Cons, Scams & Grifts - Hardcover

Gores, Joe

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0892965940 ISBN 13: 9780892965946

Publisher: Mysterious Press, 2001

Synopsis

The private detectives of Dan Kearny Associates become involved in a series of cases, all with their paths leading to Rome, as they raid a classic car dealership in San Francisco, search for a gypsy princess framed for murder, look for a unique treasure stolen by an L.A. oil tycoon, and test the defenses of the oil tycoon's mountain fortress. 15,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

Penzler Pick, August 2001: If anyone knows how to keep a carousel of a plot going--with multiple entrances and exits and any number of brass rings looking like the real thing--it's Joe Gores. His "DKA files" books--DKA standing for Dan Kearny Associates, a motley crew of accomplished San Francisco repo men--provide the kind of plot where the reader must trust the author and settle back for the wild (and wonderful) ride.

In this new novel, the men and women of DKA meet up once again with members of the Muchwaya family of Gypsies. The two groups form a useful, if uneasy, alliance. Dan, in fact, agrees to be hired by Staley, a Muchwaya elder he likes despite considering him "the twistiest man he had ever known." What Staley wants is for Dan to bring to earth the elusive and extremely gorgeous Yana, apparently now on the lam after murdering her husband. Yana is as clever as she is beautiful, and her wily disguises keep her--barely--one step ahead of Kearney.

Cons, Scams & Grifts lives up to its title, with the usual Gores gusto keeping the action fast, furious, and funny. I'm not going to tell you about the talking orangutan, or the phony baron, or the lesbian dominatrix, or the mortuary cosmetician known as Becky Thatcher, or what part the Pope plays, or how the Japanese mob got involved. Just trust me--it all makes sense in the end. And you're going to love it. --Otto Penzler

About the Author:

Joe Gores lives in Marin County, California.

About this edition

• Publisher: Mysterious Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0892965940
• ISBN 13: 9780892965946
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320