Cons, Scams, and Grifts (Dka File Novel)
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 & Griftslives 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--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.