In the not too distant future crime is out of control and chaos reins supreme. Street gangs terrorize the streets of New York and rogue cops patrol dystopian remains of the once great mecca. Now, someone is killing off the Heads of the last remaining Mob Families. Only Alonzo, the Family Man, may be able to stop the madness.

Amid the tenements and riverfronts of the Lower East Side, twin brothers Max and Morris rule the seedy streets as chieftains of a crew of thieves and hoodlums. Tensions rise when a rival gang encroaches upon their Sheriff Street territory, leading to a wave of violence that threatens to develop into an all-out war. The setting becomes even more explosive when a femme fatale enters the scene and tests the brothers' loyalty to each other. With its moody, atmospheric images of New York City's underworld during the 1930s, this graphic novel conjures up the timeless allure of film noir. The haunting illustrations are the work of French artist Jacques de Loustal, who is also a noted painter and graphic artist. This edition includes a series of the artist's preliminary sketches. Author Jerome Charyn, hailed by New York Newsday as"a contemporary American Balzac," provides a new introduction and translation for the tale, which was originally published in French. Suggested for mature readers.

A serial killer haunts the city streets, a stalker of isolated women who leaves a Santa Claus hat at the scene of his crimes. Pavel, a Russian émigré, assists the police investigation as a sketch artist. But Pavel's true calling is as a tattoo artist, and the so-called Bad Santa killings conjure up memories of the nightmarish world in which he learned his craft: a Russian prison camp that shattered his childhood and destroyed his family. Shifting between the living hell of a 1940s Siberian gulag and the crime-ridden chaos of New York City during the 1970s, this graphic novel's stunning artwork provides an atmospheric backdrop to its tale of corruption, murder, and revenge.