Darkly Dreaming Dexter
I’ve given up on many books halfway through in the past. Books like the Lord of the Rings series and Les Miserables. They often delve too deep into describing the surrounding environment and each individual character to such detail that you’d know the exact shade of his/her clothing at times. While these books definitely allow the reader to completely immerse him or herself into the world the book is creating, it doesn’t stop them from being boring. I really can’t stand books like that.
Darkly Dreaming Dexter is almost the exact opposite of such books. There’s practically next to little introduction to characters and the setting as a whole, allowing the reader to imagine what the Miami-Dade Police Department would be like instead of dictating every last detail. The book tells the story of Dexter, a serial killer who works as a blood splatter analyst for the Miami-Dade police when a new string of murders crops up. I don’t want to give anything else away, all I’ll say is it’s a pretty cool story, though by no means groundbreaking (though it does have a twist at the end).
The unique thing about this book is though, is the way it is narrated. Author Jeff Lindsay writes the entire book in a first person perspective, taking on the role of serial killer Dexter. The way he pens down the thoughts of his character is unlike anything I’ve ever read before, there can be pages of “monologue” by Dexter and it doesn’t even seem boring because of the way he writes it. His constant reference to the insatiable appetite of the Dark Passenger, the “monster” in him that gives him the drive and the urge to kill people, really delves into the mindset of a serial killer. The interesting thing about it though, is that Dexter will only kill people who have escaped the arms of the law and who he deems should be punished by death. This moral code which he lives by provides for even more interesting dilemmas which he goes through throughout the book, especially at the climax. The constant musings of Dexter are entertaining to say the least, especially how the author regularly points out about how he as absolutely no emotion at all. I would love to go on more, but without spoiling much else, let’s just say Dexter is one of my favourite (though not necessarily likable) characters of all time.
Unfortunately, the rest of the book is more like a framework to hold up the actual concrete that is the character of Dexter. The other characters in the book are more or less stereotypical characters which aren’t really explored in depth, while Dexter is in the middle of all of them. Like I said above, it’s does have a pretty cool story, but that’s mainly due to the interesting premise in the first place, the plot itself is relatively uninteresting in fact. The only incentive to keep reading the book is really to see how Dexter reacts to each situation and whatever thoughts run through his head.
The twist at the end wasn’t anything much, sure it was surprising (or it wouldn’t be called a twist), but after reading it I was going “Oh, OK… If you say so.” I mean unlike other twists that I’ve read (try out the collection of short stories by Jeffery Archer called A Twist in the Tale), it doesn’t make you see the entire story in a different light (which is what a twist should do, or it wouldn’t really be a “twist” now would it). All it is, is a surprising ending to the plot. In fact, the more I think about it as I write this, the more I think that the twist is actually quite lame. Ok so maybe it isn’t a twist after all… OK nevermind I can’t make up my mind.
So in short, amazing character for a protagonist + so-so everything else = interesting book. If you’re looking for a unique kind of book, Darkly Dreaming Dexter is definitely a book you should check out, if for nothing else but the style in which the protagonist is portrayed. After all, it’s a relatively thin book which can be finished pretty quickly, (that is unless you read as slow as I do).