Nick Bellamy is old school, the kind of guy who gets tougher as he ages (think Clint Eastwood). He doesn't have much use for compact fluorescents, hybrid cars, cell phones, credit cards, rap music, therapists, or shooters who hold their guns sideways. He's lived a good, quiet life for thirty years on the proceeds of a successful con. Now the Vegas thug he swindled is out for revenge and Nick is on the verge of losing everything. But Nick is old school: if he's going to die, a whole lot of people are going to die with him. For all its violence, however, the story is touching, with elements of a love story and a family drama.

The art is perfect for the story, dark and full of shadows. The geezer faces have more wrinkles than an air-dried linen shirt. It's moody, detailed when it needs to be, stark when the story relies on the art to deliver a powerful statement.

There is a mild (PG-13) senior sex scene and, as you might expect, the violence is graphic. Those readers who screen kids' reading materials might want to keep that in mind, but the sex and violence isn't any worse than your kids would see on an average episode of The Sopranos.

Bonus materials at the end -- character sketches and the like -- flesh out the volume, but the value lies in the beautifully told story. Fans of graphic novels and noir fiction alike should enjoy Sunset.