Double Dexter

Dexter #6

by Jeff Lindsay

A witness. Such a simple concept, and yet for Dexter Morgan - a perfectly well-disguised serial killer - the possibility of a witness is terrifying.

As an upstanding blood-spatter analyst for the Miami Police, Dexter has always managed to keep the darker side of his life out of the spotlight. An expert at finding truly bad people - murderers who've long escaped justice - and giving them his own special attention. But now someone has seen him in the act.

Making matters worse, a brutal cop killer is targeting Miami police, leaving bodies beyond recognition, completely bloodless. As the police become more fearful of a psychotic killer in their midst, Dexter realises that his witness is not just circling him, but determined to expose him.

Dexter is being followed, manipulated and mimicked, leading him to appreciate that no one likes to have a double - especially when his double's goal is to kill him.

Like the five previously bestselling novels in the Dexter series, in Double Dexter Jeff Lindsay demonstrates the witty, macabre originality that has propelled him to international success.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Crime, Horror, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller

337 pages, Hardcover

First published October 18, 2011

About the author

Jeff Lindsay lives in Florida with his wife, author Hilary Hemingway, daughter of Leicester Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway's brother.

Lindsay is best known for writing the Dexter series of novels. Several of his earlier published works include his wife as a co-author.

Jeff graduated from Middlebury College, Vermont, in 1975, and Celebration Mime Theatre's Clown School the same year. He received a double MFA, in Directing and Playwriting, from Carnegie-Mellon University, and has written 25 produced plays. He has also worked as a musician, singer, comedian, actor, TV host, improv actor, and dishwasher.

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 4 out of 5]

(B+) 78% | Good
Notes: Not entirely original, but gives storylines and elements from previous books a more polished and satisfying do-over.

[Marvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

After six novels and six seasons, it might be nice to compare where Dexter is as related to its two media universes. I should say there are spoilers for those who never read or seen Dexter (but no spoilers for Double Dexter) but anyone who has not read or seen Dexter and is reading this review of the sixth novel deserves to be spoiled.

So here we are with the various characters that make up DexterLand.

Lt. Guerta: TV - alive and kicking as one of the major characters
BOOK - Murdered by Dexter's brother (Brian) in book 1

Sgt. Angel Batista: TV - majorly alive and married to Guerta
BOOK - alive but totally inconsequential

Brian Morgan - TV - Killed by Dexter in first season
BOOK: Still alive

Doakes: TV - Framed and murdered in Season 2
BOOK - Still alive but missing arms, a tongue and is pissed

Rita: TV - Murdered in Season 4
BOOK - Still alive and annoying


Rita's Kids: TV - Sweet little angels
BOOK - Mini-Dexters

Dexter's baby: TV - A son named Harrison (Mini-Dexter?)
BOOK - A daughter named Lily Ann. (Sweet little angel?)

Debra Morgan: TV - Does not know Dexter's secret
BOOK - Knows Dexter's secret.

Masuka: TV - Comic Relief
BOOK: Masuka? Who's Masuka?

So as you can see, TV series and books took their own routes in DexterLand. Only Season 1 follows the book. In many ways, the TV series has surpassed the book series for developing its characters and adding real emotional depth to the world's nicest serial killer.

But that may be changing in Double Dexter. The novel Dexter is getting more complex. He is really trying to get into the family life as he sees it. One of the funniest sub-plots in the book is Dexter attempting to do the Cub Scout thing with Cody. Yet this Dexter is also a little meaner which is a good thing. The Dexter reader shouldn't lose the sense that he is a cold-blooded killer . That's where the edge is in this series. I also enjoy Lindsay's sharp and wicked wit which is in full view in this installment. This may be the first Dexter book since number one that had me laughing out loud. Dexter has been a somewhat uneven book series but with this one and Dexter is Delicious, the author has managed to get his groove back.

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dexter has a witness problem. It’s a bit of a frustrating read after the last book in the series finally seemed like a step back in the right direction. The plot is a bit of a mess but it’s good enough if you’re a fan of the series. Still pales in comparison to the TV series though.

