What We’re Reading

Dexter in the Dark | Jeff Lindsay

Rating:

In the latest installment of the Dexter series, we start pondering the bigger questions. Always comfortable with the idea that he was what he was, Dexter never had reason to question where his Dark Passenger had come from, and what, it anything, that might mean. But when a new case leaves him feeling cold, off, and worst of all, alone, suddenly questions are all Dexter has.

Nothing about the burnt corpses with their ceramic bull heads is really all that much worse than any other case. In fact it all seems pretty much run-of-the-mill, except for the feeling that something about it is all wrong. And since Dexter doesn’t feel…well, you can see how he’d be a little upset.

Lost without his inner companion, Dexter divides his time between searching in vain for answers, attempting to go along with plans for his wedding, and mentoring Cody and Astor, whose impatience nearly lands them in a world of trouble.

Some fans may find this installment irritating. Dexter, without half of himself, is not himself. I know of one reader who found him annoying and just wanted it to be over with. Myself, while he certainly is a changed Dexter, I found his questioning and insecurity to be perfectly understandable, and his search for answers is fairly compelling. And the Astor and Cody story line certainly keeps things interesting.

Not necessarily my favorite of the three, but definitely a good read. I’m very interested to see where this will go next.

Find it in the Catalog

Dearly Devoted Dexter | Jeff Lindsay

Rating:

I find Dexter to be a really likable guy, despite his serial killer nature. I’m interested to see where the TV show has gone in its second chapter, as it didn’t stick with the books. After reading the story, I can see how it might be extremely traumatic if translated to television, though with the amount of violence people watch today, I’m not sure it really would have mattered.

This installment centers around relationships, and a mystery killer who enjoys mutilating and dicing his victims, leaving them alive but witless with terror. For those who are squeamish, this might not be the best read, since there is a fair amount of detail to the distressing murders throughout.

On the flip side is the fun of seeing Deb in a relationship, and not only as a macho cop, and Dexter getting himself unwittingly engaged. Really.

I’m not sure I liked this as much as the first, but I did like it better than the most recent installment to the series.

Anyone who likes a great mystery, or the irony of a good serial killer, or a loveable bad guy, will enjoy Dearly Devoted Dexter for sure.

Find it in the Catalog

Darkly Dreaming Dexter | Jeff Lindsay

Rating:

I was first introduced to Dexter in a trailer for the series coming to Showtime. Sadly, that is not a channel included in my cable lineup, and I had to wait until I could Netflix it to check it out. But it was well worth the wait. It may be one of my all-time favorites ever. And the idea of a lovable Sociopathic Serial-Murder….well who could not be intrigued by that?

Knowing the Dexter, Season 1 was based on Darkly Dreaming Dexter, I was very curious to check out the book and see how it might vary. I love the show Bones, for example, but have never read Kathy Reichs. My mother has read all the books, and hated the show, because they apparently changed just about everything. So I was pleased to work my way through Darkly Dreaming Dexter and find not so many changes. Or changes that at least held true to the stories and characters, making it easy for the show fans to love the books, and vice versa.

With Dexter already set in my head as Michael C. Hall, there were a few times where I felt as if the book version wasn’t holding up. But only a few moments. And they may just stem from the fact that every first book comes with a few of those moments. Every book period may come with them.

But he was still the same darkly twisted good bad guy. Silently ridding the world of evil men at set intervals. Always carefully. Except for that once.

The character development was not as much as in the TV show, but had I not seen it I wouldn’t know that, so it couldn’t have bothered me. And since I have seen it, and did know, it didn’t bother me.

It’s very hard to do Dexter real justice, as he’s very much something you have to experience. Yeah, there’s some gore, but even the squeamish will likely take to him. Because even Dexter doesn’t really like gore.

Any mystery fan should definitely enjoy this series, and I think any great story fan will as well.

Find it in the Catalog