DEARLY DEVOTED DEXTER
by Jeff Lindsay
I wish I’d written this ...
... because the tone of the writing is ingenious!
Few authors can write a story that's both harrowing and humorous. Lindsay pulls it off without a stumble. What Dexter's foe does to his victims in this novel is truly ghastly—enough to give you nightmares—yet at the same time, Dexter cruises through the tale with his dark humour intact and his repartee often eliciting laugh-out-loud moments. If I have any issue with this, the second in the series, it's that the two kills that Dexter performs are done "offscreen" and that the villain of the piece gets the better of him ... Dexter has to be rescued! In many novels, this would be a much more serious problem but DEARLY DEVOTED DEXTER is less about the hunt and more about the emotional entanglements our non-emotional hero gets caught up in. As such, it offers a very satisfying and fun journey from first page to last. I'm definitely sticking with this series.
From the publisher
Dexter Morgan has been under considerable pressure. It's just not easy being an ethical serial killer — especially while trying to avoid the unshakable suspicions of the dangerous Sergeant Doakes (who believes Dexter is a homicidal maniac ... which, of course, he is). In an attempt to throw Doakes off his trail, Dexter has had to slip deep into his foolproof disguise. While not working as a blood-spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department, he now spends nearly all his time with his cheerful girlfriend, Rita, and her two children, sipping light beer and slowly becoming the world's first serial couch potato. But how long can Dexter play Kick the Can instead of Slice the Slasher? How long before his Dark Passenger forces him to drop the charade and let his inner monster run free?
In trying times, opportunity knocks. A particularly nasty psychopath is cutting a trail through Miami — a man whose twisted technique leaves even Dexter speechless. As Dexter's dark appetite is revived, his sister, Deborah (a newly minted, tough-as-nails Miami detective), is drawn headlong into the case. It quickly becomes clear that it will take a monster to catch a monster — but it isn't until his arch nemesis is abducted that Dex can finally throw himself into the search for a new plaything. Unless, of course, his plaything finds him first ...
With the incredible wit and freshness that drew widespread acclaim to DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER, Jeff Lindsay now takes Dexter Morgan to a new level of macabre appeal and gives us one of the most original, colourful narrators in years.
