Unusually for me I started to read a series of books after watching it on TV first. Dexter, the TV series shown in the UK on FX and in the USA on Showtime has become a smash hit on both sides of the pond, but for me the TV does not do Dexter justice.
Jeff Lindsay has created the likeable character of Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter analyst by day and a serial killer by night. Dexter is motivated by his desire to kill, but carefully manages this need with a set of well prepared rules, mainly that he can only kill those who have committed acts that can be considered morally wrong. It is this code that Dexter’s father helped mould and I believe make Dexter into an unlikely hero.
In Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dexter meets another who is just like him, someone who is able to make murder into a game and someone who is just as talented at evading the watchful eye of the police. This would seem to be the perfect scenario for our dark action hero, but in this instance this ‘colleague’ of Dexter kidnaps his sister and plans to kill Deborah.
Will Dex save the day and who is this mysterious killer? You’ll have to read the book to find out.