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Summary: When the going gets tough . . . Watch Out!
Review: Wow, what a scary book! It was not as long or detailed as I had expected, but it is still a rare gem. Westlake makes an interesting case that evil is only in the eye of the beholder. This is something that could truly happen, and that is what is truly scary about this book. Excellent - I just wish that it would have been a little bit longer.
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Summary: Addendum to last post
Review: In my last post I forgot to mention a certain writer named Samuel Holt. So far he's penned four mystery gems. (They use a running numerical theme in the titles.) Reminds one alot of Westlake (can't imagine why? <grin>) He's sort of a bi-coastal version of Magnum P.I. character but that description is wholly inadequate. All very entertaining reads.
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Summary: Disturbing Westlake
Review: I love Westlake books. I collect Westlake books. I've even flown to NYC to get the chance to meet Donald E. Westlake. (And it was worth every penny too.) But The Ax really disturbed me. The storyline is creepy. I felt uneasy reading it. For all the enjoyment and laughter Mr. Westlake's writings have provided me, (and if I had a dollar for every timed I've laughed out loud at Dortmunder the cost of the plane trip to NYC would be more than reimbursed --I'm not exaggerating), I cannot recommend this book. Instead I'll say: Buy ALL the Dortmunders. Buy ALL the Parkers (Westlake as Richard Stark.) Hunt down the books by a writer named Tucker Coe (another Westlake pseudonym.) And by all means read Mr. Westlake's Trust Me On This which is as funny a novel as I've ever read. All of these other titles are true gems written by a true master.
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Summary: Disturbing...
Review: I had read a couple of Mr. Westlake comic novels and I hadn't liked them, so I had decided not to read another book by this author. I'm glad, therefore, that I bought this book without realizing that it had been written by him. I bought it because the story sounded interesting, and boy, so it is. More than interesting, rather, I was left speechless by it. I've read it some time ago but I still remember it most vividly; in fact, the more I think about it, the more horrifying and compelling it becomes. By far and large it is one of the best crime novels I have ever read. Natch, it is one of the best books in general I have ever read. You become totally immersed in the mind of the character, and you see everything through his eyes. You see how, in a society where money is the absolute god, a man can ignore any moral concept, even the respect for life, in order to secure his place in the sun. And, after all, don't we know that there are men who maybe don't kill, but commit other, not illegal, but immoral acts in order to do just that? The open ending is a total winner: it gives you even more food for thought. Did Mr. Westlake write any other novel like this? Well, he should.I suggest Ed Harris for the movie version.
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Summary: Histerical. Engaging. And, yikes, plausible!
Review: Westlake creates characters so well that I feel as if they're friends. When discussing the book with others, I talk about them like they're friends. In The Axe, Westlake spins a tale that is frighteningly realistic in today's competitive world. I work in a very cut throat industry and believe me, this could happen.
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Summary: A Wonderful Page Turner
Review: I read The Ax over a vacation week this past September. It was the first book I ever read by Donald Westlake. I had read many reviews of his books over the years and he seemed to be fairly well regarded by critics. I loved The Ax. It kept your interest from start to finish and really made you think about moral questions. In particular, in a society that creates a set of values that pays little attention to the individual...corporate society...why should an individual behave in a fashion other than selfish interest. It is an animal morality....humans should do whatever they need to do to survive. But the book raises legitimate questions. All in all, a very wonderful page turner....whether you read it to think about it, or read it for diversion.
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Summary: Disturbung, funny and insightful; a great read.
Review: I read this book last year and still think of it from time to time. What a great book. It's macabre and funny and very disturbing. Burke is a genuinely likeable man who has exhausted all of his possibilities in landing a new job after being downsized. His solution to the problem is to kill off the competition. As silly as it sounds, he approaches each killing reluctantly and seems genuinely sorry to have to resort to such an extreme. The first-person viewpoint is what makes this book a winner. Getting inside Burke's mind as he rationalizes his acts is quite a ride. I found myself laughing out loud as I read it. My fellow travellers on the plane must have thought I was nuts. I highly recommend this book. You will love it.
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Summary: Excellent black comedy
Review: This is truly one of the best books that I have read in a long time. It draws a concise portrait of a heretofore upright man who descends into a life of crime to get what he thinks he deserves to have: a middle-class life. Westlake actually gets the reader to almost buy into Devore's reasoning. With the recent spate of workplace shootings, this book seems chillingly realistic. The scene where he falls asleep at a victim's house, only to wake up to find himself face-to-face with the victim, is superb.
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Summary: Scary. Has some uncomfortable truths
Review: The Ax is the story of Burke Devore, a fired paper plant manager who can't find a new job. After two anxious years, he takes a hard look at the job market and sees something like this: making a living is a matter of groveling and competing endlessly. And the all-important resume' is the nineties version of standing in line with your hat in your hand. Thus enlightened, Devore sees what he has do to even the odds. He takes steps to learn a valuable new skill. This book can be read in one sitting, or maybe in one sprawling, if it happens to knock you flat.
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Summary: A very different Donald Westlake novel.....
Review: As I started through this novel,I kept finding myself listening to the rational and sympatheituc justification for becoming a serial murderer and finding it somewhat compelling. Because the focus of the book, Burke Devore, a downsized paper mill production manager seems otherwise normal, even "someone like us", you become caught up in the madness and nearly find yourself tending to excuse it. Will there be a day of reckoning for the innocent lives so callously taken?? That my friends is one of the beauties of the book. It is unsettling reading...but it sure could happen. I hope Mr. Westlake will return to his previous style of writing, but he sure has proved his versatility.
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