60. Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
First Dexter Morgan book


Pages: 288
Finished: Mar. 28, 2008
First Published: 2004
Genre: thriller, mystery
Rating: 2.5/5

First Sentence:

Moon. Glorious moon. Full, fat, reddish moon, the night as light as day, the moonlight flooding down across the land and bringing joy, joy, joy.


Reason for Reading: When I first heard of this book I knew I'd have to read it some day. I've had it on request at the library for a couple months and it finally arrived for my turn. I have not seen the TV show.

Comments: Dexter Morgan is a serial killer. He has 36 kills under his belt and the first chapter proceeds to follow his 37th. Meanwhile his police officer sister, Deb, a wannabe detective, is working on a case with a killer that Dexter finds is using techniques similar to his own. At Deb's request he joins her in tracking down the killer. I didn't really enjoy this book as much as I had hoped I would. Right from the start I did not enjoy the first person narrative which I found awkward in a mystery. I also just did not like the main character's voice.

There were inconsistencies. He's supposed to be a blood spatter analyst but he spent all his time visiting crime scenes he wasn't involved with and tracking down the killer. I don't believe he performed his real job once in the whole book. I also think the narrative was meant to be humourous but the humour fell flat with me. Mind you, it was interesting enough to keep me reading. The second half was much better for me than the first. I'm not sure if I'll continue on with this series. I will probably read the next one to see if it gets any better. Maybe this works better as a TV Show?

Comments

  1. I was very apprehensive about rating this book; however, I gave it a 3.75/5. My husband said that he enjoyed Dexter more in the next two because of his developed sarcastic humor. (I think it was "sarcastic humor".) I'm not sure if I'm going to read the second or not. If I do, it won't be until much later in the year.

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  2. I can't decide if I like the TV show yet, but it certainly sounds better than the book. Sadly I have it on my shelf but am not in a big hurry to read it anyway.

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  3. Rats, I was loving the title but I guess I can skip this one.

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  4. I haven't read the book yet, but I can tell you the TV show works. It took me a few weeks to get into it, but when I did, I couldn't stop watching it. I'm still bothered on some level that I want to humanize and root for a serial Killer. But it really does work on TV!

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