agree), but I liked Les' newest book. It didn't tax my brain and I read it over one weekend. Milan Jacovich has become like an old pair of shoes--the one's you keep going back to when another pair beats up your feet and you're dying for something familiar and comfortable. There's no stomach-churning gore, the sex is so-so, and the plots aren't revealed in the first few pages. Les enjoys writing mysteries and making people think. As long as he keeps writing, I'll keep reading his books.

Another Great Addition To The Milan Yackovich Series

I cannot say too much about an author who has become my favorite. I stopped reading mysteries many years ago and then discovered the Milan Jakovich novels (my first ten years of life were spent in Cleveland and I was curious) and the Saxon novels set it LA. No other detective writer makes his characters as human as Les Roberts does and he is one of the few authors who causes me to go back and reread what he has written. He is articulate, he is concise, and he knows who and what he is writing about. This is as true of The Irish Sports Pages as of all his books. I would encourage mystery fans to read all his books and challenge non mystery fans with the belief that one Les Roberts book will get them hooked on all that he has written. Believe me, I went to old book stores and the net once I found I had missed the first few and the prices were well worth it.

NOT JUST FOR CLEVELAND READERS

In the past I read a couple of the Milan Jacovich novels because I live in Cleveland and I've heard Roberts on the radio. They were ok. However, my so/so response is probably based on the fact that detective stories are really not my genre.When I got a call from a friend recommending THE IRISH SPORTS PAGES I was a bit apprehensive. My curisoity was perked when he said that he read the book in two days. When I heard the basis of the plot I became more interested and went to my local book store to fork over the cash and it was worth every cent.For residents of the Cleveland area the plot will be strongly reminiscent of an incident that was widely reported in the local press about a year ago. The son of a county judge, who happens to be Irish, met a guy in a local Irish pub. The stranger was posing as someone from Ireland who had lost his luggage and wallet. In the real life story the would be son of Ireland said that his father was the vice president of Waterford. He promised trips to Ireland and vacations in the family resort in Florida. The judge's son took the great imposter home where the "man who came to dinner" made off with expensive jewelry and cash, including the judge's cuff links after accepting the judge's hospitality for a week or so. A local female attorney was also hoodwinked by the imposter and got scammed for the cost of several nights in a downtown hotel.Knowledge of the local color, which is all green, greatly enhances the readability of the book, but even if you don't know Cleveland and it's Irish politicians, it's a great read.Interestingly enough, there is not one black or latino character in the book. The Italians, who play a part in the plot, are all portrayed as Mafia types. Cleveland is a really diverse city. Seems that Roberts could blend his colors from time to time and demonstrate the diversity of the city.