num_pages: 352
description: 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.
language: English
title: The Ax
titlecomplete: The Ax
genres: Dark, American, Noir, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Fiction, Horror, Mystery Thriller, Crime
ratings_count: 2151
awards: awardedAt: 883641600000
name: Macavity Award
category: Best Mystery Novel
publisher: Grand Central Publishing