Darkly Dreaming Dexter
by Jeff Lindsay
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Book Reviews of Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Book Review: Great premise, entertaining narrative - but thin on plot and characterization
Summary: 3 Stars
So often a novel is turned into a film and is dramatically edited in order to fit it all into a 2 hour movie. The opposite is true when a book is turned into TV show, like Darkly Dreaming Dexter. In this case, the premise and basic story-line of a 300 page novel is stretched into a full season of hour-long cable TV shows. The result, of course, is that the TV show features considerably more detail, subplots, and character development. Fans of the show are inevitably disappointed by the `thinness' of the novel.
That said; some of the grievances are quite valid. I'm a fan of the TV series, but putting that aside and reviewing Darkly Dreaming Dexter on its literary merits, there are some significant shortcomings to this novel. While Dexter is fleshed out as a character, the secondary characters are woefully underdeveloped. In particular, the character of Deb, who Dexter describes as an intelligent capable cop, is portrayed as `not being the sharpest knife in the drawer' and a little whiny to boot.
The premise for the novel is ingenious and Dexter's narrative is ripe with sardonic humour, but the plot itself is unremarkable. The ending feels rushed and the whole novel is somehow unfulfilling - a great idea that just isn't executed well.
Darkly Dreaming Dexter isn't a bad novel. The story zips along quickly. Unlike the end of series one of the TV show, the novel's resolution is a little nastier and more ambiguous. I like that. This novel is worth reading as a kind of curiosity for fans of the TV series, and it's a reasonably entertaining quick read. While not at the top of my reading list, I suspect I may well read the second instalment to see where Lindsay takes Dexter's story. 3 ½ stars.
Book Review: The world in shades of grey & black
Summary: 4 Stars
Dexter Morgan works as a police blood spatter analyst. He's handsome, charming, witty, and well liked. He has a boat that he takes out in the bay. A girlfriend with two very lovely children. He also has a sister Deborah Morgan who is a cop and works in vice but desperately wants to be in homicide. He seems like a normal human with a normal life. But the problem is Dexter is a fake. He has no emotions at all and mimics his human behavior and every now and then Dexter's Dark Passenger takes over and Dexter kills someone--brutally and with no remorse.
From the first chapter you know that Dexter, the narrator of the story, is a serial killer. He prides himself on his neatness and the fact that all his victims truly deserve to die. You see, Dexter only kills other serial killers and he does a lot of research to be sure that he has the right person before he dismembers them and wraps the parts in nice, neat packages. But in spite of this, you find yourself liking Dexter. He is witty and charming and his observations on the human species, a species he doesn't consider himself belonging to, are outrageous and nearly always spot on. Similar to Boondock Saints, you find yourself routing for Dexter even knowing that he's not a truly nice person or one you'd want to meet in a dark alley or a well lit street for that matter.
The writing is tight and draws you in. Lindsay pulls you into the story and makes you like someone that we all know we should find reprehensible from the get go. Yet there we are, hoping he will help his sister and catches the killer who shares his M.O. But life isn't simple or easy and some novels leave you wondering what your true beliefs are and just where black turns to grey.
Book Review: Neurotic to the maximum-I love this character!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Dexter Morgan. He's a highly respected lab technician specializing 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 calls 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. The plot is tense and absorbing, but it's the voice of Dexter and his reactions to the other characters that keeps me reading the Dexter series, as well as making it one of the most original and highly exciting serial killer stories in a long time.
Book Review: A super hero for modern times
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved this book. It had everything one could ask for in a murder mystery/suspense novel, and it was fun on top of it. Dexter was adopted by a cop when he is 4. He witnessed something that he can't remember but the effects of his earlier life leave him lacking a few things. Nothing important really, just a conscience, compassion, empathy, ability to love. You know, the little things in life that separate us from wild beasts. Try as you might, you just can't help but love this guy in spite of it all. It's the whole bad boy thing on steriods. He is all grown up now and works for the police department as a blood spatter technician. His step-sister, Deb, is a cop who wants so badly to become a detective and leave behind her glamorous life working vice as an undercover hooker.
The premise of this book is fresh and new, which is why I am giving it 5 stars. Dexter is a serial killer who stalks serial killers. His adopted father Harry, recognized there was something lacking in young Dexter and channeled this evil to work for the good of mankind in a weird, sick kind of way. This is revealed in the beginning of the story, so I am not spoiling anything for you. The journey through this book is about introducing our characters, and finding out what has made Dex the monster he is today. It shows the struggle between Dexter the killer and Dexter who only wants to hurt those who hurt others. The book is a breath of fresh air and a joy to read. I can't wait to dive in to the sequel. You are missing out on one of the best mystery/suspense books written in while, if you pass on this one.
Book Review: A New and Interesting Twist on a Tired Genre
Summary: 4 Stars
Serial killer books can be so tiring to read now. We've all read Thomas Harris' work, and by now, not much can compare. (Okay, maybe Caleb Carr) At any rate, Lindsay drops in and makes a splash. Dexter is so unique that you can't help but like the guy, despite how he tends to spend some of his free time. The character is fresh and exciting. The plot also moves along at a blistering pace. This is a book you can read on a Sunday afternoon in one sitting.
I only have two complaints on the novel. When we find out who the killer is, it is sort of anti-climactic because it seems rather obvious about halfway through the book. Not terrible, just a little too easy to guess. Second, the ending. I liked the ending and thought it fit the character all too well. I just would like for it not be so....rushed. It just kind of "happened," and your kind of guessing as to what it was that really went on.
All in all, those points should not deter anyone from reading this book. It is thoughtful, original, and above all darkly humorous.
In response to some of the negative reviews, I would like to point out that the "repeating" nature of Dexter seemed to fit the character well. It seems that as a first person narrative, he would react that way when he was not in control of a situation. "Did this really happen. I mean...did this really happen???" (That's not an official quote, just an example) Dexter's character would be so bewildered by something so out of kilter with his "normal" life, that he would obsess over that fact, thus the repeating of himself.