The Ax (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Donald E. Westlake
- First Published: 1997
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: Late 1990’s
- Setting: Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts
- Principal Characters: Burke Devore, Marjorie Devore, Billy Devore, Detective Burton
- Genres: Long fiction, Dark comedy
- Subjects: Job hunting, Parents and children, Murder or homicide, Police, Fathers, Unemployment or unemployed workers, Adultery, Bureaucracy or bureaucrats, Guns
- Locales: Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts
Donald E. Westlake is a prolific writer who publishes novels and stories under his own name as well as pseudonyms, one of which is Richard Stark. (In an explicit tribute to Westlake, Stephen King, in his novel The Dark Half (1989), named his protagonist’s vicious alter ego “George Stark.”) Westlake also wrote screenplays for the popular films The Grifters (1990) and The Stepfather (1987). He is credited with inventing the comic caper, or humorous crime story. Westlake is, however, capable of a darker kind of tale, and The Ax is among his darkest...
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