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book_concierge's review
5.0
Unemployed for two years, a former paper executive sets out to kill the competition for his dream job. This reminds me of "A Simple Plan." It's chilling ... especially when I realized that I was buying into his rationalizations! I will definitely read more of Westlake's work.
billymac1962's review
5.0
About 20% of the way through this one, I wasn't sure it was going to be so great. It's written in the 1st person, and with a fun concept: a 51 year old man who has been unemployed for 2 years decides to start killing off the competition for a job he wants.
The reason I was losing my enthusiasm early on was that it seemed the novel was becoming redundant. Well, that changed about a third of the way in. I got hooked big time.
Like the human train wrecks of A Simple Plan and The Big Picture, we ride alongside our anti-hero as he plots his path of murder. This is not a sympathetic character. He is a psychopath. Although he feels entirely justified, this does not wash with the reader (one would hope). His actions and thoughts expose an amoral sociopath, and as a reader, you keep going because you just have to see how this is going to turn out.
When I finished the novel I was dumbfounded. The son of a bitch got away with it! My immediate reaction was disgust. My later reaction was a great admiration for Westlake for choosing this. The best stories don't need to end the way you would like, so evoking any strong emotions is a good thing when it comes to the reading experience.
This is the first novel I've read by Westlake, and I happily have the first Parker novel on my to-read list (by his alter ego Richard Stark).
The Ax was a fast, compulsive read, and exactly what I needed at the time. 5 stars for sheer entertainment.
The reason I was losing my enthusiasm early on was that it seemed the novel was becoming redundant. Well, that changed about a third of the way in. I got hooked big time.
Like the human train wrecks of A Simple Plan and The Big Picture, we ride alongside our anti-hero as he plots his path of murder. This is not a sympathetic character. He is a psychopath. Although he feels entirely justified, this does not wash with the reader (one would hope). His actions and thoughts expose an amoral sociopath, and as a reader, you keep going because you just have to see how this is going to turn out.
Spoiler
When I finished the novel I was dumbfounded. The son of a bitch got away with it! My immediate reaction was disgust. My later reaction was a great admiration for Westlake for choosing this. The best stories don't need to end the way you would like, so evoking any strong emotions is a good thing when it comes to the reading experience.
This is the first novel I've read by Westlake, and I happily have the first Parker novel on my to-read list (by his alter ego Richard Stark).
The Ax was a fast, compulsive read, and exactly what I needed at the time. 5 stars for sheer entertainment.
astyage's review
4.0
از اون وقت هایی که واقعیت از رویا ترسناک تر میشه
کتاب درباره ی جنبه های مختلفی از وضعیت کار و بی کاری و حالت بین این دو نوشته
اشاره هایی به تاثیر این عوامل بر شخص و خانواده ش داره
دوست داشتم نقش بعضی شخصیت ها تو داستان پررنگ تر می بود تا با خیال راحت 5 ستاره ش می کردم
کتاب درباره ی جنبه های مختلفی از وضعیت کار و بی کاری و حالت بین این دو نوشته
اشاره هایی به تاثیر این عوامل بر شخص و خانواده ش داره
دوست داشتم نقش بعضی شخصیت ها تو داستان پررنگ تر می بود تا با خیال راحت 5 ستاره ش می کردم
zwrobertson's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
dantastic's review
5.0
Burke Devore, line manager at a paper mill, gets laid off and is unemployed for two years. Then one day he gets the idea of a lifetime: start killing the people he's competing for job with...
Wow. This thing is a damn masterpiece. Westlake takes an ordinary Joe in a situation we can all relate to in these uncertain economic times, and sends him on a killing spree. What separates Burke Devore from other killers on the paperback racks is that he's almost just like us.
The way Westlake tells the story of Burke Devore makes him a sympathetic character. He's not a cold blooded killer, just a guy driven to desperate measures to feed his family and save his marriage. While he's doing reprehensible things, you still wind up rooting for him and hoping he doesn't get caught.
If you're looking for some suspense, look no further.
Wow. This thing is a damn masterpiece. Westlake takes an ordinary Joe in a situation we can all relate to in these uncertain economic times, and sends him on a killing spree. What separates Burke Devore from other killers on the paperback racks is that he's almost just like us.
The way Westlake tells the story of Burke Devore makes him a sympathetic character. He's not a cold blooded killer, just a guy driven to desperate measures to feed his family and save his marriage. While he's doing reprehensible things, you still wind up rooting for him and hoping he doesn't get caught.
If you're looking for some suspense, look no further.
trudilibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
First-line-fever: I've never actually killed anybody before, murdered another person, snuffed out another human being.
baggman's review
3.0
Yes, like so many of the other reviewers have said before, the entire plot was rather disturbing. I mean murder for gain? Even the non-religious and anarchists don’t condone that. But, not because the passages recounting the murders were so brutal and descriptive that it kept me awake at night. And, not because violence is as integral to each chapter as blood and gore to a George Romero film. What sticks in my mind is how easily the ‘protagonist’ arrived at murder as the answer to his problems, and the rationalization that there are real people out there that think the same way.
The book is written in a common, everyday prose that makes reading comfortable. There’s no need to keep a dictionary handy for this one. It’s doubtful that you’ll come across more than one or two words you’ll want to add to your personal vocabulary. That’s not to say that it wasn’t well written, or entertaining. I found it to be both. What I found to be greatly lacking, crying for a rewrite, was the ending. Think of a movie where the villain has been pursued by the law through the entire film. In the closing scene he hangs by a rope over a chasm 1,200 feet deep. He looks into the camera and says, “You think I’m trapped, but you’ll never get me.” The screen turns black and the credits start scrolling. Yeah, it’s just like that.
Look, this book is not going to be mistaken for one of literature’s great works. No one is going to believe that it was written under one of Stephen King’s pseudonyms. And, I don’t believe that fans of the author have formed a group, demanding a sequel. It was a quick, easy read that I pretty much enjoyed except for an ending that left me hanging like a bed sheet on a backyard clothes line in January. Consequently, three stars.
The book is written in a common, everyday prose that makes reading comfortable. There’s no need to keep a dictionary handy for this one. It’s doubtful that you’ll come across more than one or two words you’ll want to add to your personal vocabulary. That’s not to say that it wasn’t well written, or entertaining. I found it to be both. What I found to be greatly lacking, crying for a rewrite, was the ending. Think of a movie where the villain has been pursued by the law through the entire film. In the closing scene he hangs by a rope over a chasm 1,200 feet deep. He looks into the camera and says, “You think I’m trapped, but you’ll never get me.” The screen turns black and the credits start scrolling. Yeah, it’s just like that.
Look, this book is not going to be mistaken for one of literature’s great works. No one is going to believe that it was written under one of Stephen King’s pseudonyms. And, I don’t believe that fans of the author have formed a group, demanding a sequel. It was a quick, easy read that I pretty much enjoyed except for an ending that left me hanging like a bed sheet on a backyard clothes line in January. Consequently, three stars.
v_v_'s review
5.0
I picked this book up for free because the cover looked cheesy and I was not expecting the this awesome blend of Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite and Breaking Bad. It’s not often you can kind of hate the protagonist and still root for him.
aditurbo's review
5.0
Wonderful novel, angry, poignant, realistic to the point of painful, shouts social truths at you without mercy. Great writing, not a superfluous word, lean and sharp. The characters are well designed and realized, and there is even suspense and powerful drama. Not for the faint of heart, but if you're all for taking the red pill, read this. I'm now officially a Donald Westlake fan.