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May 17, 2008

Daniel rated it:

Like so many others, I loved the Showtime series and wanted to check out the original source material. I was very disappointed indeed. Since a lot of other people seem to have liked it, it may just be a matter of taste, but...

The characters are two-dimensional cliches that can't tie their own shoelaces, except for the daringly deductive Dexter, who *can* tie his own shoelaces. Which makes him a genius. I recall seeing someone else comment that Darkly Dreaming Dexter needs to " More...

13 comments like (74 people liked it)

Nov 03, 2011

Lou rated it:

Getting in mind of Dexter is never boring his insight is funny and his technique of killing is masterful.Dexter talks of his beginnings, of his first kill, the day his dark passenger became the rider. Recollections of the past with his father Harry and his deadly advice, its a good fast read in the rambling mind of a sociopath Dexter.
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1 comment like (12 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Logan rated it:

Mysteries and Thrillers are often hit-or-miss for me. I have had the good fortune of being recommended a lot of writings from the creme de la creme of this genre by my father, so grew up ingesting PD James, John le Carre, and Dennis Lehane with the pulp sci-fi that was my fare of choice. I have also, at times, been forced to read a James Patterson or John Grisham for lack of any other reading materials. This has given me a broad exposure to what could arguably be called the most popular genre More...

0 comments like (13 people liked it)

Aug 13, 2008

Shannon rated it:

Dexter is a serial killer, a killer who just can't help himself. He doesn't even see himself as human. But he does have something of a conscience and lives by the Code of Harry, his cop foster father, who understood his nature and sought to help Dexter control it somewhat when he was a teenager. Now a blood spatter analyst for Miami police, he's brought in on gruesome murder cases and a new serial killer in the city has Dexter feeling inspired, flattered and awestruck - and frightened that it's More...

6 comments like (12 people liked it)

Jun 08, 2011

notyourmonkey rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Feb 02, 2012

Stephen rated it:

3.5 stars. I am a BIG fan of the Dexter series on Showtime and was a little hesitant to begin to read the book series because of how much I like the show. Michael C. Hall's portrayal of the character is such an integral part of my enjoyment of the show that I was worried that I would not relate as well to the main character (dangerous thought, I know, since he is a serial killer). Well, turns out that my fears were groundless as the book is excellent and tracks the first series of the show extre More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 14, 2011

Kim rated it:

Firstly I have never seen the show. Not once, not a single episode. Over the years I've been told to watch it countless times and then told I have to read the books. Well finally I decided to read one.

While it was a good story it always felt like something was missing. I prefer my crime books to have more truth about them. The whole plot point of the dreaming was honestly annoying. It felt like it was there just because the author couldn't think of a clever way of getting Dexter to t More...

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jan 23, 2008

Liza rated it:

I read this series of books because I was so taken by the Showtime series. And you know what? I liked the TV show better! The books are good, and it's fun to get "inside the mind" of Dexter, but because the plot of the book follows pretty closely to the first season of the TV show, it was hard not to make comparisons.

Spoilers below, so don't continue reading if you don't want to know what happens!

A few things that I thought the TV show did a lot better was More...

6 comments like (15 people liked it)

Jul 24, 2007

Zachary rated it:

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4 comments like (4 people liked it)

Nov 01, 2007

Lauryl rated it:

Yeah, yeah, yeah...
so I picked this up because I saw the Showtime series. I admit, I have become a big fan of the show, which is pretty smart and complex, despite its kind of silly premise. AND it's gruesome, which is always good. The book, however, lacks the depth and character development of the show. I suppose that's one thing that television, as a medium, is actually really good at. The book feels a little flip, and a little silly, andeven though it's the first in a series, it doe More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Aug 11, 2008

Bernadette rated it:

In case you’ve been in a coma the premise of this book (and the others in the series and the subsequent TV show) is very simple: a serial killer who kills serial killers. Alas, the idea is far more intriguing than the reality. I did enjoy the humour but there wasn’t nearly enough of it to keep me entertained and the rest was Disappointingly Dry Dexter.

