The Ax

Jacket Description/Back: Burke Devore is a paper company manager, a man who can tell you everything you ever wanted to know about bleaching processes and the edible wood pulp they put in ice cream. For twenty-five years Burke has provided for his family and played by the rules. Until now. Now Devore is slipping away: from his wife, his family, and from all norms of civilized behavior. Burke Devore wants his life back. And he will do anything to get it. Donald E. Westlake has written a tale of dark, mesmerizing power about one quiet, ordinary victim of corporate downsizing - who reacts in a most extraordinary way. From his attempts to land a new job, to the growing rift between him and his loved ones, Devore knows that he is running out of time. Believing that there is just one way to earn the only job he has a chance of getting, he sets off on a path from which there can be no turning back - no matter how bizarre and violent, no matter who gets in the way; no matter how evil Burke Devore becomes. Burke Devore is gunning for his competition, and it's getting easier every time... Publisher Marketing: The multi-award-winning, widely-acclaimed mystery master Donald E. Westlake delivers a masterpiece with this brilliant, laser-sharp tale of the deadly consequences of corporate downsizing. Burke Devore is a middle-aged manager at a paper company when the cost-cutting ax falls, and he is laid off. Eighteen months later and still unemployed, he puts a new spin on his job search -- with agonizing care, Devore finds the seven men in the surrounding area who could take the job that rightfully should be his, and systematically kills them. Transforming himself from mild-mannered middle manager to ruthless murderer, he discovers skills ne never knew ne had -- and that come to him far too easily. Review Citations:

Publishers Weekly 04/21/1997 pg. 64 (EAN 9780892965878, Hardcover) - *Starred Review

Library Journal Prepub Alert 02/01/1997 pg. 62 (EAN 9780892965878, Hardcover)

Library Journal 05/01/1997 pg. 142 (EAN 9780892965878, Hardcover)

Booklist 04/15/1997 pg. 1409 (EAN 9780892965878, Hardcover)

Kirkus Reviews 05/15/1997 pg. 753 (EAN 9780892965878, Hardcover)

New York Times 06/29/1997 pg. 17 (EAN 9780892965878, Hardcover)

NY Times Notable Bks of Year 01/01/1997 pg. 58 (EAN 9780892965878, Hardcover)

Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/1997 pg. 80 (EAN 9780892965878, Hardcover)

New York Times 05/24/1998 pg. 20 (EAN 9780446606080, Mass Market Paperbound)

Contributor Bio:  Westlake, Donald E Donald E. Westlake (1933-2008) was one of the most prolific and talented authors of American crime fiction. He began his career in the late 1950s, churning out novels for pulp houses--often writing as many as four novels a year under various pseudonyms--but soon began publishing under his own name. His most well-known characters were John Dortmunder, an unlucky thief, and a ruthless criminal named Parker. His writing earned him three Edgars and a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Westlake's cinematic prose and brisk dialogue made his novels attractive to Hollywood, and several motion pictures were made from his books, with stars such as Lee Marvin and Mel Gibson. Westlake wrote several screenplays himself, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of "The Grifters", Jim Thompson's noir classic.