Darkly Dreaming Dexter

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Jeff Lindsay

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Pages: 288 (Paperback)

ISBN: 0752865749

Pub: Orion

Pub date: 2005-07-27

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 146

Editorial Review:

Meet Dexter Morgan, the chief protagonist of Darkly Dreaming Dexter. He's a highly respected lab technician specialising in blood spatter for the Miami Dade Police Department. He's a handsome, though reluctant, ladies' man. He's polite, says all the right things, and rarely draws attention to himself. He's also a sociopathic serial killer whose "Dark Passenger" drives him to commit the occasional dismemberment. Mind you, Dexter's the good guy in this story.
Adopted at the age of four after an unnamed tragedy left him orphaned, Dexter's learned, with help from his pragmatic policeman father, to channel his "gift", killing only those who deal in death themselves. But when a new serial killer starts working in Miami, staging elaborately grisly scenes that are, to Dexter, an obvious attempt at communication from one monster to another, the eponymous protagonist finds himself at a loss. Should he help his policewoman sister Deborah earn a promotion to the Homicide desk by finding the fiend? Or should he locate this new killer himself, so he can express his admiration for the other's "art"? Or is it possible that psycho Dexter himself, admittedly not the most balanced of fellows, is finally going completely insane and committing these messy crimes himself?

Despite his penchant for vivisection, it's hard not to like Dexter as his coldly logical personality struggles to emulate emotions he doesn't feel and to keep up his appearance as a caring, unremarkable human being. Debut author Jeff Lindsay's plot is tense and absorbing, but it's the voice of Dexter and his reactions to the other characters that make this one of the most original and highly recommended serial killer stories in a very long time. --Benjamin Reese, Amazon.com

Reader Reviews:

Pretty good, BUT... (0/0 people found this helpful)

Lately I seem to find myself reading a lot of books written by authors who don't seem to realise that their clever, clever twists aren't really all that clever. One example is Kathy Reichs, who, despite being an excellent writer, plots her books in ways that can be seen almost from page one. A major event in the early chapters, usually concerning love-interest Andy Ryan, tells me exactly how the final chapters are going to go.

Sadly, this is also true about Darkly Dreaming Dexter. The book is wonderfully descriptive, as is the protagonist's point of view, painting a world so vivid I could see myself standing over Dexter's shoulder the entire time. Unfortunately, most of the time I wanted to hit dim, dopey Dexter with something heavy for not seeing the painfully obvious conclusion, as I saw the first time he had one of his "visions".

In fairness, it's probably not right to blame the author for this. At this point, there probably isn't a story or arc or twist imaginable that hasn't been done to death by now. But I can't pretend it's not disappointing when I get to the last couple of chapters and see that everything progresses exaclty as I knew it would...

DDD's first-psycho-perspective makes for an excellent character study, but unfortunately, the book falls short as a thriller.

Your Friendly, Neighbourhood Serial Killer (1/1 people found this helpful)

This is a great premise for a book (or series of books), a guy working for the police who also happens to be a serial killer. It's so clever, and produces a fascinating anti-hero, Dexter Morgan. Lindsay hits pay dirt here with a series that combines criminal sleuthing, an intriguing main character and the perennial favourite, the serial killer.

The thing to remember if you're reading these because of the television series, which is also great, is that the books came first, and the books are never, never like the television series, so if you're in love with a particular plot arc, or character from the television, prepare to be disappointed. If however, you want to experience the birth of Dexter and some interesting personality quirks, issues and just 'stuff' that never made it onto the screen, it's well worth looking at.

The alliteration, darkly, dreaming dexter, deeply dopey dexter, etc, can be a little off putting until the book hits stride and then you become carried away with the plot, and Dexter's fascinating mental landscape that you don't notice it so much. The writing is fast and punchy, things move fast in Dexter's world, and my only complaint would be that Lindsay sometimes skims the surface, where more detail would be appreciated.

The character of Dexter is profoundly interesting, not necessarily sympathetic, but then he's a serial killer, so he's hardly likely to be cuddling kittens and weaving his own valentines cards. His struggle between his dark, inner urges and his failure to understand 'humans' is done really nicely, and the counterpoint with Debs trying equally hard to understand him is beautifully balanced. I will be reading the rest.

Better than the TV Show (0/0 people found this helpful)

I read this book long before the TV show and it blew me away - the darkness, the depth and the originality of the serial killer who directed his irrepressible urges for the force of good was a blisteringly inventive hook. For me, the book was far superior to the show (although I enjoyed that too). And for what it's worth, Jeff Lindsay's sequels to this rock too.

A great crime/psychological thriller (0/0 people found this helpful)

I picked this book up because the blurb and the cover caught my eye. From opening the book I couldn't put it down. I'm not a huge fan of crime novels that are often heavy with police procedure but as this has the twist of a serial killer narrator I thought I'd give it a go, I wasn't dissapointed. It's easiness to read and sardonic humour throughout made it a fabulous book for pure escapism. The TV is good, but it certainly does not beat the books.

A good series opener (3/3 people found this helpful)

I haven't seen the TV series so I enjoyed the book for what it was, a good series opener with a fantastic lead character. There's enough plot information around without me going into detail but Dexter has an aversion to blood (taken from the blurb) and despite this still works for the police as an analyst. This was my only query with the plot. Otherwise he is devilish and easy to like until you remember who he actually is.

Good fun, not too tricky to work out. A worthwhile read over the course of an evening. I will certainly be following this series through.

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