Jeff Lindsay

There's something deeply satisfying about returning to this series and finding it still delivers that perfect blend of wry humor, darkness, and clever writing. The whole book operates in this space between suburban normalcy and absolute horror, like if Norman Rockwell painted a nice family dinner but you knew something was deeply wrong with what was being served.

What really got me this time around was watching Dexter fall hopelessly in love with his daughter. It's such a fascinating angle show more because here's this guy with his "Dark Passenger" who supposedly can't feel real emotions, and suddenly he's completely undone by a baby. The series has always played with the sympathetic serial killer trope. After all, Dexter only kills bad people, follows a code, lives a double life as a forensic analyst... but adding fatherhood to the mix pushes him into genuinely new territory. He's becoming a much more complex character, and I'm here for all of it.

The prose has this darkly poetic quality. There's a lot of theater of the absurd content here, which keeps things from getting too grim. The book really is a black comedy at its core. Lindsay makes Dexter funny and ironic, stirring in a good measure of the ridiculous so readers don't get completely turned off by the fact that our protagonist is, you know, a killer.

If you thought the Dexter books were getting formulaic, this one genuinely feels different. Dexter's going down a whole new, confused and conflicted path, and watching him navigate fatherhood while hunting cannibals is both absurd and strangely touching. The cult horror elements add another layer to the usual cat-and-mouse investigation, and there's this fish-out-of-water quality to seeing a hardened killer struggle with diaper changes and protective instincts.

What I love most is that Lindsay never loses sight of what makes Dexter work as a character. He's insightful, clever, and genuinely likeable even when he's doing terrible things. The book maintains that delicate balance between making you root for him and reminding you that he's fundamentally not quite human. Watching him grapple with emotions he didn't think he could feel adds a vulnerability that makes the whole thing even more compelling. It's dark, funny, well-written, and it gave me exactly what I want from this series. show less

Where the last installment of the wacky adventures of my favorite sociopath left me cold and worrying that Jeff Lindsay might have lost his edge, my faith in Lindsay and his lovable serial killer has been completely restored with Dexter is Delicious.

This book is all about family. Dexter is a new father and he daydreams about how wonderful life will be for his new baby girl. He believes that he is feeling real human emotions and now understands what love is all about. He decides that the show more only way to be the best Dex Daddy he can be is to banish the Dark Passenger and give up his special playtime forever. He impresses on his step-children, fledgling sociopaths themselves, that their path is no longer the right one and that he will no longer tutor them to follow Harry's Code.

When his sister pulls him into a search for 2 missing teenagers, Dexter's world goes a bit wonky as the bones of one of the girls are found in a fire pit., well gnawed. Even as he dreams of hearts and flowers for little Lily Anne, it becomes clear that cannibals are alive and well in Miami. Deborah is determined to find and rescue the second girl. She relies on Dexter's expertise in darkness to help her in her search. To complicate matters, someone from Dexter's past has returned... and Dex Daddy isn't exactly thrilled.

Moving along at a brisk pace, Dexter is Delicious is a tasty and satisfying roller coaster ride. If you have enjoyed the tales of Dexter Morgan, you'll love this one. show less

Dexter Morgan is not your average, everyday kind of guy. Sure, he's likable, although he is rather bewildered by the attentions of women. He can be charming and witty, and he's always supportive of his foster sister, Deborah, a Miami vice squad cop. But Dexter leads one hell of a double life. During the day, he's a blood-splatter lab technician with the Miami Police Department. At night, he's a serial killer with a marked difference: he only slays bad people (as if that excuse will save him show more from the electric chair). Orphaned by tragedy as a boy, he was adopted aged 4 by a cop, Harry Morgan, who set about trying to channel his new son's animal nature, his aberrant "need." It was Harry who convinced Dexter only to prey upon other killers - such as the paedophiliac priest whom he dispatches at the beginning of the book. But with thirty-six kills to his name, Dexter suddenly finds that he has a competitor. This newcomer is responsible for the gruesome murders of prostitutes. Not only does he take their lives, but he drains their blood and wraps up their body parts like prized possessions.
Though Dex admires the technique, which mirrors his own modus operandi, he decides to help his sister solve these serial slayings - a fateful decision that will compel him to question his own life. Could Dex Morgan, "the best-dressed monster in Dade County," be more involved in these abominations than even he realizes? I'll just say that Lindsay's readers won't be the only ones surprised by this tale's outcome. Written with a playful and hip style, Darkly Dreaming Dexter manages to avoid farce or to tumble into bad taste. show less

