The Exploding Donut
A pastry-loving low-level organized crime member named Rollo has been caught skimming from the guys above him in the hierarchy. A hit is ordered and arrives in the form of a Boston Creme Pie donut that explodes in his face. "The walls and ceiling looked like a giant anteater had sneezed a watermelon." This imagery describes the unexpected carnage that the narrator sees after the explosion. The tone of the imagery perfectly fits the horrific death of Rollo. The reference to an anteater blowing a melon through its nose lends the scene an appropriate undertone of black humor. At the same time, it perfectly suits the more gruesomely concrete description of chunky inner anatomy hanging like jelly from the blades of the ceiling fan.
Hard-Boiled Prose
This novel is a modern-day example of the hard-boiled detective novel, except that the narrator is a hitman. "I felt the hot kiss of the slug glance along a rib as it passed through my shirt and jacket." This use of imagery is iconic hard-boiled action narration. The reference to a bullet passing close to the body but without doing any actual physical damage as a "hot kiss" insinuates the link between sex and violence which is representative of such fiction. In addition, the dismissal of a potential near-death experience as being like a kiss also cements the narrator's self-image of being an unruffled tough guy.
Victimized
The narrator arrives to find a character named Marcie waiting on his front porch holding an enormous gin and tonic and looking like a woman enjoying a drink after a long day. Upon closer inspection, however, "Her hair was messed up. The top two buttons of her blouse had been torn off. Her bottom lip was swollen and purple." This imagery is used to convey the reality of the situation. It is an example of showing that a woman is a victim of physical violence rather than merely telling. the reader this is what has happened. The physical description of Marcie instantly transforms her from a tired low-wage worker to a victim of a violent attack almost instantly without explicitly informing the reader that this is the case.
Guns
The title of the novel is a metaphor, but guns are literally and liberally used in the story. "The windshield of the Suburban looked like a Braille scream." This imagery is preceded by a short, staccato description of what is happening: "Gunfire. Shattered glass." Gun violence leaving a luxury SUV as one of the casualties of collateral property damage is almost a cliche in 21st-century crime thrillers. This imagery effectively individualizes this stereotypical scene through its surprising and vivid comparison. Braille is, of course, the form of written language in the form of raised dots that allow vision-impaired visceral tactile experience of reading. The imagery is an ironic reference to the holes made in the windshield by the bullets.
