The Hunter follows a one-man-tough-guy army bent on revenge named Parker. After a job goes bad and his wife tries to kill him, Parker sets out to take back what was his and set things right. Parker’s world is New York circa 1962, a world before cell phones, before VHS, before the Beatles; a place where the bad guys and the good guys stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the police department, the political arena, and even the subway slums.

Originally a novel written by Richard Stark, aka Donald E. Westlake, The Hunter has been beautifully adapted into a graphic novel in masterful form by Darwyn Cooke. Darwyn Cooke, multiple Eisner award winner and Emmy nominee, uses a sparse three-color pallet (black, mint aqua, on thick yellowed paper) in a form reminiscent of classic 1960s advertising comic art sketches. The artwork is a perfect compliment to the backdrop of New York, giving Parker’s world a sense of guttural classic swagger and style not present in Stark’s novel form.

If you’re a fan of mysteries, thrillers, crime, noir, anti-heroes, Quentin Tarantino, Taxi Driver, or any bloody-knuckle bar-fight cool winner-takes-all action fiction; you should have The Hunter in your collection. If great books get a 10 out of 10, then this one goes to 11.