How does Peter Maas use imagery in The Valachi Papers?

Imagery:

"His arms had been bound behind his back with wire, and he had been strangled with a clothesline. He was then doused with gasoline and set on fire. An autopsy report revealed that approximately thirty pounds of flesh had been sliced from Agueci's body while he was still alive."

"That was the end of this Shapiro. He was put in a drum full of cement—the kind they use for oil—and dumped in the East River. I guess he's still there."