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘’I didn’t have to do anything but follow the pattern.’’
I can't believe that I finally finished the series. It only took me fifty years to do so. Read them so out of order but oh well. Also YES I KNOW THAT IS THIS BOOK 6 LEAVE ME ALONE.
Oh look at her once again giving Dexter 5 stars. Life advice just skip book 3 Dexter In The Dark.

Reading this made me think of the TV show which made me think of Michael C. Hall which made me think of Six Feet Under... now I wanna watch Six Feet Under. Such a fucking depressing show.
….should I just reread the series but in the correct order?

[Rhiannon Ryder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh Dexter! Let me count the ways I love you. First off, you are so slick and hopeless at the same time, I adore the messes you get into. Secondly, if you have to have side kicks to your story then who better than your potty mouth sister, difficult stepchildren and flighty but lovely wife? Thirdly you are a funny, funny man, twisted, but funny. Fourthly, your stance on criminals, now who can argue with that? Fifthly you're a club scout participant, who doesn't love a serial killer cub scout? Reason the sixth- Double Dexter, my highly anticipated, yearly fall treat!

It's a killers dream life, great job, fantastic family and time for deadly visits on the side, what could be better? That is until Dexter is caught in the act by some unknown observer. Life quickly spirals into fits of worry and *gasp* emotion, while Dexter fusses over who his mystery follower could be and if he's safe. Meanwhile life goes on as crimes continue as per usual in Miami, and Rita worries about the size of their house and if they should up size. But Dexter's shadow is wittier than expected, and between Rita, work and the kids it seems like Daddy Dexter has both gotten a little soft, and might have finally met his match.

This might have been my favorite Dexter book yet. I love what a tailspin family life has Dexter in. If he's not trying to work out all of Rita's cryptic subtext and nonsensical conversations, he's mooning over Lily Anne or trying to tame angsty tween Astor. Meanwhile Brian is also still popping by for Friday family dinners and Debs is quite confusingly depending on her partner for a change. Clearly Dexter is no match to simple, every day family life.

And funny! Yea Gods I was chortling the whole way through this latest Dexter Dramody. The Cub scout Wilderness Weekend had me in tears and the hubby was quite sick of my case of the giggles by bedtime. But so help me, the Cub scout leaders tirade on the deadly creatures of the great outdoors coupled with Dexter and Cody's death by mosquito is enough to make me die laughing all over again just thinking about it.

Insert the race to the finish, competition between Dexter and his shadow and this book was 100% a page turning, laugh out loud winner. As a pure bonus of joy the story trundles down to Key West and staggers smack into the middle of Hemingway Days, which was all the more enjoyable knowing that author Jeff Lindsay's wife is Hemingway's niece. Oh and did I mention there's a shark too? No? Well I suppose you'll just have to read Double Dexter for yourself then.

[Alisa Kester · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm Doubly Despondent to Discourse about this, but the beginning 3 -4 pages of this book are so Despairingly Dreadful that if this had been my first Dexter novel I would have stopped reading and never picked up another. Here's the first couple of lines:

"Of course there are clouds. They take over the sky and hide that pulsing swollen moon that is clearing its throat above them."

Clearing its throat? Seriously? And it only gets worse from there. It is the most floridly purple few pages I have ever read in a story that wasn't fanfic. Luckily, however, it is only the Dark Passenger who writes like a twelve year old girl addicted to purple ink. After we get past those few pages, we switch to Dear Darkling Dexter's POV and we are back into a Delightful Drama of Disturbed and Demonic (and solid) prose.

It's beginning to feel rather strange to be addicted to both the novels and the tv show, however, with their similar but diverging storylines. I can deal with the total difference of personality (I love both psychopathic book Dexter and emotional tv Dexter) but snapping back and forth between Dexter-has-a-son, Rita-is-dead, Deborah-has-no-clue vs Dexter-has-a-daughter, Rita-is-alive, Deborah-knows-all feels a bit like the universe is re-creating itself every time I watch/read one of Dexter's adventures. Weirdness!

