I’ll start by saying that I haven’t read these since 2019, however it is one of the series I find myself thinking over the most. I was of the tribe that watched the show first, and honestly at the time, this kind of novel wasn’t really my thing, so hats off to Michael C. Hall’s performance for making me branch out.
I had a friend gift me the first three books because he didn’t enjoy them, and rather than that turning me off, it ended up a great opportunity for me to already own a few. I think I got the rest from ThriftBooks so I could continue. I wasn’t big on audiobooks at the time, but I’ve always said if they get Michael C. Hall to narrate them, I’d be first in line to buy them again.
If you are unfamiliar with the series, I will share the synopsis for book 1 in the series below. It does a good job of introducing the character.
Synopsis
Meet Dexter Morgan, a polite wolf in sheep’s clothing. He’s handsome and charming, but something in his past has made him abide by a different set of rules. He’s a serial killer whose one golden rule makes him immensely likeable: he only kills bad people. And his job as a blood spatter expert for the Miami police department puts him in the perfect position to identify his victims. But when a series of brutal murders bearing a striking similarity to his own style start turning up, Dexter is caught between being flattered and being frightened—of himself or some other fiend.
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The series starts with Darkly Dreaming Dexter, and in my honest opinion, it’s actually the weakest of the bunch. I believe my original rating was around a 6.5/10. Yes we get the set up for the series, and Dexter, as a whole, but it just felt okay to me. I think partly this was due to the fact that the plot is roughly the same as season one, but featuring way less details. Those little odds and ends that make a series captivating…the show had, the novel didn’t exactly. But it does get you attached to Dexter, so it still does its job. Thankfully, the novel also deviates from the show at about the 80% point, so although it was written first and I experienced it in reverse, it was still something new for me.
And something new it really was. It’s both a crime series, as Dexter works for the police, and a horror/thriller, following the antics of Dexter’s moon-drunk nighttime activities. At the time, I had never heard of anything like it. Although I’ve seen some takes on it since, they haven’t held up as far I can tell. (If you can think of one or disagree with me comment below, I want to check it out!). The author uses a character with wit, comedy, and general likability to create this kind of weird universe where we not only overlook all the bad, but root for him too.
Each book in the series, with titles that follow: Dearly Devoted Dexter, Dexter in the Dark, Dexter by Design, Dexter is Delicious, Double Dexter, Dexter’s Final Cut, and Dexter is Dead, bring something additional to the story, whether it be Dexter’s past, his killings, or police day-to-day life. Even though there are 8 of them total, I really didn’t feel like it needed to end, he wasn’t just adding on killings without a storyline. I would give the series an 8/10 total, it really builds into something awesome.
Below I’ll include a little book review for Dexter’s Final Cut (Dexter #7) as it is weirdly one of the lowest rated and divisive, and yet it ended up being my favorite. Keep in mind it’s from 2019, and I was apparently in my feels about some other reviews.
Synopsis
Lights. Camera. Mayhem. You won’t find this story on television. Hollywood gets more than it bargained for when television’s hottest star arrives at the Miami Police Department and develops an intense, professional interest in a camera-shy blood spatter analyst named Dexter Morgan. Mega-star Robert Chase is famous for losing himself in his characters. When he and a group of actors descend on the Miami Police Department for “research,” Chase becomes fixated on Dexter Morgan, the blood spatter analyst with a sweet tooth for doughnuts and a seemingly average life. To perfect his role, Chase is obsessed with shadowing Dexter’s every move and learning what really makes him tick. There is just one tiny problem . . . Dexter’s favorite hobby involves hunting down the worst killers to escape legal justice, and introducing them to his special brand of playtime. It’s a secret best kept out of the spotlight and away from the prying eyes of bloated Hollywood egos if Dexter wants to stay out of the electric chair. The last thing he needs is bright lights and the paparazzi. . . but even Dexter isn’t immune to the call of fame.
Review
Just checked out the other reviews to find out that people seemingly hate this one? The one I just willingly gave 5 stars to (I believe a first for this series).
Spoilers? Mild?
Spoilers…
I find it really funny/odd that people are SEVEN books into a series and they are upset that a psychopathic fifty-seven-time serial killer is also willing to cheat on his wife? A wife that he has, for the last seven books, (starting as a girlfriend) stated was just a wonderful cover that helped him avoid suspicion from the world. Not to mention that he has stated over and over that he can not feel human emotion…
This is not to knock everyone else’s opinions, but as readers our liking of Dexter is our projection of him. He is a serial killer, he is a bad person, a psychopath. His humor and wit help us enjoy and continue reading, but that is not to say it makes him GOOD. I feel that his love of being admired while with Jackie Forrest and getting wrapped up in the glamour and relative fame fits perfectly into the mindset of a killer who keeps drops of blood as trophies.
Just my thoughts
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Even after finishing the series, I still wanted more. Then I found out that Marvel had worked with the author to release some comics. Naturally I needed to grab the collected volumes for these too.
Both feature all-new adventures for Dexter and it was nice to jump into the world of him again. In my opinion, it also worked well in bloody comic format. At the time I was reading less, or at least less volume, so I had a lot of time to obsess over specific fandoms. That obsession also lead me to read The Psychology of Dexter edited by Bella DePaulo, which features essays from physiologists that are fans of the show about what makes him tick…and what makes fans like him.
It’s an unauthorized academic feature, but it was a really interesting read. As psychologists and fans, they have to analyze the facts, while also accepting that it’s a kind of weird experience to like a serial killer. You can probably find it on ThriftBooks, too if interested.
Naturally, I was never going to get out of this without mentioning the show itself. It’s where it started for me, and it was a favorite for a really long time. Of course I’ve already mentioned the stunning performance of Michael C. Hall as Dexter, but I also really appreciated the performance of David Zayas as Detective Angel Batista. A character and performance that heavily influenced my supporting character Senior Detective Ed Reyes from my forthcoming novel Cemetery.
This show has a special place in my heart. It’s gritty and wrong and bloody, but it’s one hell of a good time. Going back and watching some of it now, it can be a bit cheesy, especially some of the early 2000s outfits, but that’s what you get. It has a rather controversial ending, one that is pretty universally considered to be bad, but I don’t think that diminishes the show as a whole. And hey, I’m pretty sure I manifested it being revived for a season, as the way I described the renewal happening is almost practically how they did it. I also have a pretty solid line on how to bring things back for a book 9 too, regardless of the show and series ending very differently. Lindsay, give me a call!!
This revival was pretty much everything I wanted and more from several long years of waiting. However, as many fans were also thinking, I kind of expected it to run for a couple of seasons at least, so the ending was kind of a mind f**k. Not to mention a bit of a let down.
Regardless, the book series and the show are fantastic and uniquely different experiences that I’d suggest every gives a go.
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