The devil is a recurring image in the novel. First Mick is referred to as the devil (31). Then Levin calls Roulet the devil and evil. When Levin’s body is found murdered in his office, the detectives roll him onto his back to reveal a hand gesture: Levin made the sign of devil’s horns as he was dying. Mick assumes this means that Roulet is the one who shot Levin, though later he realizes that the devil’s horns were an upside-down “M” for “Mary.” The mistake underscores the presence of evil in both Mary and her son. It becomes clear that Roulet did not act alone, and in fact may have learned some of his evil behavior from his own mother.

Mick likes to listen to rap artists such as Tupac Shakur. He feels that the lyrics help him understand his clients better. For example, he learns that many of his clients actually accept and look forward to serving time in jail like their musical heroes. One such client, McGinley, who sells drugs and weapons despite several arrests, would “recite to me long riffs from Tupac’s CDs. He would translate the meanings of the ghetto lyrics for me…to McGinley, prison was only a rite of passage” (117).