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dexter is a mess.

Most people get better at their craft, this was flailing and improv at best and not what I expect from Dexter. To say I'm disappointed in his digression is putting it mildly. Cody and Astor are nice side characters, Doakes is clumping along menacingly, and good ole sis, Deborah is toned-down.

This feels wrong-footed, which suits the plotline, but it wasn't to my taste. I prefer precision and pride in craftsmanship.

[Gaja · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be honest, I've only read the first three books in the Dexter series prior to reading this one, which, having read those first three books, I probably never would have read if I hadn't won it in an online giveaway. I don't remember Rita being as IMMENSELY ANNOYING in the first three books as she is in this one. Maybe she lost her ability to complete a sentence/thought somewhere in the fourth and fifth books, I'm not sure. I also remember Dexter having some amount of depth and problem solving skills in the earlier books that was pretty much absent here. There was more than one occasion where a clue was revealed that made me think that Dexter would catch on to it quickly because it was that obvious, but then another chapter or so would go past with him blissfully unaware until he stumbled over it after the fact. I guess it was nice getting to feel smarter than the character pretty regularly, but when I'm reading something about someone who needs to be able to put two and two together to keep from dying/going to jail, it's pretty disappointing.

Also, I can understand being proud of your child and their development, especially in the case of a first child and an infant, but the near CONSTANT belittling of Dexter's nephew in order to praise his daughter got real old real fast. The jabs at the kid's intelligence and progress were off putting to say the least.

All in all, the book was okay, but it doesn't inspire me to pick up what I missed or to wait breathless for the next in the series.

[Rubi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could it really be Dexter's end?

This book was very slow and I would say that it was even boring. Only the last 2-3% of the book gave me some adrenaline.
I am about to end the series, only one more to go... Then I will be able to review the series as a whole.
At the moment I can already tell that I think the first books in the series were the best ones.

"What if I couldn't do this? What if I really had met my match, and he was just too much for me to handle? What if this was it, and the Dexter Show was about to end?"

[Wendy Holliday · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, Ok...it was better than I expected. Still, a good 50 pages can be cut out with all the inner monologue, ruminations of sweat, traffic and food. But I suppose those things make Dexter Dexter.

I still don't like the story line involving the kids. Especially Astor. It just doesn't fit.

But the Brian storyline ... He's just in her for a few suspicious glimpses.

** slight spoilers, ye be warned **



Why do I torture myself? Why am I reading another Dexter book after I swore them off more than a year ago?

Because I wanted to make sure I was right, and not just in some mood when I decided I didn't like these books.

Sure enough, there are just some really, really annoying things about Dexter in print as opposed to Dexter on screen. I LOVE the show ... why do I loathe the books? Usually, I can separate the two and just deal with it.

I'm trying to imagine if I had never seen a Dexter episode, would I feel as much loathing as I do for the books? Meh, I'll never know. Actually, yes, I think I would because the author has a tendency to wax eloquent about something for 3 paragraphs. Then BANG, he'll slip in a significant detail in the middle of a paragraph. Like, 3 words that are really important, and for someone like me who reads fast, maybe skips things occasionally or reads ahead, you miss that tidbit then are completely lost again in endless descriptions of food, clouds and sweat.

I skipped Dexter #5, and frankly there is nothing in my head that distinguishes anything whatsoever about the first 4 books. They are all so similar in plotting, pace and details that I would be hard pressed to recall any of it.

I mean, I just totally didn't realize that BRIAN was still around ... the ICE TRUCK KILLER ... Ok, I am totally confusing the show with the books, but yep, I totally missed the part in the BOOK that Brian got away. And now he's back for who knows what reason. And DOAKES is still around. I knew he was still alive, but he's still in the books as this suspicious, angry, walking Mr. Potato Head.

I'm going to give this 100 more pages before I give up.

[Tasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I keep reading the Dexter books, much as I previously kept watching the Dexter TV show, because the inherent idea has so much potential, and the character is, at his best-drawn, very interesting. And unlike some of the fans, I actually enjoyed it when the book series took a weird fantasy turn and we found out that Dexter's "Dark Passenger" — the internal awareness and hunger that makes him a serial-killing predator—was a literal presence, a fragment of an ancient god. That said, the books can be fairly repetitive, and this one more so than most. A bystander witnesses Dexter carving up his latest victim, and starts stalking Dexter and framing him for other killings, somehow turning into an expert murderer overnight in spite of what seems like an ineffectual, easily baffled personality. Which wouldn't be so bad, except that Dexter spends most of the book taking no action and brooding over how unfair it is that someone's after him. The interesting thing about these books is generally the look into the mind and actions of a sociopath, but when there's nothing going on in that mind but self-pity and confusion, it gets tiresome. (And in this book, Dexter is SO confused by people's behavior that it's hard to fathom. Supposedly sociopaths learn to mimic human emotions through study; Dexter is supposed to be smart, yet he's so dense that he doesn't understand that his wife regularly getting drunk and incoherent and furious at him might indicate something going on inside her head that's worth noting.) Overall, a so-so thriller.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jeff Lindsay is getting lazy.

The story had potential, and Lindsay's witty style was spot-on, but I spent most of the book frustrated by glaring plot holes and flaws in character reasoning (a real problem when your protagonist is supposed to be exceptionally intelligent).

I've been noticing the same problems with recent Sookie Stackhouse books. Methinks both authors are suffering from "Do I really need to be doing this since the TV shows spawned from my novels are making me enough cash to never ever work again?" disease. Bummerino.

[James Gonzalez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd have to say this is one of my least favorite Dexter books. While it was nice to have a villain who knew Dexter's identity and was always one step ahead of him, that came at the expensive of dumbing down Dexter himself. There were times where I was yelling at the book about how much of an idiot he was being, that the answer was too obvious. That was very disappointing.

Also, I know that Rita often talks in half sentences, but it seems like it went overboard this time. I swear she said maybe 6 complete sentences in the entire book, which was very, very annoying.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Info: Genre: Thriller/Police Procedural
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: twisted people
Trigger Warnings: murder

My Thoughts: Okay, this is my first read of this book, so it's all fresh and new and unknown! How exciting! To make things more fun, I did a sort of informal buddy read with Chuck from Bookworm Buddies over on Goodreads.

I was immediately struck by how strangely everyone is acting in this book. Rita is behaving very oddly, and Camilla Figg—always in the background, never any details—is also acting in a most peculiar manner, mangling her sentences even more than Rita most of the time. I've always wondered what Camilla's problem was. Does she have a crush on Dexter? Is she just painfully shy? And when Dexter finds out about the Shadowblog, why doesn't he just try to track down the owner of the blog? And when he finds the wife's name, why didn't he look up their marriage license to learn the guy's name? It seems pretty straightforward to me. I also have to say I do not at all understand why Dexter doesn't ask his brother for help sooner. After all, Brian has been wanting to have a playdate with Dexter for a very long time now, right?

Anyway, I love this series, but this book frustrated the heck out of me. Dexter was just not up to his normal standards and it drove me crazy. There were so many times that I figured out things before he did, and since I'm really not all that good at figuring things out, this just felt wrong to me.

On the other hand, the description of their first day in Key West was hilarious. So, all-in-all, I did end up enjoying the book. The ending was just beautiful and restored my faith in dear, darling Dexter. After all, who could really stay mad at him no matter how slow he may have been at figuring things out this time? Not me, that's for sure. But yeah, I had to take off a star for his unforgivable dullness through much of this book. This was not the Dexter I know and love, and I can only hope that the next book will fix these problems. For twisted souls only!