Dexter has been jailed for murder and child molestation by a police department seemingly bent on breaking every law of due process. We are led to believe that officers appear on scene where his wife and a famous actor lie dead and they just toss him into solitary confinement. No one even questions him? They are just like, "Welp, you're the only adult at the scene, so you are guilty. Hell, let's even skip the trial." Dexter goes from having countless friends in the department to even having show more his sister turn against him.

As always, Debra is crazy unpredictable. She's known for the whole series that Dexter murders people for fun, but the thought of him having an extramarital affair is all it took for her to decide he is trash. Uh? Is that even a double standard? It's more like the behavior of a woman with severe head trauma. She decides he probably killed everyone and molested his daughter too. Deserted by everyone, it's eventually Dexter's brother who gets him a lawyer and gets him out of jail. Debra demands that Dexter sign away his parental rights so that she can take care of the kids. Dexter agrees with a shrug.

I also can't figure out Dexter's motivation with the children. For the first half of the series he likes them a lot more than Rita. They have emotional damage too and he toys with the idea of teaching them to be serial killers. When he has his own daughter he is frankly over the moon for her. But in the last book he decided that he can't be bothered. I mean, okay, but that's a pretty abrupt change without any character development. It's almost like it was a decision made by a bad and lazy writer.

Now Dexter is in trouble with a Mexican drug cartel. I guess his brother stole a bunch of money from them and now they are out to get him and anyone he's connected to. Dexter gets a bomb put in his car and it eventually turns out that his world famous lawyer is actually... owned by the drug cartel? Sheesh, what are the odds? Don't worry, the lazy writing continues when ... wait for it ... Dexter's kids are kidnapped. What's that, three books in a row? How does every character still manage to act shocked when this hackneyed, overused plot device surfaces? Does the author think we have Debra's head trauma too?

Anyhow, moments after the kids are taken Debra changes her mind about Dexter being garbage. Now she wants his help? And now, suddenly, Dexter cares about his kids again? He's ready to take on an unknown number of gangsters hold up on a massive yacht. Sure. Three people can totally do that. Somehow(?!?) they manage to sneak up on the yacht in Dexter's boat and creep aboard. They get the kids off but then the ship explodes and Brian dies. Then Dexter is shot by the drug lord before Debra shoots him. Dexter stays behind on the boat to set another bomb. But he succumbs to his wounds. The end.

Holy shit did this book drag! Since no one is talking to Dexter, just about the entirety of the book is Dexter's insanely repetitive internal monologue. The author doesn't stint in his devotion to saying the same thought ten different ways before moving on. There are pages of descriptions about the food Dexter decides to eat. It'll begin with him realizing he's hungry and meditating upon his love of food for a paragraph. Then he'll run through the wealth and variety of food options in Miami. Then he'll narrow down his potential choices. Then he'll painstakingly choose one and go over the best things about eating there. Then endless effusive paragraphs about the food itself.

Don't worry, the author of course returns to his favorite topic of Miami traffic! I mean, what's more thrilling after all than a detailed passage about sitting in traffic for hours?! He even mentions the different types of cars, and the sorts of things you can tell about people by the cars they drive. Oh man, I was on the edge of my seat!

I remember being somewhat hopeful at the end of the last book. First of all, Rita was dead, which I thought would mean less of her bizarre style of dialogue. But no, the author apparently cannot go without intentionally irritating his readers. So, even though she is dead, countless characters inexplicably begin talking just like her, beginning with Dexter and moving on to Vince, Brian, his lawyer, and a number of random passersby. I also thought, at least now that so much dramatic stuff has transpired, the author will have to write a different sort of book. With his wife dead and constant police scrutiny, it will at bare minimum be unlike all previous books. Oh how wrong I was. There was nothing new or fresh in this final book. It almost seemed like it had been constructed, ala Frankenstein, from various pieces of previous novels. Every sentence was tired and disappointing.

Still, I read them all, and now I can stop. Damn you, Jeff Lindsay. You are trash. show less