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.The Ax (2005) | MUBIThe Ax (novel)The Ax: Westlake, Donald E. - Amazon.comTHE AX A downsized line manager plots a murderous way to winnow the competition for his next job, in this unusually somber tale from the reigning king of crime The Ax (2005)