Series Information: Dexter Morgan series
Book 1: Darkly Dreaming Dexter, review linked here
Book 2: Dearly Devoted Dexter, review linked here
Book 3: Dexter in the Dark, review linked here
Book 4: Dexter by Design, review linked here
Book 5: Dexter is Delicious, review linked here
Book 6: Double Dexter
Book 7: Dexter's Final Cut

Disclosure: I purchased a new, first-edition hardcover of this book for myself. Then when it was time to find it, I couldn't, and bought myself a Kindle copy. At any rate, I've paid for this book twice and therefore owe no one anything. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: A witness. Such a simple concept—and yet for Dexter Morgan, the perfectly well-disguised monster, the possibility of a witness is unthinkable. But when Dexter is on a very private, very satisfying excursion one evening with a wretchedly deserving playmate, the unthinkable happens: someone sees him.

Dexter is not at all pleased. As an upstanding blood-spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department, he has always managed to keep the darker side of his life out of the spotlight... the fun part, where he finds truly bad people—murderers who have escaped the reach of the justice system—and quietly gives them his very special attentions. But now that he's been seen and identified by his witness, Dexter must launch himself into a different kind of hunt.

Making matters worse, a brutal cop killer is targeting Miami's police detectives, leaving behind bodies that are battered beyond recognition...and completely bloodless. As the department grows more fearful of the psychotic killer in their midst, Dexter must handle his own crisis and come to terms with the fact that his witness is not only circling him but determined to expose him. Dexter is being followed, manipulated, and mimicked... leading him to realize that no one likes to have a double, especially when his double's goal is to kill him.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The opening sequence of DOUBLE DEXTER reads as good as any purist noir written. It’s moody, evocative, harrowing, and dark with a sense of foreboding and dread – a calm before the perfect storm. The opening chapter ties in nicely with Dexter's Dark Passenger persona. In fact, the opening sequences are so good that I couldn’t help but draw comparisons to Cornell Woolrich (vastly different authors yet sharing the same thematic quality early in this Dexter novel). Yet, this being dutiful domestic bliss Dexter of book 6 – the overtly dark natured opening wasn’t going to last – and it didn’t.

The plot is simple enough, though it did feel as though Lindsay changed direction mid stream. While centered around Dexter and the mysterious Witness to his favorite pastime, DOUBLE DEXTER is also a police procedural; someone is murdering cops in a painful and torturous manner – crushing every bone until the victim dies. The investigation led by Dexter’s sister naturally dabbled into Dexter’s dark side to catch a killer. Stopping short of a full blown manhunt, Lindsay employs a quick-fix to the case only to focus on Dexter assuming the role of a PI in search of his Witness or ‘Double’ as touted on the blurb.

DOUBLE DEXTER provides glimpses into life as a serial killer and that of a devoted husband and loving father. Dexter is in disguise for a large portion of the novel – only once or twice relishing in his darker persona. The interactions with series regulars do little to further the plot or overarching series for that matter, as DOUBLE DEXTER is more about what is going on inside Dexter’s head than those actions around him. The cat and mouse routine, while enjoyable and easy to read is formulaic with nothing really earth shattering happening.

Dexter is a very strong and well defined character and that portrayal continues in DOUBLE DEXTER. Fans of the series will enjoy this, while those new will want to give it a miss. 3 stars – a good thriller which had a fantastic start only to fall into the trapping of a generic thriller.

This review also appears on my blog:
http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh my god. I hate Rita with a fiery passion. I like TV Rita. I was shocked and saddened when they killed her off.

Book Rita, I want to bludgeon to death myself. She is so freaking annoying. And Jeff, REAL people do not talk like that. Even the most absent minded people can and occasionally do finish at least ONE entire sentence.

This one was narrated by Jeff Lindsay himself... and he did a HORRIBLE job at it. The worst offense was his Astor voice. Apparently he thinks that a preteen girl only speaks through clenched teeth. Yes, she is an angry preteen but not every sentence comes through clenched teeth. I don't like the character of Book Brian at all, I thought TV Brian was much better; but oh my gods, Jeff Lindsay did a horrible job on his voice... he made him sound... hmmm what's the most polite way of saying this... he was breathy and wishy and swishy. Very feminine.

The plot was ehhh. In fact, I've written this up well before I got to the end of the book. Why did I do this? Because I figured out who was who half way through the effing book. There is no surprise left at all. I won't click save until I actually finish it, so that I can rate it properly.. but it's definitely not the best of the lot.

