Location: Home > Art, Architecture & Photography > Mystery > Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Author: Jeff Lindsay
Publisher: Orion
Category: Book

List Price: ~~Ł7.99~~
Buy New: Ł2.24
You Save: Ł5.75 (72%)

New (21) Used (3) Collectible (1) from Ł2.15

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

29 reviews
Sales Rank: 139

Media: Paperback
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.4 x 0.9

ISBN: 0752865749
EAN: 9780752865744
ASIN: 0752865749

Publication Date: July 27, 2005
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New Book - In Stock - UK Seller - Very Fast Delivery - First Class Customer Service

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-10 of 29

« PREV

1 2 3 4 5 6

Better than the TV Show April 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I read this book long before the TV show and it blew me away - the darkness, the depth and the originality of the serial killer who directed his irrepressible urges for the force of good was a blisteringly inventive hook. For me, the book was far superior to the show (although I enjoyed that too). And for what it's worth, Jeff Lindsay's sequels to this rock too.

5 out of 5 stars

A great crime/psychological thriller April 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I picked this book up because the blurb and the cover caught my eye. From opening the book I couldn't put it down. I'm not a huge fan of crime novels that are often heavy with police procedure but as this has the twist of a serial killer narrator I thought I'd give it a go, I wasn't dissapointed. It's easiness to read and sardonic humour throughout made it a fabulous book for pure escapism. The TV is good, but it certainly does not beat the books.

4 out of 5 stars

A good series opener January 20, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

I haven't seen the TV series so I enjoyed the book for what it was, a good series opener with a fantastic lead character. There's enough plot information around without me going into detail but Dexter has an aversion to blood (taken from the blurb) and despite this still works for the police as an analyst. This was my only query with the plot. Otherwise he is devilish and easy to like until you remember who he actually is.

Good fun, not too tricky to work out. A worthwhile read over the course of an evening. I will certainly be following this series through.

4 out of 5 stars

Dark, Funny and My First encounter with a Loveable Psychopath??!! (With one small moan at the end) December 31, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Dexter is a blood spatter analyst working closely with the Miami Police. However, in his spare time he kills people (but only those who have committed horrible crimes themselves.) In this novel prostitutes are being found mutilated and murdered around Miami, and once Dexter has got over his admiration for the killer's `work' he decides to help his sister (a cop) to catch him and get her a well-deserved promotion.

I think that I may have been lucky that by missing the recent television series, I have nothing to compare the novel to. The first person narration in this novel is what really makes it so great , I still find it difficult to comprehend that I really liked Dexter even knowing the horrible things that he does! I think I will also remember this book as being more graphically violent than it actually is, as Lindsay manages to suggest quite a lot and leaves your brain to fill in the gaps.

The only slight problem I have is that Dexter will only kill bad men and yet still admires the work of a killer who targets prostitutes. I know this is a work of fiction, but I am getting a little tired of prostitutes being regarded as inherently bad people and therefore fodder for serial killers. In such an imaginative novel, he could have done something better.

4 out of 5 stars

Dearly Different Dexter December 3, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I had read this twice before seeing it on TV and decided after seeing the TV series to read it again. Yes, I enjoyed reading this interesting story with a serial killer with somewhat of a conscience as it's core character (have to dance around that Hero word, he really isn't). The conscience he has is the memory of his now-dead father who was a cop, a man who had seen too much of the mean streets and believed that sometimes there was a good reason to kill some people and that the law didn't always catch and find the evil roaming the streets. Instead of trying to stop Dexter's urges he encourages him to find "legitimate" targets, prey on the serial killers.

The weak parts of the story were when he would appear to be getting psychic impressions from the other killer, when you were supposed to be wondering if it could be possibly himself, a plotline that was thankfully dropped in the series as it was weak. It just didn't really work for me (and from reading other reviews it didn't work for other people either). I did enjoy the story, it's different enough from the series to be an interesting independent read but in some ways the TV series got a lot of the good points without stressing on the bad points.

A book I've recommended to others and got some mixed reviews, everything from loathing to love.