Dexter In The Dark by Jeff Lindsay

Dexter In The Dark (Dexter, #3)

by Jeff Lindsay

Is evil alive...? Dr Jerry Halpern is trying to find out, studying for his PhD on the subject. Dexter Morgan, meanwhile, has a few wicked things of his own to contend with - not least, planning his wedding to Rita to complete his nice-guy disguise. But when a student of Halpern's is found burnt, molested and headless - seemingly sacrificed to an ancient god - and Dex is brought in as forensic analyst to help investigate, he realises he could be dealing with someone a whole lot more sinister than he is. Soon it seems the dark passenger in Dexter's head has gone into hiding. And when something creeps out your friendly neighbourhood serial killer, you know it's serious...As Halpern and Dexter are stalked by death, it looks like it's getting personal - especially as Dex now has a family to protect. Gradually, Dexter realises his stepchildren might share his extra-curricular interest in death. Could he help them target their bloodlust, just as he steers his own? But to do that, Dex must cope with a certain mutilated sergeant from his past, and more importantly...stay alive...

Reviewed by empressbrooke on

4 of 5 stars

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If book-Dexter was running along a slightly different track than TV-Dexter before this, Dexter in the Dark takes as far away as it can possibly get.

TV-Dexter is grounded squarely in reality. A very bloody reality, but reality nonetheless. The first two books in the series hinted a bit at a supernatural element; the first book's dreams, for example, and they way our beloved serial killer referred to his dark side as a separate persona who resided in him. I always figured this was metaphorical, but book 3 makes it clear that this is quite literal. Dexter's Dark Passenger leaves him after being scared off by a darker force that is killing people in Miami. Dexter is left without his murderous intuition, without his bloodthirst, and without his emotionless demeanor.

Now, I've seen a lot of reviews that simply hated this. I was prepared to hate it. I didn't though, for a few reasons. For one, it goes a long way in explaining the dreams from book 1, something I never really bought. If Dexter has this supernatural force living in him, then I can reasonably believe that he'd be receptive to dreams about things that he couldn't know. Secondly, I'm sort of glad to have two very distinct Dexter universes to enjoy. If the show and the books mirrored each other too much, it would start to get boring. Third, it was a serial killer "creation story" that I haven't really encountered before. I'm not jumping up and down over it, but I'm willing to give this idea a try.

Other than the plot, I once again enjoyed the dark humor and Dexter's internal voice. I really wish we'd get more scenes between Dexter and Deborah; since book-Deborah knows about her brother's dark side, it just seems like it's a situation ripe for mining (I just reread my review of the last book, and I see I had used the word 'ripe' then, too. Clearly I A) feel very strongly about this, and B) need a larger vocabulary). I want to see more conversations and interaction between them regarding Dexter's hobby. I feel like Jeff Lindsay has missed an opportunity twice now to really deliver on this. Otherwise, Dexter's getting 4 stars from me.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 1 June, 2009: Finished reading
  • 1 June, 2009: Reviewed