Everything in this book was so incredibly dragged out. The set up for Rita accusing Dexter of cheating was so dragged out and blunt, I cannot believe how Jeff thought he was being clever.

"My computer was running slower than usual, which was odd since I am normally quite good about keeping it clean" - that was a paraphrase, but oh my god.. how blunt could you be when you previously said numerous times that the bad guy was a computer expert.

Oh, and one thing I don't like is actually the absence of Deborah in this book. But at the same time, Book Deborah is effing annoying, that I want to kill her alongside Rita. I much prefer TV Deb, whom actually would have been present in the plot.

[Сибин Майналовски · Rating 5 out of 5]

Младежът явно набира скорост, понеже всяка следваща книга е по-увлекателна от предишните. А и Декс, разбира се, си е сила :)

[Danielle-Gemma💜 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The further I get into this series the more I am enjoying them!!!!

[Brittney Gibbon · Rating 4 out of 5]

If there is one thing I am beyond sure of now, it is how truly oblivious Dexter is to the thought processes of a non-dark-passenger-possessing-human. He is completely obtuse and I love it 😂

Dex’s domestic bliss is no more – Astor is going through some serious pre-teen angsty bullshit, and Rita is drinking all of the time and her moods are all over the place and poor, oblivious Dex has no idea why. Things that are so obvious (like the conclusions his wife has jumped to about his own changes in behaviour and late nights at the office) are so far from reach and it honestly just entertains me so much. Hanging out with this guy and chuckling at the situations he gets himself into is the best fun.

Of course, there are other situations involving Dex that aren’t as funny. Double Dexter takes things up a notch with a witness catching Dexter in the act. Instead of just going to the police, this witness is taunting Dex in is own way and you really have to wonder how he’s going to get away with this one.

Once again, Lindsay gives us a little bit of everything; we have traps being set for Dexter and a madman running around attacking members of the police force with a hammer. There are colleagues with secret Dexter shrines, Cub Scout camping trips, and the ever-present Sergeant Doakes (seriously dude, just go away!) offset only by Dexter’s ever-present dry humour.

By the end of Double Dexter one thing is clear: as obtuse as Dexter may be, he is not a man to be messed with. You do not want to mess with him, and you do not want to mess with his family.

Two books left and I can’t wait to see how it all unravels!

[Midnight Muldoon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book made me mad. Not angry, MAD. Foaming at the mouth, red faced, growling, grinding my teeth MAD. I listened to this while I work (in an office doing data entry) and I went on a rage fueled 10 minute monologue about this book during lunch.

What the hell is wrong with Dexter? Some dude who just learned he likes to kill because he spotted Dexter is now suddenly outwitting someone who has successfully killed over 40 people without getting caught? Some amateur newbie can get the drop on him just like that? At least in the first book when he is getting teased by the killer it is someone who Dexter admires, and feels a twinge of envy over his style and method.

While Dexer is lamenting "Where is my dinner?" I am asking myself "Where is Dexter?" The Dexter that was cold, witty, made INTERESTING observations, oh yeah and KILLED PEOPLE has vanished.

Rita continues her start and stop derailed train of thought, which I had to stop myself from yelling, "Just finish a fucking sentence! Just ONE!" She seems to only be able to complete a sentence when she is drunk.

I have a normal life of paying bills, doing the dishes, ect... I read to take my mind to other places. I don't want to read an entire book about the ho-hum daily domestic adventures of taking out the trash, dealing with teenagers, coworkers that you don't like, being sick with a cold, being hungry, not liking your fast food dinner, getting mosquito bites, having to listen to a know it all cub scout leader, carpooling with annoying children, changing diapers, and sitting in traffic.

[Eli - Bookworm & Vine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really thought I was going to like this book a lot after the first few chapters, but it just seemed lazy. Every time Dexter was having an issue I thought, he is so much smarter than that, it shouldn’t have taken five chapters for him to figure it out. Just a disappointment.

