Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
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Book Reviews of Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Book Review: The TV Show is Better
Summary: 4 Stars
If you are looking to read this book because you are hooked on the tv show, then you may be surprised. The book Dexter is a bit more cold and crazy, though still funny at times. What surprised me most is that the tv show was actually better than the book. I can't remember the last time (if ever) that I have come to that conclusion. The story is quite different, but a lot less things happen and before you know it. . . the book is over. I won't be giving away any spoilers, so you'll just have to find out for yourself. I would give the tv show a 5 star rating and the book a 4 star.
The one thing I really hated about the book were the constant repetitive ramblings about the fact he is a killer and why he even bothers to pretend. Over and over pages are wasted saying the same thing. By book #2 I am just skipping over these pages.
Book Review: The Show is Better
Summary: 4 Stars
My day job happened to have a connection to the Dexter show - the sister of one of my coworkers worked on the set. My curiosity was already piqued by the premise of a serial killer turned vigilante, and I thought that as a show it would either be a marvelous achievement or a glorious disaster. Since it was on Showtime, and I don't get Showtime, I didn't get the chance to find out.
Eventually, Dexter came out on DVD and much to my relief the show was phenomenal. Dexter is every bit as charming and cold-blooded as you might expect from a sympathetic psychopath, and his occasional narrative aside serves to add both humor and horror to the events on screen. And those events are the political machinations of the Miami Police Department.
Dexter was raised by his foster father and former cop, Harry, to follow a particular code. This code regulates everything Dexter does, from how he dresses to whom he kills. Dexter's bloody murders are further complicated by his beard of a girlfriend, Rita, his half-sister Deborah, and his day job as a blood spatter analyst. Then one day a serial killer starts committing murders with an underlying message, a message meant only for Dexter. And then things get REALLY complicated...
The show is surprisingly true to the book. Every character is there just as I imagined them, except one: the main antagonist. In the television series, Dexter's antithesis is smart, conniving, believable, and capable of far worse than Dexter himself. In the book, he's a one-note ghoul who, in the span of five pages or so, expounds upon his entire background, his reason for killing and tempting Dexter, and their relationship.
And therein lay the problem. Darkly Dreaming Dexter tries to be both an ironic reflection of our fascination with serial killers and a murder mystery, but the mystery is severely lacking. Lindsay can only come up with "maybe Dexter's committing the murders in his sleep." It's telling that the producers of the television series discarded that notion right away, choosing instead to introduce the villain gradually.
The other problem is that the book escalates a conflict in Dexter's personal and professional life to such a level that it's something of a cheat; killing an antagonist off is easy, defeating them is hard. The end of Darkly Dreaming Dexter doesn't even give us closure with the other serial killer. He just gets away, leaving the reader with an unsatisfying conclusion and the creeping feeling that Dexter's personable fa?ade has been completely discredited.
Nevertheless, Dexter is a marvelous read. As narrator, Dexter himself toys with language, using alliteration at it fancies him. As an author, Lindsay's writing skills are above par, and some of his descriptions are almost poetic.
Given the choice between the two though, I'll stick with television Dexter, thanks.
Book Review: Dexter, the Show is Better, But Thank God for Inspiration
Summary: 3 Stars
I'm a bit of a Dexter fanatic. After watching just one episode of the Showtime hit, I was hooked, reeled in, and left wanting more and more. I adore the idea of a serial killer who not only kills bad guys (ala The Crow, etc.), but also ENJOYS and NEEDS to do this "work." It's rather twisted, yet seems just. How can that be?
Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately, I'm not sure, I watched the show before I read the books and I must say, Michael C. Hall's portrayal of Dexter is so amazing and wonderful, I found myself saying throughout the reading to Book Dexter, "Why can't you be like TV Dexter?" Even the plot lines, once again, on the show, they're fantastic, in depth, and gripping. In the book? Eh, not so much.
Still, I recommend this for any deeply devoted Dexter fan so you can see for yourself how this twisted good time started, but I have to be fair and recommend the show even more. It takes the book and kicks it up a few notches. It even slices and dices THOSE notches with ease and cleans up afterwards like a breeze.
Book Review: The show is better. If you saw the show, don't bother.
Summary: 3 Stars
I don't know if I didn't really care for this book because I saw the series first, or that it isn't a great book. Usually I enjoy reading the book that a series or movie is based on AFTER I see it on screen. I think I enjoy it more because the book usually has more. This one does not.
I find the prose pedestrian and simplistic. The dialog is blase and the characters save for Dexter are one-dimensional props to move the plot (what there is of if) forward.
It is not a bad book. As a light summer read for sitting by the pool or at the beach, this would be fun. The pages fly by and what passes for a story is easy to keep track of.
If you haven't seen Dexter on Shotime, I suggest you do, but then avoid this book. If you haven't seen Dexter yet, start with the book. It will be much better for you.
Book Review: At least a good TV series came out of this
Summary: 1 Stars
I watched the first season of Dexter and couldn't wait to read the books that spawned it. I got the first two books out of the library and eagerly started reading number one. The sinking feeling came on page 8. Here's the passage that caused me to despair.
"No," he said.
"Yes," I said.
"Oh, no," he said.
"Oh, yes," I said.
He screamed, "NOOOO!"
Despite this I continued on. The prose is fairly average. The characters are painfully stupid. Dexter only seems smart because everyone around him apparently flunked out of elementary school. The commentary on Miami traffic is actually kind of funny. It did have occasional tense moments, only spoiled by the fact that I couldn't bring myself to care what happened to anyone, not even the main character. On an amusing note, there is inadvertant homoerotic banter between Dexter and Masuoka. If you must read the book, see if you can find it!