While I can happily suspend my disbelief to accept a pithy psychopath as the protagonist it’s not nearly so easy to swallow the notio More...

7 comments like (9 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Brooke rated it:

I simply love Showtime's Dexter. If Dexter the TV show were a book, I'd give it 5 stars. I've held off on reading the books that the show is based on for a while, because I didn't want anything to sully my Dexter-love. Was it possible they could favorably compare?

Luckily, Jeff Lindsay's first Dexter novel is pretty damn charming. Like The Princess Bride, the screen version by its very nature ends up missing a lot of the wonderfulness that's hidden in the narration. I loved the consta More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Dec 26, 2011

Stephen rated it:

The first time that I read this book I was disappointed in it but that was probably not a fair assessment. This book was written two years before the series and the one book encompasses all of the action of the first season. Twelve hours of programming. The team of television writers had the opportunity to take an already interesting story and explore the possibilities more fully.

I feel that many of the novels weaknesses were corrected in the television series and that the writers a More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 13, 2007

Lori rated it:

Oh Moon, glorious Moon --- Why did'nt I pick this up when it was first released is beyond me!

I love Dexter and his Dark Passenger. His sarcastic wit, his lizard brain, his fake girlfriend and actual love of little kids. His hobby-related career as a blood-splatter analyst by day, and his moonlighting as a killer of killers by night.

Whats not to love?? If you havent read this book (series) yet, you dont know what your missing! I highly recommend this to everyone.

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0 comments like (11 people liked it)

Feb 24, 2008

Janet rated it:

The only problem that I (and my niece) had with this book was the serious usage of alliteration used by the author. It seriously got to be really ridiculously repetitively repulsive reading. The story was very good and the main character is actually very likeable even though he's a serial killer. One thing I did notice when reading was that I couldn't help, every so often, taking a look at the jacket flap to see just who was writing such stuff. I started looking at the photo of Mr. Lindsay a More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Rebecca rated it:

It really takes talent on the part of any author to take a character that should be unlikable and turn him into a character you like and more importantly, empathize with. Dexter is a sociopath that has urges to kill but thanks to help and love from his family he's channeled his homicidal rage towards the dregs of society (priests that molest children). I was suprised how much I liked this book and what an addictive character Dexter is. I can't wait to pick up more books in this series and tune i More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 17, 2009

Laura rated it:

Darkly Dreaming Dexter is definitely not a typical "serial killer vs. police" novel. The protagonist, Dexter Morgan, works with the Miami P.D. analyzing blood splatter at crime scenes, and as a result he becomes involved in the city-wide search for a serial killer victimizing area prostitutes. The twist, of course, is that Dexter is a serial killer himself. Not the serial killer currently being hunted by the police, but a serial killer, nonetheless.

In general, I stay away More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 26, 2010

Maggie rated it:

Oh how I love darling droll Dexter. Dexter is fluent in sarcasm, which is the language on my home planet, so I really loved this. Can't wait to finish the series. Great writing, fun characters, lots of swearing and subtle wit, this book was written with me in mind, I think.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 24, 2008

le-trombone rated it:

It's probably impossible by now to not know that Dexter is a serial killer, but just in case you picked up this book without knowing it, the book opens with Dexter picking up his victim, showing him why Dexter picked him up (the evidence of his own killings is laid out before him), and the final killing, all clinically described.

Dexter Morgan is a serial killer who restricts himself to other serial killers. Because he works for the Miami police department as a blood spatter expert, More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 18, 2008

Katharine rated it:

Darkly Dreaming Dexter is a 2004 novel by Jeff Lindsay. It has formed the basis of the Showtime television series Dexter.
The novel's protagonist, Dexter Morgan, is a young man who works for the Miami Police Department as a forensic blood spatter pattern analyst. In his spare time, Dexter is a serial killer with a catch: he only kills people, always murderers, he believes have escaped from judicial punishment.

