Andrew Vachss: Difference between revisions

* [[But Not Too Black]]: One book mentions the "paper bag trick".

* [[Butt Monkey]]: The closest thing this series comes to comic relief is wannabe mercenaries and survivalists, especially the White Power types. Burke scams them as an income flow by selling them fake knives and mercenary opportunities that will strand them in a foreign country, or speeches by ''Eli Weisenthal'' as actual recordings of Hitler's speeches. Similarly, none of his protagonists have any problems setting them up as patsies, and if they get upset and try to attack the protagonist, expect a [[Curb Stomp Battle]] that the survivalist will be lucky to get a quick and somewhat undignified death from.

* [[Charles Atlas Superpower]]: Claw from ''Terminal'' trained to the point where he can crush steel. The first book features Max bending a pair of brass knuckles in half. Ghost from the standalone book "Shella" has trained himself to the point where he can apply exact amounts of pressure to small points and can kill a man with one strike.

* [[Children Are Innocent]]: Brutally subverted in ''Dead and Gone'' when {{spoiler|the child he's supposed to be retrieving turns out to be one of the ambushers}}. Also brutally subverted in ''Sacrifice'', where a kid refers to himself as "Satan's Child". Even ''Burke'' is disturbed.

* [[Multinational Team]]: Burke's [[True Companions]] is... diverse.

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: Often averted: if somebody calls themselves by an absurd or bombastic name, they're probably a fraud or the result of ego and hype. Played straight with a martial artist dubbing himself "Mortay", however.

** Although White Power types often end up dead.

* [[Never Found the Body]]: Wesley, who apparently blew himself up.

** [[Word of God]] states Wesley is dead and will not be coming back. Well, as a living being: his ghost apparently has taken root in Burke's psyche, at least in a few novels. as a symbol of Burke's dark and homicidal side.

* [[No One Could Survive That]]: In ''Dead and Gone'', when the ambush on {{spoiler|Burke}} goes awry the ambushers go for a [[Boom Headshot]]. It doesn't take, somehow.

* [[Not So Different]]: The [[Big Bad]] of ''Dead and Gone'' tries to pull this on Burke, but it ultimately doesn't save him.

* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: Burke goes on one in the climax of one book, but unlike most, deals with the extremely negative psychological impact.

* [[Sawed Off Shotgun]]: The Prof favours one.

* [[Serial Killings Specific Target]]: Burke mentions this was a favorite tactic of [[Professional Killer]] Wesley. He would kill one man, then burn down the building so the police would have a bunch of other possible victims/motives to investigate.

** We finally see this in action when the Mob decides not to pay Wesley: ''he starts killing their innocent relatives'' and making it look like a sexual sadist is on the loose.