From Publishers Weekly
A versatile crime writer and winner of Edgars in three categories (short story, novel and TV screenplay), Gores deserves a big breakthrough novel, and this might well be it. This fourth book (after Gone, No Forwarding ) in his series about Daniel Kearney Associates, a San Francisco private investigation firm specializing in auto repossession, displays his skill in managing a large cast and a variety of subplots; Gores's own experiences in a firm very much like DKA lend an air of verisimilitude to the often-hilarious goings-on. As the King of the Gypsies lies near death after a fall, San Francisco gypsies defraud Bay Area Cadillac dealers out of 31 vehicles in a single day. The meat of the story concerns the recovery of these cars plus a 32nd Cadillac, a pink 1958 convertible in which the king has said he would like to be buried. Gores provides lots of authentic gypsy lore and often induces readers to cheer the bad guys, since, like all successful con artists, the gypsies prey on their victims' venality and stupidity. Good fun all around, capped by a neat, unexpected ending. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Third-person narration marks Gores's addition to the "Dan Kearney Associates" series. Kearney's car repossessors run the gamut from beautiful and female to muscular and inarticulate, but they prove their merit by matching wits with Gypsies bent on "appropriating" 32 new Cadillacs and one prize 1958 convertible. Rapid scene and character shifts move the action from bustling San Francisco to bucolic Steubenville, where the current Gypsy king lies dying. Picturesque scams make for continuous humor and slick prose. A quick romp.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
32 Cadillacs is the fourth novel in Joe Gores' delightful series about the San Francisco private eye firm Dan Kearny Associates. This time the squadmust recover 32 cadillacs stolen from their largest client by Gypsies to be a casket for their dying king. The result is a fast, furious, funny, nonstop action tale with esoteric Gypsy lore and hard-edged investigation.

ANNOTATION

Joe Gores worked the beat as a private eye and learned about crime and punishment up-close. Like Ed McBain, he goes beyond one-character detective fiction to feature a team of savvy sleuths. Here the Dan Kearny Associates target the baddest bunch of con artists and thieves this side of Romania: the Gypsies.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

A versatile crime writer and winner of Edgars in three categories (short story, novel and TV screenplay), Gores deserves a big breakthrough novel, and this might well be it. This fourth book (after Gone, No Forwarding ) in his series about Daniel Kearney Associates, a San Francisco private investigation firm specializing in auto repossession, displays his skill in managing a large cast and a variety of subplots; Gores's own experiences in a firm very much like DKA lend an air of verisimilitude to the often-hilarious goings-on. As the King of the Gypsies lies near death after a fall, San Francisco gypsies defraud Bay Area Cadillac dealers out of 31 vehicles in a single day. The meat of the story concerns the recovery of these cars plus a 32nd Cadillac, a pink 1958 convertible in which the king has said he would like to be buried. Gores provides lots of authentic gypsy lore and often induces readers to cheer the bad guys, since, like all successful con artists, the gypsies prey on their victims' venality and stupidity. Good fun all around, capped by a neat, unexpected ending. ( Dec. )

Library Journal

Third-person narration marks Gores's addition to the ``Dan Kearney Associates'' series. Kearney's car repossessors run the gamut from beautiful and female to muscular and inarticulate, but they prove their merit by matching wits with Gypsies bent on ``appropriating'' 32 new Cadillacs and one prize 1958 convertible. Rapid scene and character shifts move the action from bustling San Francisco to bucolic Steubenville, where the current Gypsy king lies dying. Picturesque scams make for continuous humor and slick prose. A quick romp.

BookList - Wes Lukowsky

It's been 14 years since Edgar winner Gores' last Dan Kearny Associates private-eye procedural. It was worth the wait. DKA is a collection and repossession firm. Fall behind on the car payments, and they take it away--like it or not. Among the firm's most worthy opponents are Gypsies--Gyppos to Kearny and company. Led by the likely heir to the title of King of the Gypsies, they pull off a daring scam to steal 32 Cadillacs from various Bay Area dealers. DKA's client is the bank left holding the paper. The rest of the story concerns the firm's effort to rep (ssess) the autos. Each repo is a vignette unto itself: some are clever, some funny, some very dangerous, and each is enjoyable. Kearny and his operatives are carefully drawn, substantial characters with lives outside their profession (Ed McBain uses the same technique in his 87th Precinct novels). Let's hope this new Gores novel is the beginning of more regular appearances for San Francisco's repo kings.

Kirkus Reviews

Hours after gypsy king Staley Zlachi tumbles down an escalator in a Steubenville, Iowa, department store, word goes out that the dying king is prepared to anoint his successor—and the two leading candidates, Rudolph Marino and Madame Miseria (also known as Yana), both decide to ingratiate themselves with the king by bringing him a pink 1958 Cadillac ragtop convertible (just like the one he drove to his own coronation) to be buried in. But the ragtop's only the icing on their cake, since Marino's running a beautiful scheme to swindle 31 other new Cadillacs out of Bay Area dealers for the trip east. A panicky call to Dan Kearny Associates, car repossessors extraordinaire, unleashes enough wildly inventive scams and counterscams—especially as DKA investigators Larry Ballard and Giselle Marc find themselves romancing Marino and Yana in order to plot against each other for that ragtop—to send a TV series into syndication, and Gores's fans into nirvana. Gores's first DKA novel since Gone, No Forwarding (1978) is the crown of a distinguished career. You'll wish the shenanigans could go on forever—and they almost do.