Dexter also has an inner voice he refers to as the "Dark Passenge More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 06, 2008

Sherry rated it:

Well, I guess everyone has there dirty little secrets. Mine is that I really like this TV show, and when I saw the book I couldn't resist picking it up and reading it. I whipped through it in basically one sitting, about 3 hours, so you know it wasn't the deepest book. Still, it explained a lot about who Dexter is that they can't cram into a weekly 1-hour show. Dexter is the ultimate damaged kid who grows up into a sociopath and becomes a serial killer who only kills people who he knows have kil More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 04, 2008

Mike rated it:

Well, I watched the TV show first which kind of removes the suspense from the mystery-suspense novel. But I had the book on my shelf for awhile and it needed to be moved from the unred to read pile. One of the biggest problems with reading a book after seeing the television show is that all of the characters are inextricably linked to their television counterparts. I found myself hating the Deb character and I really hated her in the show, but Dexter was amazing in the show and that made me l More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 25, 2008

Ritz rated it:

Leí El Oscuro Pasajero como intermedio de Rant. Llegué al libro por la televisión.

Resulta que existe una serie llamada DEXTER, que ha sido un batacazo para Showtime y ¡yo la amo! Trata sobre un asesino en serie que sólo mata a asesinos en serie que el sistema no atrapa. Recomiendo altamente la serie que ya tiene su segunda temporada, es divina y tiene unas actuaciones supremas, comenzando por Michael C. Hall, el protagonista.

Resulta que la serie para televisión es la ada More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Nov 25, 2007

Matimate rated it:

It is hard to say if it is better to read the book and then watch the TV or vice versa. My friend Dinofly recommended me the TV series Dexter as good detective story with hint of deviations, which could make my day little bit darker. The main character and narrator of the story is Dexter Morgan who tried to pass for ordinary guy. He had his job as forensic technician, nice girlfriend and loving sister, however there is one big BUT. Dexter is serial killer with style. He kills easily and with pr More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 26, 2007

Scrappyia rated it:

This book follows Dexter, a serial killing blood spatter analyst, on his adventures in killing those who 'deserve it'. He researches his victims, who usually consist of people who kill others for the "wrong" reasons. He, especially, doesn't like when the bad guys kill children so he'll stalk them and research them till he is a 100% sure they're guilty and then takes care of them for good. One can't help but root for Dexter as he takes down and destroys the worst of the worst.

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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 21, 2007

Shannon rated it:

Generally I'm of the mindset that books are better than books-turned-into-movies-and/or-tv-shows. By reading I can visualize so much more than by watching something on TV which can be flawed by an actor's or director's interpretation. That said, I much prefer Dexter the Showtime Original Series to Darkly Dreaming Dexter.
I watched the whole first season of Dexter and loved it. The storylines are intricate and interesting and the characters well-developed (although I do despise Rita). More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 05, 2011

Brendan is currently reading it

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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 21, 2008

April rated it:

Like Dianne Ladd said in "Wild at Heart", this book is a "peice of S-H-I-toot". Dexter is a serial killer but only takes out people who deserve it. This is a great book for the housewife reader's circles who want something slightly edgy but lets them sleep at night, too. Dexter's personality is an mix of snobbishness and pseudo-intelligence, neither of which are believable or developed. And the bad news is, the book flap says Dexter will be the main character in more books t More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 12, 2009

Brandon rated it:

Like many people I read this book because I am a huge fan of the tv show. All my favorite characters were here and the story is basically the first season of the series.

I have seen movies that were just as good as the books, but here is a case where the show far outstrips the book. The characters are basically the same, but they are better in the show. Dexter is a show where you love the characters in spite of their major flaws. Here every character other than Dexter himself are very More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 27, 2009

Ro rated it:

I counted this as part-dark-humor, part-fluff since Dexter (for those of you who don't know) is a serial killer, but one with a wit as sharp as his knife. The book made me giggle frequently and outright guffaw a few times (once on the subway, where people gave me strange looks). As I progressed through the book, I became more and more disappointed 'cause I knew it would end soon - it kept me positively riveted and massively entertained.

The Showtime series, adapted from the book, de More...

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