Book info

• Title Darkly Dreaming Dexter
• Author Jeff Lindsay
• Year 2004
• Genre Thriller

Dexter Morgan isn't exactly the kind of man you'd bring home to your mum. At heart, he's the perfect gentleman: he has a shy girlfriend, and seems to lead a quiet, normal life bordering on the mundane. Despite the fact that he can't stand the sight of blood, he works as a blood-spatter analyst for the Miami police. But Dexter also has a secret hobby: he is an accomplished serial killer. So far, he's killed 36 people and has never been caught because he knows exactly how to hide the evidence. And while that may lead some people to assume he's not such a nice guy, he tempers his insatiable hunger for brutality by only killing the bad guys. However, Dexter's well-organised life is suddenly disrupted when a second, much more visible serial killer appears in Miami. Intrigued that the other killer favours a style similar to his own, Dexter soon realises that the mysterious new arrival is not simply invading his turf but offering him a direct invitation to 'come out and play'...

Thoughts

I’ve watched the first five series of the TV show and loved it, until it started tailing off. This isn’t a review of the programme though, but the book behind it, the incredible Darkly Dreaming Dexter. It may have helped to have the TV characters already embedded firmly in my brain but the writing is so clear and visual that I’m sure it wouldn’t have taken long to create my own.

It’s really a brilliant book. A unique, and intriguing, story with a strong structure and just the right balance of interest against repulsion - this is a serial killer we’re talking about, after all. From the introduction, there’s barely time to take a breath before you’re headlong into the story, getting inside the head of this character that is mostly good, sometimes bad, and self-confessedly not human.

I read this so quickly, just pored over it without being able to put it down. Great stuff, and I believe there’s a sequel so I’ll be on to that one soon!

Rating: 5 / 5