Sunday, September 18, 2011

27: Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Jeff Lindsey
Published: 2004

Why?: How can you not want to try a book that completely screws up your view of the world by making you root for the serial killer? (What’s that you say? You’re sane? Then probably most of what I have to say doesn’t make much sense to you! 0_~) If you’ve seen the Dexter series (viva la Netflix!), then you’ll be familiar with this storyline, much of which was borrowed for the first season. After that, the novels and the series split off, with relatively little in common beyond the concept and names (especially concerning Dexter’s sexuality; he remains more asexual in the books, which I prefer). The writing of Darkly Dreaming Dexter is sly and amusing in a twisted way, which is has to be, given that it’s written in the first person by a man who deals with his urge to kill by killing on Very Bad People, and not the good ones…all while working as a blood analyst for the Miami-Dade Police Department! Strangely enough, these novels have one of the best versions of a family formed by adoption I’ve ever read. It’s about time there was a happy adoptive family who know that blood doesn’t matter when there’s loads of love involved!

Gist: Dexter Morgan is a normal dude, going about his business: blood analyst for the police by day, and serial killer killer by night. He tells about one of his most difficult cases while introducing his readers to the rules he lives by, instilled in him by his father, Henry Morgan.

Quote: “Really, now: If you can’t get me my newspaper on time, how can you expect me to refrain from killing people?”

Bonus Trivia: Jeff Lindsey has a sense of humor about creating a character who’s much more famous than he is. He claims a taxi driver once asked him if he’s seen Dexter, and mentioned that “I heard there are some books, too”!

Photobucket
Darkly Dreaming is on my Kindle, and there's only so many pictures to take of that. So here is Gomez, helping me type this very entry. Also, sticking his tongue out at me.

Perfect For: I guess you’ve got to be a little nutty, and not too afraid of gruesome crime scenes, though they’re less detailed than the Dresden books.

Genres: Fiction, Novel
Keywords: Mystery, Horror

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