Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

[snugglekitty]

This recommendation from 7j was amazing. It blew me away. It was funny, it was profound, it was touching, it was witty, it was eerie, and it was very, very real. Far from your average, run-of-the-mill mystery, this one features a serial killer as the protagonist. It's not good enough that there are sequels - I want to get it back out of the library and read it AGAIN.

My favorite parts were Dexter's memories of his father, and his musings on his own psyche and sanity. ("I don't pretend to understand what it is about Dexter and blood. Just thinking of it sets my teeth on edge -- and yet, I have, after all, made it my career, my study, and part of my real work. Clearly some very deep things are going on, but I find it a little hard to stay interested. I am what I am, and isn't it a lovely night to dissect a child killer?" p 22) Five stars; one of the best books I've read all year.

ETA: I don't feel I said enough, here. This isn't really a book about serial killing. It's about how strange and funny people are, and how they want to see good in each other, and the dark sides we all carry around and try to hide. If you can get past the ick, anyone would get something out of this book.

Comments

[clonetwin.livejournal.com]

It's an awesome book. I haven't gotten around to reading the sequels yet. The tv show is pretty great, too - the first season has basically the same arc as the first book. The second season (airing now) is different from the second book (I think).

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

It's funny, I worried that the TV show might bother me in a way that the book didn't, and that that might subsequently detract from my enjoyment of the book (and its sequels). So I haven't decided whether to watch it.

[clonetwin.livejournal.com]

Are you worried about the gore?

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

A little bit. I'm more worried about how violence towards women is portrayed in the show. It was very lightly done in the book, but TV tends not to be that way, and it can push my buttons.

[clonetwin.livejournal.com]

Hmm... I don't don't believe there is much violence towards women shown on screen. But then, I don't know what your threshold is for that.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

It's the on screen stuff that I'm worried about, sexual violence particularly. So maybe it would be okay.

[kahoki.livejournal.com]

Good to know that Dexter was a book before it became a series - have just gotten into the second season, and have to say that the character development and story arcs supercede the serial killer overtones.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

I almost always like the book better than the TV show or movie, if there is one. Which often makes it more enjoyable to watch the TV show or movie first. That's what I'm planning to do with the Spyderwick Chronicles.

[monicaboston.livejournal.com]

I think it's fascinating to have a serial killer as the *protagonist*, and I actually like psychological fiction that is in the heads of serial killers and other disturbed people, so once I send this, I'm going to the library website and checking its status. Thanks for the rec!

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome - let me know what you think of it!

[clonetwin.livejournal.com]

It's rather odd to be reading the book/watching the show and to be rooting for the serial killer. Serial killer as good guy? It's a little weird. Fortunately, I like weird.