Somewhere I read that someone told Les Roberts they were glad to see a title that didn't have to do with Cleveland, which made me laugh. Those who live near Cleveland are well acquainted with the words "Lake Effect". I'm not sure but perhaps the term is used elsewhere as well. If you're not familiar with the term, Roberts provides a good explanation of it late in the book. I also regard these books fondly because the main character's name is taken from that of a Cleveland area dentist (with a slight spelling change to reflect ethnicity).

Milan repays a favor he owes to Victor Gaimari by watching out for Lake Erie Shores mayoral candidate Barbara Corns. Of course, things are never as simple as they seem for Milan. The one bright spot for Milan is meeting Kellen in the course of Barbara's campaign. It also seems that the end of the campaign gives Barbara more of a backbone. ( )

In this fifth outing, Milan gets roped into working security for a small town Mayoral candidate, and the job turns out to be more complicated and more deadly than he anticipated. Although I didn't care for most of the cast of characters in fictional Lake Erie Shores, I enjoyed reading about Milan's dealing with them. I thought the ending of the book was too drawn out, especially a fight scene which I opted to skim through, and a chase that seemed to go on too long, at least for me. But after being a little disappointed in the last two Milan Jacovich books, this was overall a welcome return to form.

On a separate note, I want to mention how surprised I was at the number of typos and continuity errors in this edition (Martin's Minataur MMPaperback 0312978235). Milan's car was alternately a Sunbird and a Firebird; and more than once, the jumbled sentences stopped me in my (reading) tracks. ( )

Another good Milan Jacovich novel. It brings in some of the regular characters, such as Victor, Marko, and Ed, and even brings back Al Drago. Most of the book takes place in the fictional city of Lake Erie Shores in Lake County, hence the name of the book. Jacovich is asked by Victor to provide security for a candidate for mayor there. This is Milan's chance to pay back the favor he got from him a couple of books ago. The race and events around it get much more complicated, of course. Things get a bit farfetched, but not too much so I enjoyed the novel a lot.

One thing that I like about the books, including this one, is that while there are standard characters, Roberts isn't afraid of shaking things up and even wrapping up some of their stories. This keeps things interesting. I also like how I can identify with Milan, even though I'm nothing like him. ( )