RFBW: Jeff Lindsay – Dexter

Darkly Dreaming Dexter

This first book naturally sets up the basic premise: Dexter is a forensic scientist who works for the Police, and in his spare time he kills those killers who slip through the Police’s net. Despite this, he is immensely lovable, partly thanks to the brilliant portrayal by Michael C. Hall in the TV series which I had seen before I read any of the books. I love the alliteration that is present in all three books. Dexter drearily does Devilish deeds daily, Iain is interested immensely. The whole thing is written from Dexter’s viewpoint, and thanks to the sterling writing at times you really feel like a passenger inside his head – but it sure is crowded in there. Sure, the ending is a bit vague, but having the second book to hand made things bearable. Maybe not one to read if you’re going to stop at just reading this first one.

Dearly Devoted Dexter

Technically speaking, as Jane bought me the Omnibus of the first three books for Christmas, I should just have the image of that rather than the front covers of the three individual titles, but hey, it looks nicer this way, don’t you think? The unintentionally comedic side of Dexter comes out in this one, when he somehow ends up agreeing to marry Rita, which is very funny. This part of the series also features a hugely imaginative killer: he tortures his prey in front of a mirror, so they can see what he is doing to them and they often end up with vital parts of their anatomy missing, such as hands, arms, feet, genitals, tongues, lips, noses, even eye-lids – and he keeps his victims alive much longer than is naturally possible under the circumstances. He’s really fucking evil, but it’s totally delicious to read.

Dexter In The Dark

Now this is where the tone of the series shifts. And, for the first time, we read from someone else’s perspective – or, more accurately, something else’s. This book introduces the concept that The Dark Passenger that resides inside Dexter is not a part of him – it is a primal consciousness, a force of nature originating from the beginnings of time – which seeks out violent individuals and feeds off their murderous intents. It’s a bold move away from the first two books, going from being based in reality to embracing the supernatural, but I think it works, and as such, this is my favourite Dexter book.

I’m a big fan of the Dexter TV show but due to us not having FX and me not being overly adept at torrenting things, I’ve only seen the first two seasons. I’ll get around to watching them at some point, even if it is as late as when they are all out on DVD in this region. I didn’t really want to go on about the TV series too much here, but I will say this: Don’t think that the TV series and the books are the same, they are not. They merely feature the same premise, and there is much branching off. Watch the TV series, read the books, they are both excellent. Consume all you can of Dexter.