For millennia, the axe has served as a vital survival tool but also a weapon exemplifying the bloody nexus of technology and human violence, according to Rachel McCarthy James's bewitching Whack Job. "Every murder weapon has an innate interest," James says, and she claims none more so than the ubiquitous axe, the star attraction in this eclectic mix of 12 true stories of murder by hatchet. From the neolithic to the present, each story highlights a particular axe and how it exemplified the blade's evolution as a "piece of technology, weapon, and cultural symbol." James neatly pairs each axe (Egyptian battleaxe, Chinese yue, Tudor executioner's axe, the tomahawk, to name just a few) with a titillating tale of its use in the sanguine business of killing, whether by homicide or state violence.
With witty, pop culture-infused prose, James dissects the impact (pun intended) of the axe in the hands of such intriguing historical figures as Freydis (Viking daughter of Erik the Red), the Iroquois half king Tanacharison, Civil War ship cook William Tillman, and the quintessence of the phrase "axe murderer," Lizzie Borden. Each chapter is a breezy, illuminating read that contains moments of mirth readers will enjoy, thanks to James's cheeky penchant for the outré as the "earthbound flintiness" of the axe moves from practical to pure evil in the grip of those wielding it. Whack Job is a wildly entertaining keyhole history of the iconic implement and its tawdrier misapplications to murder. --Peggy Kurkowski, book reviewer and copywriter in Denver