In the Ax the murders are as financially motivated as a hitman's would be. They're done purely for the end result of being financially rewarded (ending up with a job). No difference.
--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Ron Clinton" <clinton65@...> wrote:
>
> To me, the difference is relatively clear. If the fictious perpetrator does
> the killing in the performance of his professional duties -- thief, hitman,
> spy, et al -- then I do not consider it a serial killer novel. If instead
> the perpetrator does his/her killing for reasons that are instead more
> personal and intimate -- psychotic/sociopathic deviancy (Thomas Harris'
> books, Joyce Carol Oates' ZOMBIE, etc.), methodical elimination of
> obstructionist rivals (THE AX), self-righteous delusions (BLACKBURN), and so
> on -- then it is a serial killer novel. Obviously, this is a subjective
> differentiation on my part, but that seems like an appropriate distinction.
> Since Westlake's protagonist was committing his acts for intimate, personal
> gain and not because the acts were part and parcel of his occupation, in my
> mind that makes THE AX a serial killer novel.
>
> Ron C.
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > --- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "davezeltserman" <Dave.Zeltserman@>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > How about a Parker novel, like The Hunter, where Parker has to kill a
> bunch of
> > > people to get what he wants? Or really any hit man novel? I think of a
> serial killer
> > >novel as something where the killer is killing some other purpose than to
> do a job,
> > >and really the protagonist in The Axe is killing for the same sort of
> purpose as a hit
> > >man, except in the Ax the killer has more remorse than they typical hit
> man,,
> > >especially since he finds himself liking the people he needs to kill.
> > >
>
>
> > From: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com [mailto:rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com] On
> > Behalf Of jacquesdebierue
> > Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2010 6:55 PM
> > To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: Moratorium on serial murderer mysteries?
> >
> >
> > Good point. I wonder how many people Parker kills in the entire series. It
> has got to
> > be a very high number. Somehow the presentation of Parker as a
> professional
> > doing a job makes him look more like some type of soldier than a
> psychopath.
>
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