But nothing goes as expected, his "last job" turns out to be a set-up that results in a bloody shoot-out from which Terrier barely escapes with his life, and soon he's on the run from not only the authorities and his treacherous ex-bosses but also the members of a crime syndicate still seeking revenge for an earlier hit on one of theirs. (We won't even mention what they do to his cat.)

With Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot, Tardi, at the top of his form, once again puts his lushly efficient neo-clear-line style in the service of Manchette's gleefully brisk prose for a spectacularly dark, violent and fast-paced crime thriller that will delight fans of their previous collaboration, West Coast Blues.

(NOTE: Manchette's original 1981 novel, La Position du tireur couch , was released in English under the title The Prone Gunman by City Lights in 2001.)