Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Darkly Dreaming Dexter
by Jeff Lindsay

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Book Summary Information

Author: Jeff Lindsay
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-09-19
ISBN: 0307277887
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Vintage

Book Reviews of Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Book Review: Between the Covers: Book Review Blog
Summary: 5 Stars

I have a book review blog through blogspot called "Between the Covers" that reviewed this book on February 23, 2009:

Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay

The basis for Showtime's Emmy nominated "Dexter," that just previously finished its third season, is this wonderfully original series by Jeff Lindsay. You've seen cat-and-mouse mystery thrillers before, but none like this from a truly unique point of view.

Dexter Morgan, a blood-splatter forensic analyst for the Miami police department, goes above and beyond to catch the bad guy. If there is not enough evidence to catch the murderer and put him behind bars for good, Dexter takes care of it himself. However, Dexter's secret is not that he is a superhero; Dexter Morgan is a serial killer. Here's the catch, he only kills the bad guys. He fakes a normal life with his girlfriend Rita and his cop sister Deborah, but things become more complicated when a series of murders start to mimic Dexter's method. As a child, Dexter was found on a brutal crime scene where his mother was murdered. The officer on scene, Harry, became Dexter's foster father, but it wasn't long before Harry started to see the beginnings of Dexter's dark side. Instead of kicking that badness out, Harry trained Dexter to have a conscience and only get those that the law could not get by itself. He was also trained to never get caught. When this new series of murders seems to be sending messages directly to Dexter that only he can see, it seems that someone might know what Dexter does as a hobby. But with Harry dead who could possibly know besides Dexter? Could it be that Dexter's training and wiring has blown and he no longer only kills bad guys and just doesn't know it yet? He better find out quickly when those close to him start becoming targets. The only way to do this is to figure out more about his past before Harry found him at the crime scene and confront that buried past.

In his first book to the series, Jeff Lindsay brilliantly introduces a new point of view that has rarely been seen in literature, that of the serial killer mastermind. He makes it easy to fall for the killer even though Dexter is emotionless and fakes everything to the real world. There is also a fine bunch of characters to interact with in this way, his girlfriend Rita who might be as damaged as him, his foster-sister Deborah desperately trying to move from vice to homicide, a perverted lab forensic lab partner, a female lieutenant constantly flirting with him, and a Sergeant Doakes who may be the only one that suspects Dexter is more than what he seems. The fantastic way Lindsay gets his readers into the head of this serial killer is more than enough to make you enthusiastic for the rest of his series. And the fact that the plot keeps you on the edge of your seat constantly, and each new clever step blows your mind, will keep you flipping through the pages so fast you are in danger of a paper cut.

I would strongly recommend this book as well as Season One of Showtime's "Dexter" that follows the same plotline. I am a big fan of this book series for its constant originality in a popular genre where that rarely seems the case.

"It is not true we have only one life to love, if we can read, we can live as many lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish."
- S.I. Hayakawa

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Summary of Darkly Dreaming Dexter

The Basis for a New Showtime® Original Series Starring Michael C. Hall

Meet Dexter Morgan, a polite wolf in sheep?s clothing. He?s handsome and charming, but something in his past has made him abide by a different set of rules. He?s a serial killer whose one golden rule makes him immensely likeable: he only kills bad people. And his job as a blood splatter expert for the Miami police department puts him in the perfect position to identify his victims. But when a series of brutal murders bearing a striking similarity to his own style start turning up, Dexter is caught between being flattered and being frightened?of himself or some other fiend.

Meet 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. Breakout author Jeff Lindsay's plot is tense and absorbing, but it's the voice of Dexter and his reactions to the other characters that will keep readers glued to Darkly Dreaming Dexter, as well as making it one of the most original and highly recommended serial killer stories in a long time. --Benjamin Reese

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