'The Client' by Zidrou with art by Manolo Carot is a graphic novel about a kidnapped daughter of a mobster and the man who has done it.

The story takes place in Ecuador in the houses of prostitutes. An ordinary guy falls in love with a prostitute, and in order to get her freedom, he kidnaps the daughter of a mobster. If those weren't enough bad choices, he drives with the mobster to get the daughter. Things can't possibly end well.

The plot is weirdly uninteresting. The main character seems so amazingly stupid with his choices and I never really felt invested in why this story was even happening.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

This was pretty generic, and kind of dumb. A random white dude falls in love with a Latina sex worker and for some reason thinks he can get her out of her contract by kidnapping her pimp's teenage daughter and holding her hostage.
Blatantly racist dialogue and violence and boobs don't add anything to the story, they're just sort of there. Bland and boring.

This book is okay. A man falls in love with a prostitute and goes up against a mobster to try to get her back. The art is decent. It didn't stand out in any way though. I like the character interactions the best. This is a fairly short book and it feels like it moves along a little too quickly at times. There are moments that could have been extended or scenes that could have used more of a bridge to have it flow better. It was a bit different than I was expecting, which worked well in its favor. The protagonist is pretty one dimensional though.

The story of a Spanish man who falls in love with a prostitute and will do anything to get her back when she disappears. Zidrou doesn't shy away at all about the realities of the sex trade and how they lure women in from other countries and they basically become indentured slaves once they get to their destination.

A gritty thrilling graphic novel that was filled with suspense and drama.

The story begins at the Paradise strip club, at this point I anticipated the usual cliches, however, I was pleasantly surprised. An intriguing plot ensues accompanied by fantastic illustrations.

A fun and twisty read for those who enjoy mystery / suspense novels.

A Nobody falls for a stripper and when she goes missing, he kidnaps the sister of the local mob boss; because what could go wrong?

Our story begins with a stripper- joint named Paradise. And among the slow, poetic display of strippers, I imagined a sad story of some lassie who lost her path. Bust just then the book shaded its skin and turned into a suspense thriller. There was tension, thrill, cons, blackmails, root-able characters and a tight story about the length a Nobody can possible go to for someone dear. Like an onion, the story began to unravel its layers with gorgeous pages. A ticking clock set for the life of the mob boss’s daughter ensured the grip of the book and the chase to find out the missing stripper set the mood. I will not go into further details for the sake of spoilers.

As the review title suggests, this is a masterpiece by all means – character development, suspense, thrill and last but not the least, the artwork.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A harsh and gritty graphic novel about a divorced man who falls in love with a prostitute. After she gets into some trouble with her pimp, he decides to kidnap the mobsters daughter in order to save his girl. The illustrations were done beautifully, but the story line left me with some questions. In all, I definitely see how some will enjoy this, but it will not re a re-read for me.

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2332477388

*arc received in exchanged for an honest review*

I enjoyed this short graphic novel. It's about a divorced man falling in love with a prostitute. It was very fast paced, didn't shy away from gritty details and flew by very fast.

A book that clearly wants to be all grit and noirishness, but that ends up far too inconsequential. An older chap pretends to be an art lecturer in order to kidnap a Mr Big's daughter amongst his pupils so that he can forcibly learn where the hooker with a heart of gold he fell in love with has gone. The sex worker is too easily traceable, considering all the false identities etc that must exist in that world, and the daughter is too easy to find too, and nobody gets anything like the real comeuppance. Beyond the visual dinginess it really didn't smack of realism, and anything longer than this would have tried my patience.

In a European tradition of non superhero comics, this is beautifully drawn and coloured and refreshingly different in theme and setting. A diverting story and a short read, however much I wanted to like this book it is difficult to recommend due to the simplicity of the narrative. While it touches on exploitation and human trafficking the story is too steeped in male fantasy to be critical enough of its subject matter. The ending is also highly implausible.

Even if from the blurb I was pretty sure this story was not going to be my cup of tea, in the end I enjoyed it more than enough.

Anche se dal riassunto avrei scommesso che questa storia non sarebbe stata nelle mie corde, alla fine invece mi è piaciuta piú che abbastanza.

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

First of all thank you very much for the privilege of reading The Client for a fair review. I am a huge fan of graphic novels, so let’s get this review done! The premise of the story is very interesting, strippers, human trafficking, kidnapping, the Mob, and best of all true love. The story line was busy with a whole lot of nothing, it slowly and painfully meandered to a happy ending?? Honestly I am not sure. The illustrations were shallow and borderline boring. I had a difficult time relating to the character in text or graphically. I wish I had loved it, but I couldn’t. Thank you again for the opportunity to read and review. Good Luck.

