Joe Gores: Contract Null and Void (UK 2015)

From the Publisher:
Their job is to bring back the goods bought but not paid for by San Francisco's deadbeats. But the repo men of Daniel Kearny Associates have their own problems. Boss man Dan Kearny has been bounced by his wife. Bart Heslip is wearing leather in the Tenderloin, and Ballard has finally met a woman who's his match.

Just when things couldn't get tougher, four DKA cases come together - with a bang. Shotguns, politics and a multimillion-dollar brawl between two high-tech wizards open up bad blood on the streets, exposing a plot to punch DKA's ticket for good.

Joe Gores: Contract Null and Void. Orion Books / The Murder Room, ISBN: 9781471917547 (February, 2015), eBook, 0.69 MB (240 p.),£4.99.

Joe Gores: Contract Null & Void (USA 1997)

From the Publisher:
"GORES HAS PULLED OFF ANOTHER OF HIS SPLENDID HAT TRICKS." -- Los Angeles Times
Their job is to bring back the goods -- the cars, truck tires, and electric guitars bought but not paid for by the deadbeats of the world. But the repo men of Daniel Kearny Associates have their own problems. Boss man Dan Kearny has been bounced by his wife. Ken Warren has fallen into the grasp of a sexually predatory widow. Bart Heslip is wearing leather in the Tenderloin, and Ballard has at last met a woman who's a match for him. Just when it seems that things couldn't get tougher, four different DKA cases start coming together -- with a bang. Shotguns, politics, and a multimillion-dollar brawl between two high-tech wizards are opening up bad blood on the streets of San Francisco -- exposing a nasty plot to punch DKA's ticket for good.

"FAST, FUNNY... GORES IS AN EXPERT IN CREATING MULTILAYERED MAYHEM." -- Chicago Sunday Tribune
"RUNNING INTO THE DKA SQUAD AGAIN IS LIKE GOING BACK TO YOUR FIFTEENTH OR TWENTY-NINTH CLASS REUNION AND FINDING THE OLD SWEETHEARTS ARE JUST AS COOL AS EVER." -- Detroit Free Press

Joe Gores: Contract Null & Void. A DKA File Novel. Mysterious Press, ISBN: 0446404470 (June, 1997), 321 p., $6.99 (?).

Joe Gores: Contract Null & Void (USA 1996)

From the Publisher:
Few detective novels have earned the praise lavished on Joe Gores's previous DKA novel, 32 Cadillacs. The Los Angeles Times Book Review called it "a work of large and breathtaking invention, wicked pace, and delirious crosscutting -- a rare treat." The Cleveland Plain Dealer described it as "gloriously entertaining... The plot is Swiss watch-precise, and even the most insignificant characters are drawn with sharp, telling strokes." Now Edgar Award-winning author and former private eye Joe Gores brings back the Daniel Kearny Associates in a story of deal-breakers, bone-breakers, and one...

CONTRACT NULL & VOID
It's not the best of times for the repo men and skip tracers of DKA. The big boss has been thrown out of the house by his wife, landing, for the foreseeable future, in Larry Ballard's apartment. Ken Warren has fallen into the grasp of the sexually predatory mother of a multimillionaire computer geek. Bart Heslip has gone undercover in the Tenderloin, wearing a nose ring, a leather vest, and an attitude. O'B is up in redwood country, getting rained on. And Ballard, for a change, has met a woman who's a match for him.

But while the streets of San Francisco sizzle and DKA's best snag repos that range from luxury cars to truck tires to the electronic equipment of a talentless heavy metal band, someone is out to punch the agency's collective ticket for good.

It begins with the Mafia-style slaying of a flamboyant union leader. It leads toward a prominent San Francisco money man and a violent feud over a half-billion-dollar computer chip. As the DKA agents slap down REPO ON SIGHT slips, they find themselves drawn into the dark heart of big-city corruption -- backed by big shotguns, big money, and big madness.

Only Joe Gores could have created these true-to-life bit players, barrooms, boardrooms, and street scenes. And only Joe Gores could have created a story like this -- gritty, funny, fast-moving, and unforgettable.

JOE GORES has received the coveted Edgar Allan Poe Award in three separate categories: Best First Novel, Best Short Story, and Best TV Series Segment. He is the author of eleven previous novels of suspense and numerous screenplays and teleplays based on his twelve-year experience as a San Francisco private detective. Mr. Gores lives in northern California.

Jacket design and illustration by John Mattos

Joe Gores: Contract Null & Void. A DKA File Novel. Mysterious Press, ISBN: 0892965924 (July, 1996), 309 p., $21.95.