Book Review: Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Book: Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Author: Jeff Lindsay
Publisher: Vintage
Review: Larry

If I had to pick the best book of the decade that began with 2000, it would only take about 10 seconds of consideration to come up with Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. This is the first book of a series (4 as of this writing) that breaks all conventions of what is "right and decent" in today's society and will have the reader cheering for the sociopathic protagonist.


The short synapsis can be summed up as "a serial killer who kills serial killers". The long synapsis is as follows:

Dexter Morgan is a foresnic specialist (specifically a blood splatter analyst) with the Miami Police Dept. He is funny, charming, handsome, and easy going. But all of that is a mask he wears simply so he can blend in with "humans" so he can perform the duties that are his real reason for living: he likes to kill people. Luckily for Dexter (and Miami), he was adopted at a young age by Harry Morgan, a decorated and experienced Miami Police Detective, after Dexter had a violent and traumatic experience at the age of 3. As Dexter grew to a teenager, Harry recognized the signs that Dexter was permanently scarred and on his way to be a sociopathic killer. Harry, for several reasons, trained Dexter to leave no clues and instilled "the Harry Code", namely to only kill killers. The result is the best character in the best book of the best series of the 2000 decade.



The Dexter books are all told from the first person point of view, and that person is Dexter. The reader has an intimate view of the world from a sociopath. But this isn't a typical crime-laden mystery novel. This is a book that will have you laughing out loud every other page. I named my dog "Dexter", by the way.

The first two books were so sucessful, Showtime immediately began a very popular series, "Dexter", on their cable channel (just finished the third season) and the show already has won several Emmys.

The books in the series so far are Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dearly Devoted Dexter, Dexter in the Dark, and Dexter By Design.

This is not the typical crime novel and is probably more appropriate to be placed in the Horror genre, although the humor in the stories cannot be overstated.