I guess you could call this graphic novel a suspense thriller, because the fast pacing of it and dark, exciting undertones really keep you on-edge the whole time.
The story follows a cafe owner named Tom McKenna. One day, an armed robber and his sidekick showed up to McKenna's cafe, and McKenna killed the gunman in defense of his restaurant. This scene attracted the attention of the local mafia, and its lead hitman, Torrino, swears that he and McKenna have encountered in the past (Torrino wears the severed finger of his assailant on a pendent around his neck, and McKenna just so happens to be missing a finger).
Like the title suggests, this graphic novel is very violent, complete with imagery of hospitalized patients getting stabbed in the throats, people falling off of buildings and landing in the street, chainsaw fights (you can only assume what those would look like), torture scenes, etc.
The visuals are shocking, yet really cool, and the art style of this comic just furthers that. The illustrations are very messy-looking, scribbly, and utilize heavy crosshatching for values. Some of the things that actually happen in a few of the scenes are bad enough to imagine, but the roughness of the drawings actually make the imagery appear far more painful and intense than they already are; they are given an almost chaotic feel, and it's easy to see the life and action of the drawings through the style. If the drawings were more refined, it would probably be less effective in capturing the intensity and action of the scenarios.
Below are examples of how awesome the messy crosshatching looks, and also cool, morbid imagery :)
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