An older academic falls in love with a prostitute, an Ecuadorian woman who works in a brothel owned by the Mafia. After he tries and fails to rescue her, she disappears. Desperate, he decides to kidnap the daughter of the Mafia boss and refuses to release her until his lover is returned to him. What could possibly go wrong?

The Client is written by Belgian comic book writer Zidrou and beautifully illustrated by Manolo Carot. This is a very short graphic novel and tells what, on the surface, seems like a fairly simple story but anyone who has read Zidrou knows his stories are never as simple as they appear on the surface. He deals with controversial and difficult issues, in this case sex trafficking, poverty, and choice (or lack thereof), with sensitivity, intelligence, and empathy. It is also about love, family and, in the end, hope. And he wraps all of these complex issues in a cracking good noir(ish) tale.

Thanks to Netgalley and Europe Comics for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

A gritty and dark graphic novel. Great storyline and artwork throughout.

This book had great art, but I wasn't in love with the story. It felt rushed. I don't feel like the reader was given enough background info. If this were the second book in a series i would probably enjoy it more.

This is a really interesting graphic novel set in the seedy world of Spanish strip clubs. It has a colourful art style with a hidden darkness to match the topic at hand. It's a battle of wills between the mob boss with little mercy and the client who has his daughter held hostage until his love who is part of the mob bosses staff is found and released. Who will triumph and how much blood will be shed?

This was my first graphic novel and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The only suggestion I would make - don't read it mid night and before sleep. Gave me some very strange dreams.

The pictures are very cool. I happen to have been in a strip club and I must say the artist has captured the life-less vibe perfectly. I also loved how realistic the strippers looked - I mean it in a not-so-gorgeous-looking kind of way.

The story itself was hard to follow at times. I read the text but could not quite grasp who would be saying or thinking that.

A Hopeful Tale About Sex Trafficking?

SPOILER. I guess the overall tone of this review is a spoiler, since the upshot is that this tale is suspenseful but not graphically violent, and doesn't end with the usual noir "everyone was hit by a bus" kind of ending. END SPOILER.

We start in a brothel populated by women lured into the country by the promise of good jobs and then shuttled into prostitution. Our hero has fallen in love with a woman from Ecuador who has disappeared. And so, our hero kidnaps a crime boss' daughter and holds her as security while demanding that the boss help him find and liberate his amour. The tale unfolds from there.

Almost always these innocents dabbling in crime stories end badly. This one ends differently. Between the beginning and the end there is a great deal of narrative musing, voiceover monologuing, and more interesting dialogue than you would expect. As the mood and the tempo of the story changes so too does the style, penciling, and coloring of the art, so the "graphic" always seems to be in sync with the "novel".

This was way better, more suspenseful, and more thoughtful and subtle than I ever expected. It was a happy find, and a very good example of why the Europe Comics project to make European comics available in English translation is such a worthy effort. (Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

I haven’t always been captured by the graphic novel or grown up comic book.
However, The client is a great but straight forward story that lends itself to this medium.
It is the story of an older man; divorced and trying to find meaning in his life. It is set in Spain and the premise is people trafficking, where girls are lured with promise of good money to work in hotels and restaurants.
The reality is that they are to work in clubs; performing lap dances and providing sex to men.
This operation is overseen by crime bosses who make the girls indebted to him so they can never payback the money or earn enough to clear the amount deemed owed.
The older man begins to fall for an Ecuadorian prostitute who he cares for beyond sex. They start to meet outside the club on “dates” to the movies or a meal together.
Her liaison is recognised by the enforcers; her behaviour is not tolerated and she is whisked away to a seedy joint miles away to consider her future.
The older man is beside himself and takes dramatic and life changing steps to find her.
The story is clear and flows well. With great illustrations and various formats to freshen up the reading experience.
I liked especially the drawing of the working girls on bar stools waiting to be propositioned.
A simple desire confronts a professional hood and once the d man takes his action it appears it can only end badly. He finds new inner strength to try and find his ‘girlfriend’ and save her from a life she never sought for herself.
It shows the scope and courage of the human spirit and that evil has to be confronted at some time. It is at its heart a love story as the man sees the true person in the girl not the sex worker she has been compelled to be.
I firmly and without reservation recommend it to you and suggest other writing formats be considered and embraced. I feel strangely uplifted by this tale and the medium in which it was told.