Samurai Executioner, Volume 5: Ten Fingers, One Life — Kazuo Koike

Striking similarities between Lone Wolf and Cub and Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima's sidebar story line, Samurai Executioner (known as Kubikiri Asa in Japan), are evident in the cool attitude, rebellious honor, and unflappable bushido of the lead characters of both series, but readers will delight in the whole new crime-fiction genre of Edo-era samurai spirit in Samurai Executioner. Here, we enter a world of harsh and violent crime and the forces that stand against it.

In this volume, after initial stories of criminals' lives leading to their executions, we meet two Edo-era police officers and explore their specialized methods of capturing crafty criminals. Then, in Koike's signature fashion, the volume ends with a psycho killer's grueling and violent end. It's a history lesson, an art education, and a pulp sensation, all wrapped up in one fantastic series.

• FOR MATURE READERS