Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff LindsayMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
A fun take on the serial killer genre. Darkly comedic.
Obviously, if you’ve seen the TV series of the same name, then you’ll have an idea of how this book goes. Dexter works for Miami Metro PD as a forensic scientist. A blood spatter analyst (NOTE – it’s SPATTER not splatter! There is no “L” in spatter! A pet peeve of mine – even documentaries get it wrong…). Dexter also, in his “spare time” rids the area of other bad men – he’s a serial killer. He does however work within the set of rules outlined by his adoptive police officer father, in order to kill only “those who deserve it”, and to avoid getting caught.
The plot of this first book follows Dexter as he (and the police) are trying to catch the “Ice Truck Killer” – the plot of the first season of the show – but with some very distinct differences. Don’t expect the show to be a play by play re-run of the book – and vice versa if you come to these stories from the other direction. And that’s a good thing, because you’ll not feel like you’ve seen or heard it all before. This book (and I’ve only read the first one in the series so far) is a little more comedic than the show was (and that also had its moments!). By not taking itself too seriously, you can therefore get on board with the fact that Dexter isn’t your “normal” type of psychopath – and not feel so bad that you’re effectively rooting for the bad guy. To flip the usual police procedural on its head is a nice change. I’ll hopefully get a chance to read more of these.
But don’t forget folks – Dexter is fiction! Serial killers in the real world are all bad, and not something to be glorified. At all.
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