A review by baggman
The Ax, by Donald E. Westlake
3.0
Yes, like so many of the other reviewers have said before, the entire plot was rather disturbing. I mean murder for gain? Even the non-religious and anarchists don’t condone that. But, not because the passages recounting the murders were so brutal and descriptive that it kept me awake at night. And, not because violence is as integral to each chapter as blood and gore to a George Romero film. What sticks in my mind is how easily the ‘protagonist’ arrived at murder as the answer to his problems, and the rationalization that there are real people out there that think the same way.
The book is written in a common, everyday prose that makes reading comfortable. There’s no need to keep a dictionary handy for this one. It’s doubtful that you’ll come across more than one or two words you’ll want to add to your personal vocabulary. That’s not to say that it wasn’t well written, or entertaining. I found it to be both. What I found to be greatly lacking, crying for a rewrite, was the ending. Think of a movie where the villain has been pursued by the law through the entire film. In the closing scene he hangs by a rope over a chasm 1,200 feet deep. He looks into the camera and says, “You think I’m trapped, but you’ll never get me.” The screen turns black and the credits start scrolling. Yeah, it’s just like that.
Look, this book is not going to be mistaken for one of literature’s great works. No one is going to believe that it was written under one of Stephen King’s pseudonyms. And, I don’t believe that fans of the author have formed a group, demanding a sequel. It was a quick, easy read that I pretty much enjoyed except for an ending that left me hanging like a bed sheet on a backyard clothes line in January. Consequently, three stars.
The book is written in a common, everyday prose that makes reading comfortable. There’s no need to keep a dictionary handy for this one. It’s doubtful that you’ll come across more than one or two words you’ll want to add to your personal vocabulary. That’s not to say that it wasn’t well written, or entertaining. I found it to be both. What I found to be greatly lacking, crying for a rewrite, was the ending. Think of a movie where the villain has been pursued by the law through the entire film. In the closing scene he hangs by a rope over a chasm 1,200 feet deep. He looks into the camera and says, “You think I’m trapped, but you’ll never get me.” The screen turns black and the credits start scrolling. Yeah, it’s just like that.
Look, this book is not going to be mistaken for one of literature’s great works. No one is going to believe that it was written under one of Stephen King’s pseudonyms. And, I don’t believe that fans of the author have formed a group, demanding a sequel. It was a quick, easy read that I pretty much enjoyed except for an ending that left me hanging like a bed sheet on a backyard clothes line in January. Consequently, three stars.