7.4 /10 1 Votes
Country United States Publication date 1972 Originally published 1972 Followed by Death Sentence Adaptations Death Wish (1974) | 3.7/5 Goodreads Language English ISBN 0-679-50299-8 Publisher David McKay Publications Genres Crime, Drama, Thriller | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback) Brian Garfield books Death Sentence, Hopscotch, The threepersons hunt, What of Terry Conniston?, The Romanov succession | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Death Wish is a 1972 novel by Brian Garfield. A sequel novel, Death Sentence, was published in 1975.
Contents
Plot
Paul Benjamin is a CPA in New York and lifelong liberal. However, his staid life is overturned when his daughter, Carol, and spouse, Esther, are attacked by muggers. His wife does not survive the attack, and his traumatized daughter is left in a vegetative state. Forced to reevaluate his views, Benjamin becomes a realist, and eager for vengeance. While on a business trip in Arizona, he buys a revolver and brings it back to New York. Benjamin shoots a mugger who accosts him. Benjamin continues to take justice into his own hands, drawing would-be muggers into traps by using himself as the bait. In one case, he rents a car, pulls it over to the side of the road, and writes an "Out of Gas" sign on the vehicle. He then hides, waiting for someone to steal the car. When some lawbreakers do so, he shoots them.
It is only within the last fifty pages of the first novel that Benjamin slays his first victim. The second novel, Death Sentence, states that Benjamin murdered seventeen people over five weeks.
Film adaptation
In 1974, a film based on the novel was made, starring Charles Bronson and directed by Michael Winner.