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A review by emilypoche
Whack Job: A History of Axe Murder by Rachel McCarthy James
2.0
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Whack Job: A History of Axe Murder by Rachel McCarthey James is a pop nonfiction title with an eye-popping title and an even snappier subject. While the book bills itself as a walk through the human history of “axe murder” the book doesn’t seem to find its footing.
From the start, the very definition of ‘axe murder’ never really gets pinned down. In order to create a cohesive history of anything, parameters help create some guidance as to what’s of narratrice violence. Across the chapters the “axe murder” vacillates as wildly from ‘inconclusive evidence of early hominid violence with blunt tool’ to ‘political executions.’ Neither of these things really seem to fit the model and make it seem as if perhaps there aren’t data points to create a full story. The book is notably brief and skips known axe murders like the early 1900s Axeman of New Orleans, which is a somewhat confusing omission.
The other element that really holds the book back is the lack of cohesion. Across the several chapters there is very little cohesion, very little thesis. With the exception of the brief sections at the end of the chapters, the chapters feel more like a series of dots than a true “line.” The writing, like the chapters, at times couldn’t seem to pick a tone. In certain chapters the tone bordered on scholarly and dry and in others it was peppered with asides from the author. While the intrusion of some snark from the author isn’t unwanted in a good pop nonfiction piece, it’s the inconsistency that really struck me.
The book was not totally without bright spots. When the author gets it right, they really do a wonderful job of creating dynamic and interesting vignettes. The balance of scene setting and facts was particularly good in the chapters about Lizzie Borden and the murders at Taliesin.
For the truly voracious true crime reader who had an appetite for knowing about any and all things morbid, this could be an interesting read. That being said, I thought the issues in macro editing and tonal choices did not make it something I’d personally recommend. 2/5.
Whack Job: A History of Axe Murder by Rachel McCarthey James is a pop nonfiction title with an eye-popping title and an even snappier subject. While the book bills itself as a walk through the human history of “axe murder” the book doesn’t seem to find its footing.
From the start, the very definition of ‘axe murder’ never really gets pinned down. In order to create a cohesive history of anything, parameters help create some guidance as to what’s of narratrice violence. Across the chapters the “axe murder” vacillates as wildly from ‘inconclusive evidence of early hominid violence with blunt tool’ to ‘political executions.’ Neither of these things really seem to fit the model and make it seem as if perhaps there aren’t data points to create a full story. The book is notably brief and skips known axe murders like the early 1900s Axeman of New Orleans, which is a somewhat confusing omission.
The other element that really holds the book back is the lack of cohesion. Across the several chapters there is very little cohesion, very little thesis. With the exception of the brief sections at the end of the chapters, the chapters feel more like a series of dots than a true “line.” The writing, like the chapters, at times couldn’t seem to pick a tone. In certain chapters the tone bordered on scholarly and dry and in others it was peppered with asides from the author. While the intrusion of some snark from the author isn’t unwanted in a good pop nonfiction piece, it’s the inconsistency that really struck me.
The book was not totally without bright spots. When the author gets it right, they really do a wonderful job of creating dynamic and interesting vignettes. The balance of scene setting and facts was particularly good in the chapters about Lizzie Borden and the murders at Taliesin.
For the truly voracious true crime reader who had an appetite for knowing about any and all things morbid, this could be an interesting read. That being said, I thought the issues in macro editing and tonal choices did not make it something I’d personally recommend. 2/5.