Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

My views on this book are necessarily filtered through what I know of the Showtime series "Dexter." Most of my impressions of the book are actually impressions of the adaptive work Showtime did in bringing the protagonist to the screen.

What's particularly different about Dexter is that (and I'm talking about the book here), he doesn't seem particularly cold. Although he is confiding in the reader his desire to and enjoyment of killing, it never feels as though he would ever kill you. This creates a strange pact with the character, drawing you into his difficulties and decisions because, well, if you're not on his side you'll probably end up dead.

The comparison of killers to artists is common in the crime genre, especially when describing the most depraved and psychotic of killers. Lindsay's novel, however, gives a new angle to the killer-artist by having his narrator-protagonist introspect in different ways. Dexter lives only to kill. The rest of his life is a safety shell erected to spare him suspicion or difficulty in achieving opportunities to kill. He is frequently distracted by everyday life, even by his family and friends. I think anyone with a strong creative drive can identify with the idea that everything but practicing that creative art is merely a distraction, one that makes you feel human and normal, but also one that is capable of making you soft and lazy.

The plot of this first Dexter novel seems to unfold very quickly, and I say "seems" because I spent weeks watching the same plot unfold on screen whereas I read this book in a matter of hours. There are definite merits to this character and his exploits remaining literary, however. Certain depictions of murder and murder scenes are capable of eliciting the right amount of mingled humor and horror only if they are primarily left up to the imagination. Filming them would be next to impossible - there are too factors in creating just the right mood. When reading these scenes, you provide your own music and scenery, and if they are off just so, you will get the wrong impression. Or, at least one that doesn't keep you engaged with the story.

I personally found this book to be not much more than a quick and entertaining read. I can certainly see how someone with an eye for television would pick up on this character immediately - although this novel is a completely enclosed story, it begs for another episode. The character is rich with possibilities and potentials. I already have the second book in this series in my possession, and will read it the next time I have a hankering for the purple prose of cheeky killer.