Dexter Is Delicious

Dexter the dummkopf - as described by Dexter himself... I've given up on good writing from this series. I've always had issues with the repetitive internal monologuing, extreme incompetence of the police, and Debra's character being so unlikeable. But it was always balanced by the amusing world view of Dexter and his vicious approach to life. That ended in this novel.

For a serial killer that spends time preparing, researching and ensuring things are done correctly, he spends a lot of time ignoring his problems and then acting outraged that things aren't going to plan. I wasn't aware sociopathic tendencies also means an inability to think logically, since Dexter cannot seem to recognize he's a constant procrastinator. He'll complain in internal monologue about how things aren't going to plan, even though he's ignored the problem for days and only started addressing it in the minutes before the problem is about to explode in his face.

None of this is believable, as allegedly, Dexter is a capable serial killer (40+ deaths) who is skilled at preparation and planning. So this is the result of poor writing. Jeff Lindsay is the kind of writer who unable to write two equally skilled characters at the same time -- instead, one side looks utterly incompetent in the attempt to make the other brilliant. The only way to put Dexter in danger is if he's too ignorant to even realize there is a problem etc etc.

If you don't care about this stuff, go ahead and read more. For me, this is the last book in the Dexter series. I'm out.

As if there's not enough to dislike, as an author, Lindsay manages to stop the plot almost entirely around 80% way through the book. They rescue the kidnapped girl, save Dexter, and theoretically have plenty of evidence and witnesses to lock up Bobby Acosta and the various employees of Fang. The police can tear that club upside down with evidence that they kidnapped folks in a fridge, and Acosta will continue to go free.

But instead, the cops do absolutely none of this. We read for 5 chapters wondering why the book continues. And then suddenly the girl is disappears (again), Brian drops hints to Dexter that the true villain wasn't the owner of Fang, and nobody connects these dots together. Yes once again the entire world grinds to a halt because the author cannot imagine anyone does anything if they are not the main characters, and then dumbs down the main characters while you, the reader, is losing their shit.

Then Debra acts as the author's in-universe plot mechanic and agrees to this ridiculous arrangement to hunt down Bobby alone at the word of his mother. They do this, Dexter does zero preparation, and Chutsky shows up with guns for REASONS. Then Debra really amps up the stupidity by taking everyone's cellphones so they can't call for backup, because REASONS. What appears to be the entire employee base of Fang and all their members show up (no police are watching them of course), capture our idiot heroes because Debra surrenders at the slightest hint of violence to the victim, and in the only sane result, Chutsky is defeated by Brian's superior stalking skills. Oh, and yes, Brian is obviously working for the villains, and the villain ends up being the mother (who we have zero relationship with until the last 20% of the book).

Did the author need to continue the novel for 100 pages to sell the book for a certain cost? Seriously I'm left unable to understand why it was written, why it was so disconnected with the first 80% of the book, and with such low quality.

After this book, I actually hate Dexter.

I'm not a giant fan of the Dexter franchise, but it's always sparked my curiosity. I've watched a couple of episodes of the first season of the TV show and flipped through the first couple pages of some of the books. So, I wasn't sure how I would feel about this book, as most of the readers seem to be long term fans.

In short, this was a fun romp. The story was much more imaginative than your run-of-the-mill mystery series. The writing was mostly pedestrian, but with some entertaining turns of phrase (mostly alliteration).

The theme of family and the contrasts between families of choice and families of biology was not particularly subtle, but was interesting.

I've read a lot of reviews about the mysticism with which Lindsay imbues the "dark passenger," but I felt kind of ambivalent to the idea that there was a separate entity in Dexter that wanted to kill. It worked as a metaphor. I would have disliked it as more than a metaphor, but Lindsay never really pushed that point.

All in all, this was an entertaining, quick read. It would be a top notch airport or beach book and was good enough that I wasn't embarrassed to be reading it during my commute. It's better than the vast majority of serial mystery books out there, but it doesn't reach the ranks of Great Literature of Our Times (nor does it strive to.)