Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

[katekintailbc]

Darkly Dreaming Dexter
by Jeff Lindsay
(Audio)

Because I'm a fan of the actor in the lead role, I decided to watch the television show before giving this CD a listen. I'm VERY glad I did it in that order! The whole of season 1 follows the plot of this book, however it's expanded upon quite a lot more in the show where there's 13 hours as opposed to the 8.25 here. The show was much more complex, included plenty of other twists and turns/side plots, and even ended differently!

What's interesting, though, is that you could conceivably read this book and then watch the show... and though you know who the killer is, you still won't know for a while exactly who he is :-) I still prefer the show version, though, because of the twists and levels of detail.

But I should really focus more on the book here. I really enjoyed the first person narrative for this fascinating character. Seeing it described through his eyes was incredibly powerful, exciting, entertaining, and disturbing. Most of all, I loved the parts that weren't covered at all in the show- the bits about Dexter thinking that maybe he was actually the one committing the murders. The possibility goes on for so long, even after Deb is abducted. It's really interesting to see his obsession with perfect technique taken so far that he begins to doubt if someone else could possibly exist, doing these killings. But then he realizes that there are two after all.

I really liked the characters in the show, and they're pretty much the same here, so I like them here, too. I wasn't a huge fan of Dexter's boss in the book version (she's much more likeable in the show) but everyone else was a great addition (and great contrast) to Dexter. His interactions with them all and thoughts about each of them are priceless.

This was really entertaining, with a great character that made you think and a great plot that kept you guessing right up until the very end. It twists the normal murder mystery into something dark and unique, and I really enjoy that. I'm SO glad I bought this book at a library used book sale and gave it a read. Definitely an 8.25 hours well spent :-)