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The ax
First published 1997 · 399 pages
A relentlessly dark and suspenseful plunge into the mind of an ordinary man driven to horrific extremes by corporate downsizing.
What it feels like
This propulsive thriller delivers a dread-soaked and claustrophobic reading experience, pulling you directly into the unraveling mind of an ordinary man pushed past the brink. The narrative moves with a relentless, ticking-clock tension as the protagonist's desperation over unemployment morphs into a chilling, blood-soaked obsession. It feels both bizarre and deeply unsettling, exploring the dark intersection of corporate alienation and horrific violence. The prose traps you inside a quiet man's twisted logic, making his descent into evil feel terrifyingly inevitable. It is a perfect match for readers who devour dark, psychological suspense and horror, offering a fascinating, outrage-fueled journey that echoes darkly long after the final page is turned.
- Mood
- dread-soaked
- tense
- chilling
- claustrophobic
- Tone
- dark
- desperate
- obsessive
- outraged
- relentless
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- corporate alienation · middle-aged desperation · loss of identity · descent into violence · obsession
- The writing
- Relentless and darkly fascinating, pulling the reader deep into the twisted logic of a quiet man's unraveling mind.
- The arc
- A steady, chilling descent from ordinary desperation into obsessive, blood-soaked madness.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave dark, suspenseful psychological thrillers about ordinary people pushed to violent, horrific extremes by societal pressures.
Content notes
- murder
- serial killing
- violence
- job loss
- marital breakdown
About the book
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. 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.... In this relentlessly fascinating novel, the masterful Donald Westlake takes us on a journey of obsession and outrage inside a quiet man's desperate world. And as we follow in Devore's blood-soaked footsteps, the question begins to echo darkly:
Description from Open Library.
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