Review: Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay

Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay

The popular cable show about a sort of murderous good guy actually had it's beginning from this book by Jeff Lindsay. Interestingly, unlike some other series like Bosch which base season after season along side of the many books in the series, this first volume is the only one used for a plot of the show. While Lindsay wrote many others, they are left only on the page - which makes one wonder if the rest are any good! I'll have to try an additional one.

This was a pretty snappy, engaging book which you will feel very familiar with if you are a fan of the show. It certainly makes clear that Dexter is a very broken dude and I think in some ways made it harder to feel sympathetic for him than they manage to achieve via the show, which may be why the producers abandoned the tone of these books going forward. We learn some of his backstory, what makes him how he is, and that he's likely to keep getting away with it! A fun beach read, if nothing else.