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Believe it or not, the television series is better and more exciting than the book. 4 of 10 stars

[Fabián Tapia Quintero · Rating 2 out of 5]

¿Me mato o me matan? :']

[Kaylyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again I really like the ideas!!! but the execution is not great!!! There is too much noise around those idea and the set ups feel dragged out, so it becomes frustrating to get to those cool ideas. This was the first time it felt annoying to be in Dexters head. Was that intentional? Or was it just annoying? I have no clue. It just felt like too much in this one.
I also feel like Dexters character was reduced to prop up the bad guy, which makes a lot of parts feel unearned and underwhelming. Ughhhhhhh

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a fan of the Dexter series since the beginning, though not all of them are, in my opinion, of equal quality. The first two were brilliant, the third was a real letdown, and the two after that were better than Dexter in the Dark, but not as good as Darkly Dreaming Dexter or Dearly Devoted Dexter.

This one, in my opinion, returns to the best of Dexter's form. Putting Dexter into a position in which he has to deal with a witness to his dark deeds, someone who is probably as warped as he is (but much less entertaining), who is out to destroy him by exposing him, brings out the best in Dexter and in Jeff Lindsay. All the trademark wit, the asides and observations that are so uniquely humorous in Dexter's narration are here in force, and the book manages to mix suspense with humor expertly.

I wasn't thrilled with the first chapter, which is written in a different voice than Dexter's usual one, but I would urge fans of the series to push past that chapter, with the assurance that the second chapter and all subsequent ones return to Dexter's regular narration.

[Bianca · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a fall from twisted grace for this series. The standard arc is present - Miami serial killer to catch, someone finds out Dexter's killer identity, then it's a game of cat and mouse to see which killer finds the other one first.

This arc however seems lazy in comparison. Deb finds the Miami serial killer bad guy all by herself in the first 1/3 of the book - Dexter is not present for any of the police work but is instead cast in the role of baby sitter for Deb's son. The game if cat and mouse between Dexter and the killer who knows his identity is boring as Dexter seems to have list his logical and precise mind. Doakes makes the obligatory appearance threatening Dexter and Rita is just a stumbling mess who can't complete a sentence, turns into a mean drunk but is then a doting housewife by the end of the book.

I was extremely unimpressed with this book. In each book in this series the Miami serial killer gets more twisted and this book was about 5 steps backwards for this series which is disappointing.

[Siobhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Throughout his career as the friendly neighbourhood serial killer, Dexter has avoided being noticed. However, all good things must come to an end and upon being seen Dexter is pulled into a dark and deadly game with an individual who is now out to get him.

Another book filled with Dexter’s wit and our favourite characters, this one follows Dexter as his seemingly perfect life becomes more dangerous for him and those closest to him. With all eyes focused upon him, Dexter soon finds himself in a predicament as to what exactly he is to do about the double that is playing a massive game with him.

If you’ve read the prior Dexter books you should have an idea of what to expect, the kinds of trouble that Dexter is going to find himself in. Following the last five books, Dexter once again needs to deal with a slippery situation as he tries to keep everything about his seemingly perfect life looking normal. If you’re a fan of the series then it’s another must read.

[Sera · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opinion, the best book of the series thus far.

As I have stated in my prior reviews, Lindsay's Dexter books are best when it's about Dexter and his family, because the books that are heavier on police procedural aren't as interesting to me. Double Dexter is more focused on Dexter, his marriage and whether Dexter the serial killer will be discovered. I can't really say much else without spoilers, but this book was worth wading through the couple of others before it.

I also really enjoyed this book on audio.

[Jammin Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Dexter! He is my favorite bad guy who does good things in a bad way. I love his struggles to fit in with society and to try and read human emotions (since he freely admits to not having any). I love his fatherly ways with Rita's kids (who are also sociopaths) and Rita with her free-flowing half-sentences. Great book!

[SuzeH · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I've said before, I do love Dexter. I really enjoyed this book, it's just typical Dexter...... funny and exciting. As much as I like the books, seeing the tv series has changed it for me...... I actually prefer watching it on tv.