The Ax [Paperback]

This was an absolutely *appalling* tale about a man in 1997 in Connecticut who lost his job a couple of years previously and can't get another one because there's always someone just a little more qualified than he. So he comes up with a plan to attract the resumes of everyone who's better, and then he systematically kills them all off. A fabulously twisted novel idea, except that there are a few gaping holes in this one: 1) The guy kills people in suburbs, in and around their houses, and is *never* noticed, *never* witnessed, nor does anyone ever link his van to the scene of no less than seven crimes (involving eight corpses) and 2) If he'd just gotten on the damn Internet and did his research it would have taken him a lot less time and he would have killed people in far more professional ways and it would have been *believable*. Even if he was old-school and didn't like computers, researching murder tactics on the Internet would be more believable than an otherwise non-criminal man running around and largely bungling each murder and *never* getting caught.

I lived in Connecticut for 18 years; I've been laid off there several times, and I've been in Burke Devore's desperate straits...but I've never considered *murder*. I found it impossible to relate to or empathize with a character who clearly hadn't done everything he could to get a job before hitting upon his mad plan...he never considered going back into sales, he never really considered going into another line of work...he is like a lot of schlumps past and present who get so locked into one job that it's all they can conceive of doing. He didn't consider going back to school or learning a new trade (all he did was blow off the suggestion the he learn to repair air conditioners, as if that was the *only* other professional career choice available). He never considered becoming a consultant or starting his own business (he said was he wasn't a "self-starter"; like hell if he can plan the murders of *seven people*!) His rants about corporate downsizing were well-placed (been there done that in CT) but didn't justify his turn to violent crime. Burke Devore manages to be both the hero and the villain of his own story, but I for one was rooting for the police from the moment he began to execute (no pun unintended) his first kill. I suppose this story probably appealed to angry, washed-up ex-managers, but I for one still hope that somewhere beyond the last page, the police caught up with him and threw him in a cell with Bubba the Butt Monster.

I'm a big fan of Donald Westlake. I love his comic crime novels where I find myself rooting for the slightly inept bad guys to get away with their crimes. When I decided to read The Ax, it never ocurred to me that I'd end up rooting for Burke Devore to get away with multiple murders.

This is a book about one man, written entirely in the first person. A man who believes he can rely on no one but himself. In that vein all the other characers are merely shadows, or stick figures. They exist only through Burke's eyes. He IS the book.

Burke is a former production line manager in a paper mill who was laid off in the mid-nineties and has been unemployed for two years at the time of the novel (1997). He is at end of his rope -- his unemployment has run out and so, it seems, have his job prospects.

Burke decides to take matters into his own hands. He places an ad in a trade journal to evaluate the competition. Then, he decides to just get rid of them. He selects the job that he wants and then he kills off the competition AND the incumbent.

Burke goes on a killing spree through New York, Conn., and Mass. He kills the competition in broad daylight by the side of the road and in a crowded parking lot. He kills in a deserted mall parking lot and he even blows up a house.

The fact that Burke gets away with all these murders is completely implausable. The fact that the cops don't catch him and that he even manages to get rid of the evidence of his son's (unrelated) breaking and entering is unlikely. The fact that the search of the house that follows his son's crime raises no questions in the minds of the police is ridiculous. But it doesn't really matter. The fact that it is so unlikely that he'll get away with it all makes us identify with Burke all the more.

As the book progressed, I found myself disturbed by how much I could identify with Burke. I've never been laid off -- I work for one of those places that used to provide 'lifetime employment.' Not anymore. I can imagine myself laid off, desperate, looking for a job, as my family loses more and more opportunity and my retirement plans slip away. Can't most all of us?

Most of us can't imagine taking Burke's reasoning to the final end -- that the end of providing for his family (at one point in the book, Burke bristles when the judge says that Burke's son "comes from poverty.") justifies any means, even murder. But, many of us can identify with his desperation.

This is satire at its finest -- dark, disturbing and with an edge of truth. This book could certainly be read simply as a book about a serial killer, but it is truly much more than that. It is a book about Every Man for the age of downsizing, much as Death of a Salesman was about the Every Man of its time.

You might find it disturbing, but do read this book. Donald Westlake has outdone himself this time.

Westlake creates great suspense through one of the creepiest narratives ever written. Great structure and a justfied ending give this book some real punch. The real thrust of Westlake's talent is shown through his ability to make the reader empathize and even root for a very sick man. Well done and towards the very top of my list.