Dearly Devoted Dexter

Dexter Morgan knows exactly why monstrous serial killers do what they do - because Dexter is himself a serial killer, even if he confines his chopping up of bodies to child killers and other unpleasant murderers who have somehow escaped justice. He tells us cheerfully that he likes nothing more than a long night with his very sharp knives and a helpless, bound victim. And he works for the Miami homicide police as a blood spatter analyst (he ought to know). Every instinct told me to disapprove of this book and to condemn its flippancy about depravity but, dammit, Dexter has a way of er. . . getting under your skin, and making you like him. His one-liners are exquisitely funny (in a very dark way) and the plots are excellent - to the extent that I rushed out to buy the first Dexter book before writing this review. In this second outing, Dexter is forced to team up with his nemesis, the forbidding Sergeant Doakes, to track down a hideous monster who spends weeks torturing his victims. Dexter is the most original sleuth to have appeared for years, and sharp as a razor. . .

DARLING DEVILISH DEXTER... (5/5 people found this helpful)

With Dexter Morgan, the author has created one of the most memorable characters around. Moreover, he has managed to make the reader really like Dexter, no mean feat, given the fact that Dexter is a serial killer, albeit one who only offs bad people.

With this sequel to "Darkly Dreaming Dexter", the author continues Dexter's saga. Still working as a blood splatter expert for the Miami police department, Dexter is spending quite a bit of time with his girlfriend, Rita, and her two kids. He is simply trying to fit in as best he can, knowing his own inner demons. Meanwhile, his nemesis, Sergeant Doakes, continues to hound Dexter, engaging in a cat and mouse game that effectively curtails Dexter from exercising his secret vocation.

Opportunity knocks when a crazed psychopath begins kidnapping and hideously mutilating people in an unimaginable way. Dexter's sister Deborah finds herself connected to the case, and Dexter finds himself intrigued by this cunning psychopath whose technique is so fiendish as to leave even Dexter breathless. Inadvertently, this psychopath will end up doing Dexter a solid.

Written with sly humor, I enjoyed this second Dexter book even more than the first. With a fascinating plot, an ingenious psychopath that is terrorizing Miami, and some more insight into what makes Dexter tick, I am totally hooked on this fictional character.

Great stuff for book two (5/6 people found this helpful)

I enjoyed reading this, although I did like the first one more. This book is really getting to know Dexter, rather than his 'dark passenger' I think. The crime is gruesome and not much is left to the imagination.

Brilliantly written, I look forward to reading the third one - almost immediately as I want to have read them before the television series starts next week!

A great writer, a great character and a great plot.

solid version of Dexter (0/1 people found this helpful)

This is the second novel to feature Dexter, lab tech with a side line in serial murder! The author captures the essence of the TV series very well and if you enjoyed the series, you would likely enjoy this.
Like the series, this is not for the faint hearted and there are some surprising twists that feature some of the characters we know from the series.

Not so much serial killer as serial bore. (0/4 people found this helpful)

Dearly Devoted Dexter is not a comfortable read. I felt myself squirm frequently and indeed felt occasionally sickened by what was on the page. "Ah, but isn't that what the author intended?" I hear you ask. Dexter, the main character, is a serial killer after all. Surely books of this sort aren't supposed to be `comfortable'. Good point, but unfortunately for the author, Jeff Lindsay, the unease which Dearly Devoted Dexter generates is not caused by the subject matter, but rather by the author's writing style. Jeff Lindsay chooses to tell the story in the first person, a useful ploy to help the reader closely identify with the character. However, Dexter is wholly unappealing and unsympathetic, a dullard with an annoying tendency to talk about himself in the third person. The character never misses an opportunity to let us know that he is frightfully intelligent, boasting frequently of his enormous intellect. But action speaks louder than words and Dexter shows little evidence of intellect in his subsequent actions. The reader is left wondering how much of a genius you would need to be to put on a mask and strangle someone with a piece of wire? Admittedly the central premise is intriguing - a serial killer who only kills bad guys - but the author is ham fisted when it comes to getting the reader to identify with the character. Although he's a sociopath, Dexter has a fondness for both his family and children in general. Why not throw in a love of puppies and Christmas and make him the most sympathetic serial killer of all time?! Compare Dexter with that other fictional serial killer - Hannibal Lecter. There was a continual air of menace about Lecter that's missing from Dexter. With Lecter the reader was never sure of what he would do next, and anyone - even Agent Starling - could have been brunch. Dexter is too wishy-washy and the reader gets the feeling that he's not the monster he claims to be. However, in one way Dearly Devoted Dexter is quite wonderful - it fills the amateur writer with hope for their own future. If Jeff Lindsay can get this published then there's hope for anyone!

Jeff Lindsay

Reader Reviews:

Dexter is distinctly different! (0/0 people found this helpful)

DARLING DEVILISH DEXTER... (5/5 people found this helpful)

Great stuff for book two (5/6 people found this helpful)

solid version of Dexter (0/1 people found this helpful)

Not so much serial killer as serial bore. (0/4 people found this helpful)

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